The saying "a rising tide lifts all boats" is rarely as applicable as when it comes to NFL contracts. Each offseason, players at premier positions like quarterback and wide receiver sign gigantic contracts that reset the market. Those players reign as the highest-paid at their respective positions... until the next contract is signed by a superstar that makes them the highest-paid player at their position and resets the market.
It's a cycle that repeats itself and has many ripple effects, the most prevalent of which is that players at these positions just keep making more and more money. Each new superstar deal sets the stage for the next.
Which brings us to Monday, when Justin Jefferson helped out all his colleagues around the league by receiving a record-setting amount of money. News broke in the morning that Jefferson had agreed to a four-year, $140 million deal with $110 million guaranteed with the Minnesota Vikings. The extension makes Jefferson the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL and the highest-paid non-quarterback in football history.
