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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

Andrew Luck– Its rare for a player to start a game as poorly as Luck and then bounce back and have one the best games of the week. Luck ripped apart an overmatched Washington defense to the tune of 370 yards and 5 touchdowns. Luck still needs to learn to beat good teams, but hes just in his third year and by March should be the highest paid quarterback in the NFL.

Julio Jones– Jones has been quiet since his electric start to the season, but his 180+ yard game was a big reason why the Falcons got a win against the Cardinals this week. Jones is more limited than some of the other big name receivers around the NFL, but games like this will have him compensated at a very high level.

Jerry Hughes-Another week in which Hughes makes impact plays to benefit the Bills. This week it was his strip tackle where he was prepared enough to scoop up the ball and run it back for a much needed touchdown for the Bills. Hughes is arguably the most important defensive player on the team and should get rewarded well for that this offseason.

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New Contract Player Of The Week

Ryan Fitzpatrick– Fitzpatrick was benched a few weeks ago due to his limited upside but got his job back this week due to injury. He made the most of it with a 6 touchdown, 358 yard game. This was likely the best game of Fitzpatrick’s career. Fitzpatrick was signed to be a stopgap QB this offseason but with the Texans picking in no mans land in the draft he can also stake a claim to a job next year here.  At the least he kept the slim playoff hopes alive for Houston this week.

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