Where does Christian Kirk's monster $84 million deal place him among NFL's highest-paid WRs?
Christian Kirk has been a good but not great receiver during his four NFL seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. He just posted 77 receptions for 982 yards and five touchdowns in 2021. Again, those are solid numbers but nothing that blows fans away.
The Jacksonville Jaguars seem to think he can be a star. So much so that they inked him to a four-year, $72 million deal with $37 million guaranteed at signing. Again, he has never posted a 1,000-yard season and has 17 total receiving touchdowns in his four-year career.
Christian Kirk's four-year deal with the #Jaguars:
$20 million signing bonus
$37 million fully guaranteed
$39 million over first two years
$12 million in incentives
Base value: $72M.
Max value: $84M.
A $1M roster bonus on fifth day of 2024 league year serves as a trigger.
Yet the Jaguars are betting on him and reset the receiver market in the process. So, where does his deal rank at the moment among his position group?
Christian Kirk is paid like an elite NFL receiver
In terms of the total value, Kirk is now tied for sixth in the NFL among receivers with his $72 million pact in Jacksonville. That ties him with Kenny Golladay and Stefon Diggs. Yet it should be noted that Kirk has about $3 million fewer guaranteed than either Golladay or Diggs.
Amari Cooper leads the way as he continues with his five-year, $100 million deal. That pays him $20 million per year, and $60 million of that was guaranteed. Michael Thomas is second at just over $96 million in his deal, with just over $60 million guaranteed.
But what about the average annual value? That is always an excellent way to see who is the best on the market in a given season. DeAndre Hopkins leads that category with $27.25 million as part of his two-year deal with the Arizona Cardinals.
Half the league about to fire their agents and hire Christian Kirk's
Julio Jones is second as part of his three-year, $66 million deal. To show how prices are rising, Davante Adams will be third at $20.1 million if he signs his franchise tag. He is not expected to do so, but the point remains that receiver franchise tags are approaching record pay.
So Kirk is still a bit of a way behind in terms of annual pay. Yet again, he was not even the top option on his team. That was Hopkins, who leads the yearly average value category.
The situation here seems that the Jaguars needed to add some talent and were willing to overpay someone who would not be worried about heading to the perpetually losing franchise. Kirk is now being paid like a number one receiver and will have a lot to live up to with this new deal.
For reference, Hopkins is a five-time All-Pro and gets just over $27 million annually. Kirk was a solid depth option and now earns $18 million annually. That means second and third receivers on depth charts are now in line for serious pay raises. When it comes to number one receivers, like Adams, anything below $20 million annually would be an insult.