Whether it’s the threshold that’s required to be considered as one of the best wide receivers in the NFL today, or the market as a whole, it’s safe to say that Amon-Ra St. Brown has become the one who sets the standard. Throughout the past several years, the Detroit Lions ‘ wide receiver has steadily proven he is one of, if not the most reliable, wide receivers in the league.
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He’s averaged 1,335 receiving yards and 114.3 receptions dating back to 2022. And with four-consecutive Pro Bowl nominations and two first-team All-Pro titles coming in that same span, there can be no debating that he’s deserving of a top-five payday. So why isn’t he?
In April of 2024, Brown signed a four-year, $120.1-million contract that, at the time, made him the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL. As time went on, however, he’s steadily been usurped, so much so that he now ranks just seventh overall in terms of average salary, and sixth overall in terms of total contract value.
The fact that the New York Jets’ Garrett Wilson and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ D.K. Metcalf both possess more valuable deals than Brown should cause anyone’s eyebrows to raise, but at the end of the day, that says more about those two respective franchises than it does about the status of the Detroit wideout. After all, Wilson and Metcalf have just one 1,300+ receiving yards season between the two of them, while Brown is coming off of the second 1,400+ yard season of his career.
Simply put, a combination of bad deals and general market inflation is to blame for Brown’s fall in the rankings. Now, the average pay for a top WR is $35 Million. No one will argue that players like Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase, and CeeDee Lamb are all deserving of competitive pay days, but as names like Puka Nacua and Jaxson Smith-Njigba begin to work towards their own benchmark contract extensions, Brown figures to fall even further behind.
At which point, the Lions will likely be expected to come up with some extra cash to keep him satisfied. Conveniently enough, however, they likely won’t have to worry about that scenario for at least another year, giving them plenty of time to address other needs before ultimately circling back to their WR1.
