The Jaguars just made a lot of teams angry, and Christian Kirk just made a lot of better wide receivers richer.
As part of a wild spending spree to usher in a new era, the Jaguars gave the most eye-popping contract of the first day of NFL free agency to a receiver who hasn’t reached 1,000 yards in any of his first four seasons: Kirk reportedly agreed to a four-year contract worth up to $84 million.
Even when reduced to its base value of $72 million, Kirk’s deal — including $39 million over the first two years, per NFL Network — is a game-changer. His $18 million per year annual salary is tied for the ninth-highest in the league with the Giants’ Kenny Golladay and Chiefs’ Tyreek Hill. The bigger contracts belong to future Hall of Famers like Julio Jones, perennial Pro Bowlers like Keenan Allen and DeAndre Hopkins, and the recently franchise-tagged Davante Adams and Chris Godwin.
“A major overpay” is how one NFL executive described Kirk’s contract to The Post.
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In all, the Jaguars agreed with five players whose max-value deals likely will be north of $200 million: Kirk, five-time Pro Bowl guard Brandon Scherff (terms not reported), former Jets defensive tackle Foley Fatukaski (three years, $30 million), linebacker Foye Oluokun (three years, $45 million) and former Giants tight end Evan Engram (one year, $9 million).
One year ago, as the Patriots went on a $300 million free-agent spending spree even though the Jaguars had the most salary cap space in the NFL, Jacksonville’s approach was more conservative. But head coach Doug Pederson’s arrival and the need to surround quarterback Trevor Lawrence with talent after a disappointing rookie season has led to more aggressive thinking within the organization, according to a league source.
Adams, who informed the Packers that he will not play on the franchise tag, and Godwin are perhaps the biggest ripple-effect winners from the 25-year-old Kirk’s deal. Kirk averaged 12.3 yards per catch with 17 total touchdowns in four years with the Cardinals, playing with either DeAndre Hopkins, Larry Fitzgerald or sometimes both to divert defensive attention. He set career highs with 77 catches for 982 yards in 2021.
Adams, 29, essentially laughs at those numbers. His average season over the past four years playing with Aaron Rodgers is 108 catches for 1,327 yards and nearly 12 touchdowns. It won’t be crazy now for him to ask to top Hopkins’ market-leading $27.5 million per year with the Cardinals.
Godwin, 26, is coming off a torn ACL but he also has had a more productive start to his career than Kirk. And there’s a group of young receivers eligible for contract extensions for the first time and entering the final year of their contracts — led by the 49ers’ Deebo Samuel, Titans’ A.J. Brown, Seahawks’ DK Metcalf and Commanders’ Terry McLaurin — who soon will have agents arguing for “Kirk money.”
Three-time Pro Bowler Allen Robinson, 28, has three 1,100 receiving seasons and was seen by some teams as the top receiver available despite coming off a down season. But he could struggle to match Kirk’s deal unless this move is the beginning of a widespread market correction.
With few exceptions — Golladay’s contract, for example — receivers have seen a depressed free-agent market over the past two years because of the wealth of cheaper, immediate-impact talent coming out of college offenses.
“It’s a great wide receiver draft,” NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said before the scouting combine. “I feel like we could copy and paste the comments on wide receivers and use it for the next 20 years, because the college game is giving us a ton of these guys every year.”
What might Jacksonville have been thinking to splurge on Kirk?
“He’s a good player with potential to be a strong No. 2 receiver,” said another league source, adding that the Jaguars don’t have a receiver with Kirk’s versatility or speed.