National Football League

Eagles beat growing WR market with big, early deals for A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith

Published Jun. 5, 2024 2:10 p.m. ET

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Ralph Vacchiano

NFC East Reporter

Nobody feels bad for DeVonta Smith or A.J. Brown, not with the millions of dollars they've made, with millions more to come. They both just signed lucrative, long-term extensions with the Philadelphia Eagles. They're doing fine.

They also could have been doing better.

That is one of the realities of NFL free agency, that it can be about timing as much as talent. And it's part of the genius of what the Eagles' wizard-like general manager, Howie Roseman, did with Smith and Brown as part of his offseason spending spree. He didn't need to sign either of them to an extension. Both were under contract for another two seasons.

But by breaking the bank for two contract extensions worth a combined $167 million for two players who play the same position, Roseman locked them up with deals that are already under market. By 2026, when the duo would have been free agents, these contracts might look like absolute steals.

"Neither of them would've reset the market if they had waited a few months," said one prominent NFL agent. "And they did great for two guys who signed earlier than they needed to sign. But absolutely their prices would've gone up after what's happened the last few weeks.

"If they waited one more year there's a chance they both could've ended up being paid more than all of them."

Now, of course, they'll never know for sure after Smith signed a three-year, $75 million extension (with $51 million in new guaranteed money) in mid-April and Brown signed a three-year, $92 million deal (with $84 million guaranteed) just 11 days later. Smith still had the last two years of his rookie contract (including his fifth-year option) to go. And Brown still had two years left on the four-year, $100 million extension he signed when the Eagles got him from Tennessee back in 2022.

Both deals are lucrative and made each among the highest-paid receivers in the NFL at the time. Brown's deal, in fact, made him the highest-paid receiver in NFL history. But look what happened next. Since Smith signed, his deal was eclipsed by both Detroit's Amon-Ra St. Brown (four years, $120 million, $77 million guaranteed) and Miami's Jaylen Waddle (three years, $84.75 million, $76 million guaranteed). And Brown's was beaten by Minnesota's Justin Jefferson (four years, $140 million, $110 million guaranteed).

And the receiver market could explode even more relatively soon with Cincinnati's Ja'Marr Chase and Dallas' CeeDee Lamb on deck. San Francisco's Brandon Aiyuk is looking for a new deal, too. By the time all of them sign, Brown and Smith will likely be the fourth (Brown) and 10th (Smith) highest-paid receivers in the NFL in terms of average annual value of their contracts — at least.

That's good. It just could have been better, which is why Smith, in particular, has been criticized — or at least questioned — for signing so early. One of the harshest criticisms came from former Eagles executive Joe Banner, who ripped into Brown's agents (Klutch Sports) on Twitter.

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"Devonta Smith should fire his agent unless he overruled the agent's advice," Banner wrote. "He completely misread where market was headed and signed a deal before all these deals reset the market. What was the rush? Another smart deal by Eagles but can only happen if player and agent allow it."

It's not that the market was misread, though. Everyone in the league could see where receivers' salaries were going. Brown — who had 106 catches for 1,456 yards last season (fewer than the 1,496 yards he had in 2022) — set the market while surely knowing that Jefferson was going to top it. Smith (81-1,066-7 last year) didn't sign his extension in a vacuum either. He knew where it ranked — and where it would rank — among his wide receiver peers.

These were their choices, sparked by fair offers from the Eagles, who have built a successful team and a culture where players want to stay.

"You can't be counting the pockets of others," Smith said after minicamp on Monday. "I'm where I want to be. This is where I wanted to be, and at the end of the day, it was still life-changing for me."

Brown wasn't asked about his contract when he spoke to the media on Wednesday, but he had indicated similar feelings back in April when he signed his contract, saying he hoped he would someday retire as an Eagle. "My career took off when I got here," he said. "It went to another level. It feels right." And he's shown no signs of unhappiness either. He's been a regular participant at the offseason program and even made a guest appearance at the Eagles' rookie minicamp.

Their happiness, despite the fact that they might soon be underpaid, is because of the atmosphere the Eagles have created — and, of course, because of the winning they've done in recent years. There's more to it, though. Roseman has created a fiscal plan where there always seems to be room under the salary cap to reward his top players. And with the backing of owner Jeffrey Lurie, they're aggressive with those rewards long before they need to give them out.

It's a stark contrast with what's happening in Dallas, where the 25-year-old Lamb is skipping the mandatory minicamp this week as he seeks a new contract. Coming off a spectacular season in which Lamb had had a league-high 135 catches for 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns, he is almost certainly asking for more than Jefferson.

And whatever he inevitably gets from Dallas, it will be more than he would have gotten if the Cowboys could have managed to sign him back in April, before the wave of receiver contracts began.

"It's what the smart teams do — and no one does it better than them," the agent said. "The best business plan is getting ahead of the market, locking up your important players early. And the real trick is doing it in a way that makes those players happy."

That's the trick the Eagles have once again appeared to pull off.

"Those (other) guys who have got their deals, they deserve it," Smith said. "(They're) great players and great people. At the end of the day, we're all blessed."

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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Ralph Vacchiano