The clock has struck 4 p.m. and Nelson Agholor is a whole lot richer.
It also looks like he’s staying in Philly.
Since the new league year is now underway, Agholor’s entire salary for the 2019 season went from non-guaranteed to guaranteed money. That means the Eagles are on the hook for his entire salary of $9,387,000 and the matching salary cap hit.
The Eagles exercised this fifth-year option on Agholor’s rookie contract last spring, but it didn’t become locked in until now.
That’s a big chunk for a slot receiver (honestly, probably more than he’s worth right now), but the Eagles will at least keep one of their best offensive playmakers and now have a really formidable trio of receivers.
There were some reports in recent weeks that the Eagles were open to the idea of trading Agholor, but apparently, a good enough offer never materialized. I always thought it would make sense for the Eagles to extend Agholor, which would have alleviated some of his cap hit for 2019, but that didn’t happen either.
Even without knowing how much DeSean Jackson counts against the cap in 2019, we know the Eagles will have a ton of money tied up in their receivers. Alshon Jeffery’s cap hit of $14.725 million is the highest on the team. So between just two players, that’s over $24 million. According to OverTheCap, the Eagles’ entire receiver position group in 2018 accounted for just $16.7 million.
NFL
It’s a lot of money to tie up in one position, but the Eagles’ trio of receivers is now one of the best in the league and they all seem to complement each other.
Agholor is 25 now and has played four seasons in the NFL, but it’s still hard to figure out his worth. He was a first-round pick in 2015, but his first two seasons left much to be desired. But once he moved to the slot in 2017, his value began to explode.
In 2017, he had 62 catches for 768 yards and eight touchdowns.
In 2018, he had 64 catches for 736 yards and four touchdowns.
It seems very possible he has just scratched the surface of his ability and production in the NFL, which could have made it very difficult for two sides to agree on an appropriate price. It looks like Agholor will be back for 2019 with the chance to possibly test the market as a free agent this time next year.
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