National Football League

10 Highest paid wide receivers in the NFL

Updated Aug. 26, 2024 3:07 p.m. ET

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The NFL wide receiver market has skyrocketed in recent seasons. CeeDee Lamb inked a four-year extension worth up to $136 million, not long after Justin Jefferson signed a $140 million deal, which became the largest contract by a wide receiver in NFL history by total and annual average value. 

Eight of the ten largest wide receiver deals in league history have come in 2024, with Jefferson, Lamb, A.J. Brown, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, DJ Moore, and Devonta Smith all getting deals this offseason. Let's take a look.  

Largest NFL wide receiver contracts, based on annual average value

1. Justin Jefferson: $35M

• After being drafted 22nd overall in the 2020 draft, Jefferson holds the NFL record for the most receiving yards through a player’s first four seasons with 5,899.
• He has recorded 29 games with 100+ receiving yards in his first four seasons, the most in NFL history by a player in that span.
• Jefferson currently holds the NFL record for most career receiving yards per game at 98.3.

2. CeeDee Lamb: $34M

• Lamb is coming off a historic season, setting the Cowboys single-season records for catches (135) and yards (1,749), passing Michael Irvin in both categories.
• Since entering the league in 2020, Lamb's 395 receptions and 5,145 yards are the most by any Cowboys player ever in their first four seasons. He also has 18 games with 100 yards receiving, the most of any Cowboys player through their first four years.

3. AJ Brown: $32M

• Last season, Brown recorded six straight games 125-plus receiving yards, breaking the record for the longest such streak in NFL history.
• In 2022, he set the Eagles single-season franchise record for receiving yards, with 1,436 yards in 17 games played.

4 (tie). Amon-Ra St. Brown: $30M

• Amon-Ra St. Brown recorded 15 games in his career with over 100 receiving yards, breaking the Lions record for most such games in a player's first three seasons.
• Since entering the league in 2021, he is one of five receivers in that span to record over 3,500 receiving yards, 315 receptions, and over 20 receiving touchdowns (Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams, CeeDee Lamb, Stefon Diggs).

4 (tie). Tyreek Hill: $30M

• Tyreek Hill is the only player in NFL history to have multiple seasons with over 1,700 receiving yards, doing so in 2022 and 2023.
• Including the playoffs, he has 28 touchdown receptions of 50-plus yards — the most of any active player and the fifth-most all-time.

6. Jaylen Waddle: $28.3M

• In 2021, Jaylen Waddle recorded 104 receptions — setting the NFL single season record at the time (Puka Nacua would break it by one catch in 2023).
• Among receivers drafted in 2021, he ranks third in yards (3,385), third in receptions (251), and fourth in touchdown receptions (18) despite missing four games in that span.

7. Davante Adams: $28M

• Since 2021, Davante Adams has recorded 13 games with 120-plus receiving yards and a touchdown catch — more than any other player in that span.
• He has 95 receiving touchdowns since entering the league in 2014, which is tied for the fifth most all-time by a player in their first 10 seasons; no active player has more touchdown receptions than he does.

8. DJ Moore: $27.5M

• Moore was traded to the Bears after five stellar seasons with the Panthers, and recorded career highs in receiving yards (1,364) and touchdowns (eight) in year one in Chicago.
• His 6,565 receiving yards since entering the league in 2018 are the seventh most of all players.

9. Cooper Kupp: $26.7

• In 2021, Cooper Kupp recorded 1,947 receiving yards, just 18 yards shy of breaking Calvin Johnson's NFL single-season record.
• In that same 2021 season, he won the Super Bowl, was named Super Bowl MVP, won NFL Offensive Player of the Year, and completed the triple crown (led the league in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdown catches).

10. DeVonta Smith: $25M

• DeVonta Smith is one of three receivers ever to win the Heisman trophy in 2020.
• His 19 career touchdown catches are the third most of any receiver drafted in 2021.
• In 2022, he set the Eagles single-season record for receptions by a receiver (95) until A.J. Brown passed him the following year.

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National Football League

Justin Jefferson

A.J. Brown

Amon-Ra St. Brown

Tyreek Hill

Jaylen Waddle

Davante Adams

Cooper Kupp

DeVonta Smith

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

Los Angeles Rams

Detroit Lions

CeeDee Lamb

Dallas Cowboys

DJ Moore

Chicago Bears