Stock Up

NFL Stock Up: Week 10

Posted on by Jason Fitzgerald

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Every Monday during the season we will take a look back at three players who are entering important stages of their contract that may have helped their stock in upcoming negotiations with their play on Sunday. In addition we will also look at one player signed in the offseason to a new contract that exceeded all expectations and provided exceptional value to his team.

Stock Up

Dez Bryant– Another week and another game where Bryant makes the opposing defense look silly. Bryant went off for 158 yards and two touchdowns literally running away from just about anyone in a Jaguars uniform. Bryant is arguably the best receiver in the NFL.

Jaiquawn Jarrett– Jarrett will be a restricted free agent next season and likely earned himself a tender offer just by his play on Sunday. Jarrett intercepted two passes, recovered a fumble, and sacked Ben Roethlisberger to lead the Jets to victory while their first round draft pick rode the bench. If John Idzik is retained as GM, Jarrett could even get a small extension given Idzik’s track record.

Jerry Hughes– Despite losing the game, Hughes continues to come up big, basically mauling the Chiefs offensive line for another two sacks, bringing his total to 7.5 on the year. He’s clearly on the way to another double digit total and likely a nice big contract as a reward for finding a career in Buffalo.

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New Contract Player Of The Week

Patrick Peterson– The Cardinals were still in a very difficult game coming off pretty terrible circumstances with a knee injury to Carson Palmer when Peterson pretty much turned the game off for good with his interceptions of Austin Davis. Its that freakish athletic ability that Peterson has which is what makes him the highest paid at his position.

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NFL Stock Up: Week 8

Posted on by Jason Fitzgerald

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Every Monday during the season we will take a look back at three players who are entering important stages of their contract that may have helped their stock in upcoming negotiations with their play on Sunday. In addition we will also look at one player signed in the offseason to a new contract that exceeded all expectations and provided exceptional value to his team.

Mark Ingram– Back from injury, Ingram exploded for 172 yards and a touchdown. Ingram has run the ball since late last season like a man possessed and could very well be the most attractive free agent runner on the market this year. I say that for two reasons.  One is that he does not have a tremendous amount of wear and tear on his body and secondly that the Saints are looking to be for running backs what the Steelers are for wide receivers.

Ben Roethlisberger– It will soon be extension time for the QB class of 2004 and Roethlisberger put on a show for the ages with a 522 yard, 6 touchdown performance against a defense that was in a groove and shutting offenses down. The Steelers can be maddening to watch at times, all too often playing to the level of their opponents, but Roethlisberger always gives them a chance. They would be lost without him and that is going to show when the extension finally happens.

Justin Houston– Houston is on pace for a 20 sack season and obliterated the Rams for 3 sacks and 5 solo tackles. I’m not sure that there is a better player at the position and he compares favorably to where Clay Matthews was when he signed his $13.2 million contract that set the market for the outside linebacker. With Gerald McCoy, a defensive tackle, breaking the $13 million per year mark there is no reason for Houston not to aim for $14 million a season.

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New Contract Player Of The Week

Golden Tate– Tate gets the nod two weeks in a row following his 151 yard day. I think at this stage of the season its safe to say that Tate was the best free agent signing of 2014. I’m not sure where the Lions would be without Tate, but they definitely would not have a winning record. The Lions front office has not gotten many things right the last few years but their pinpointing of Tate was perfect.

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NFL Stock Up: Week 7

Posted on by Jason Fitzgerald

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Every Monday during the season we will take a look back at three players who are entering important stages of their contract that may have helped their stock in upcoming negotiations with their play on Sunday. In addition we will also look at one player signed in the offseason to a new contract that exceeded all expectations and provided exceptional value to his team.

Stock Up

Russell Wilson– It makes no difference to me that Seattle lost the game. Seattle fans are watching Wilson enter another dimension with his play this season. Wilson was already set to make a killing on an extension, but he’s very quickly putting himself in a different statistical class. The more they entrust him with the ball the better and better he is going to look.

Dez Bryant– Bryant is a physical marvel and took over the game in the second half. He faced some tight coverage against the Giants but nothing seemed to diminish his game. There are few receivers that would have consistently pulled down the passes he was pulling down. I think a strong argument can be made that he is the best receiver in the NFL.

Demaryius Thomas– Thomas had another exceptional game in his walk year, this time catching Peyton Manning’s record breaking touchdown and adding another 171 yards to his stat line. Thomas has been unstoppable the last three week and unlike former running mate Eric Decker will not get the label of being a Manning creation. Thomas will be one of the top 5 paid receivers by next season.

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New Contract Player Of The Week

Golden Tate– There have been a few games this year where Tate was someone I considered for this, but there was no denying him this week. He finished the day with 10 receptions for 154 yards including a ridiculous touchdown where he outran the whole Saints defense.  He would be the best receiver in Seattle had they kept him.

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NFL Stock Up: Week 6

Posted on by Jason Fitzgerald

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Every Monday during the season we will take a look back at three players who are entering important stages of their contract that may have helped their stock in upcoming negotiations with their play on Sunday. In addition we will also look at one player signed in the offseason to a new contract that exceeded all expectations and provided exceptional value to his team.

Stock Up

Cam Newton– I’ve been hard on Newton this year but he has not put together two very solid games and this past Sunday put together probably his most dominating performance since his rookie season. Newton looked like the guy the Panthers drafted for the first time in ages, throwing for 280+ yards and adding another 107 on the ground.  He was a one man show against what was supposed to be a dominant defense.

Jordan Cameron– Cameron has been injured most of the season, but exploded against the Steelers to the tune of 102 yards on just three receptions. The Browns look to have a nice young core of talent and loads of cap space much of which should go towards extending the young tight end before his drives his asking price higher.

Ndamukong Suh– The Lions are having a great year on defense and Suh is a major part of why that is the case. With the Buccaneers struggling Suh has seemingly locked down the best available defensive tackle award from Gerald McCoy. With two more sacks on Sunday Suh is pretty much hammering home that he is worth whatever outlandish price he wants.

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New Contract Player Of The Week

Jay Cutler– Another player I am usually negative on, Cutler went into a hostile environment in what was essentially a must win game and had his most complete game of the season. The Bears will need more of this in the future if they want to stay in the race through week 17.

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NFL Stock Up: Week 5

Posted on by Jason Fitzgerald

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Every Monday during the season we will take a look back at three players who are entering important stages of their contract that may have helped their stock in upcoming negotiations with their play on Sunday. In addition we will also look at one player signed in the offseason to a new contract that exceeded all expectations and provided exceptional value to his team.

Stock Up

Demaryius Thomas– Thomas has had a relatively quiet start to his season and seemed to be falling a distant second to Dez Bryant in the race for biggest wide receiver contract expectation. Thomas came back in a huge way on Sunday, dismantling the Cardinals secondary and abusing Antonio Cromartie to the tune of 226 yards and two touchdowns. Thomas is now back on pace for a dominant statistical season.

Brian Hoyer– Sure it was against the Titans, but Hoyer led one of those crazy comebacks that go down in history on the NFL Top 10 comebacks of all time type of shows. Hoyer is going to give the Browns a difficult decision about his future in the coming weeks if the team continues to respond to him. Hoyer may not have the greatest physical tools but the way the team plays around him is going to get him a nice little contract next season.

Jerry Hughes– The trade for Hughes proved to be one of the great steals of all time and he continued his contributions this week with two sacks and 4 tackles (1 helmetless) as he helped the Bills defense stifle the Lions offense. A few more games like this and he should reach his double digit sack number this year.

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New Contract Player Of The Week

Alterraun Verner– Though his performance was wasted in a losing effort, Verner came up big in the game with the Saints to certainly live up to and exceed the contract he signed this offseason. Verner was targeted 10 times and gave up just 4 receptions while intercepting a pass and breaking up two others.

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NFL Stock Up: Week 4

Posted on by Jason Fitzgerald

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Every Monday during the season we will take a look back at three players who are entering important stages of their contract that may have helped their stock in upcoming negotiations with their play on Sunday. In addition we will also look at one player signed in the offseason to a new contract that exceeded all expectations and provided exceptional value to his team.

Stock Up

DeMarco Murray– Something tells me he is going to be here every week as every week Murray seems to raise the bar for himself. Murray is by far the best running back in the NFL and just shredding defenses along the way. With the RB market more or less in disarray Murray has a big chance to stabilize it and maintain it over the next 5 years by reaching  for a $7-$8M a year contract.

Eddie Royal– Eddie Royal is putting together quite the nice little season in San Diego. He added two touchdowns and another 100 yards to his resume. In the last two years Royal has put up, by far, the best numbers since his rookie season back in 2008. As always its buyer beware with Royal, but he is one of the important pieces of the Chargers offense.

Brandon Flowers– A late pickup after the Chiefs decided they did not want him, Flowers had to settle for a one year contract with the Chargers in hopes of proving that he is worth a long term contract somewhere in 2015. Flowers has had a great year and is currently graded highest among corners by Pro Football Focus. His interception in the third quarter pretty much ended any hopes of a Jaguars comeback. He only allowed one receiving yard on the day.

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New Contract Player Of The Week

JJ Watt– What a dominating performance by Watt who is doing everything in his power to make everyone forget how much he recently got paid by the Houston Texans. At this rate nobody is going to ever bring up his salary he has been so good. Watt was credited with a ridiculous 14 pressures and made life miserable on Bills overwhelmed QB EJ Manual. Watt’s play where he plucked the pass out of the air and returned it for a touchdown is a play only one man in the NFL can make. You wont see that duplicated this year.

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NFL Stock Up: Week 3

Posted on by Jason Fitzgerald

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Every Monday during the season we will take a look back at three players who are entering important stages of their contract that may have helped their stock in upcoming negotiations with their play on Sunday. In addition we will also look at one player signed in the offseason to a new contract that exceeded all expectations and provided exceptional value to his team.

Stock Up

Nick Foles– Whatever early season jitters may have been there in the first game, those seem to be gone from his system. Foles is cementing himself as one of the top three QB’s of the 2012 draft and is putting himself in position to cash in after the season when he becomes extension eligible. On Sunday he put up over 300 yards with no running game to take any pressure off him and against a defense that just wanted to tee off on him. The way his teammates jumped to his defense after he got hit by a Washington player showed just how much he means to that team.

Dez Bryant– It’s becoming clearer and clearer than Bryant is the driving force of the Cowboys stalling passing game and is finally getting the attention he deserves this year from the play calls. I don’t know how a team loses sight of a player like this, but his big play caps off another big week where he is positioning himself as one of the top 4 or 5 players at the position as he heads into free agecy.

Jeremy Maclin– Following last season’s devastating injury Maclin opted for a one year contract with the hopes of getting a big contract in 2015 rather than settling for more security in 2014. Maclin was magnificent Sunday catching 8 passes for 154 yards and 1 TD on the day. Maclin is certainly developing into the unquestioned number 1 on his team and is putting himself in the position to get the big payday by season’s end.

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New Contract Player Of The Week

Rashad Jennings– Last week Jennings played a critical part in the Giants loss, but he more than atoned for that this week with an inspired 176 yard performance against the Houston Texans. These are once in a career type of games and it does not go unnoticed when you have them. Jennings was a major reason the Giants were able to earn their first win of the season.

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