2016 New Contract Tracker: Wide Receivers — Week 7

Sometimes it takes players some time to find their home. Drew Brees was battling injuries in San Diego before making his way to New Orleans, where he became the franchise’s best quarterback, leading them to their first Super Bowl victory. Brett Favre is an obvious one. Once he made it to the Packers, his career statistically became the best of any quarterback to play the game.

Week 7 Stud: Mike Wallace ($5,750,000 APY)

Mike Wallace isn’t the same caliber player as Favre of Brees, but he has shown that he’s coming into his own in Baltimore. Wallace showed his big play ability at the beginning of his career with the Steelers. That prompted the Dolphins to give him a very lucrative free agent deal a few years ago. However, his play nearly flatlined with the Dolphins. Wallace then made his way to the Ravens this off-season, and that move, especially in Week Seven, has payed off for him greatly. Last week, Wallace put up a big stat-line of ten catches and 120 yards on 13 targets. Comparing him to other top receivers of his age, Wallace comes on top of both.

Brandon Marshall and Emmanuel Sanders both have a higher salary than Wallace. When Wallace’s stats from Week Seven are compared to their season averages, it shows that Wallace is the one who should be making the most.

Wallace’s numbers are even a rarity for the best receivers in the league. When we put his contract into context, he tops the best. Dollar-per-statistic, Wallace should be making $15,753,631 in contrast to Marshall’s $8,666,667 APY. When doing the same with Sanders’ $11 million APY, Wallace’s value would be at a whopping $17,714,459.

Week 7 Dud: Jeremy Kerley ($850,000 APY)

Jeremy Kerley has generally found himself in contention to be the weekly stud, well outplaying his contract, but lately he’s been a dud. For the second game in a row, Kerley has amassed two catches and less than 20 yards. That puts him in the category of Dontrelle Inman and Ted Ginn.

Inman and Ginn have both done slightly better, getting around the same amount of playing time and targets. Put into efficiency numbers, Kerley clearly falls behind the other two.

Kerley didn’t sign a big contract. He’s only making $850,000 this season, and compared to Inman and Ginn, his stats are only 80 percent to 83 percent worse. That would put his adjusted contract value between $680,000 and $705,500. That’s not much less than what he’s making now, but a few dollars here and there can make a difference to a team, especially to the 49ers.

Eli (@Ebookstaber) is a big follower of every facet of the NFL: from the contracts, to the game-film, and to the Draft. He also writes for OvertimeIreland.com. Eli compiles their weekly power rankings and analyzes game film. Additionally, in the offseason he writes a variety of articles on free agency and the Draft. Growing up in Silver Spring, Maryland, Eli was brought up as a Redskins fan from the day he heard his dad yell at the TV as a little kid.