Why The Dolphins Were Smart With The Jaylen Waddle Deal
By Andy Davies
The Miami Dolphins extended wide receiver Jaylen Waddle last week, signing the 25-year-old to a three-year deal for up to $85 million.
This has made Waddle one of the top earning wideouts in the NFL, earning the fifth biggest annual salary. This may seem a lot for a WR2, but here is why the Dolphins are being smart.
The wide receiver market
The week that has followed has proved exactly how smart the Dolphins front office have been. Just four days after the Waddle deal was announced, it was confirmed that Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson had signed an extension.
Jefferson signed a $140 million extension on a staggering four-year deal, with $110 million guaranteed. This makes him the highest-paid non-QB in NFL history, breaking the previous record set by the San Francisco 49ers’ Nick Bosa.
Jefferson is not the only wide receiver wanting a pay day. Before the Waddle deal, the Detroit Lions signed Amon-Ra St. Brown to a four-year $120 million extension.
CeeDee Lamb and Ja’Marr Chase will be seeking extensions after excellent starts to their NFL careers for the Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals respectively. Lamb has put up just as good numbers as Jefferson and has more playoff wins on his résumé.
Chase has reached the Super Bowl and his numbers have been brilliant in the NFL since being drafted early in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Jefferson has yet to win a playoff game as a player. While this has not exactly been at the fault of the Vikings wideout, this will be something that is brought up by either Chase, Lamb, or their agents.
After all, there is no chance that Jared Goff would have earned over $200 million and $170 million of it guaranteed if the quarterback market had not been shaken up by the Deshaun Watson Cleveland Browns contract. It sets off a domino effect and it would likely have been the same for Waddle if Lamb and Chase had been paid.
It is likely that Chase and Lamb, with the Jefferson deal going down, will want similar figures. They will certainly earn over $100 million and possibly more than $110 million. With the Dolphins getting the Waddle in beforehand, they have saved themselves some serious cash by doing the deal when they did.
Not a WR2 forever
One of the criticisms aimed towards the Dolphins front office was the fact that they were paying this much for a wide receiver number two. However, it should not be forgotten that Tyreek Hill stated that he plans to potentially retire in 2025, giving him one more year.
Hill could easily change his mind, but even if he does, there is no guarantee that the Dolphins will want to cough up the money with the former Kansas City Chiefs wideout another year older.
Waddle will then be the certified number one in Miami. If Hill was to retire or leave the Dolphins, then Waddle will be 26 when he gets his chance at the WR1 role.
Whilst not everyone adjusts to the transition from WR2 to WR1, as seen with Juju Smith-Schuster, Waddle has done enough in his three-season NFL career to show that he can become that guy.
He has 3,385 career receiving yards from 47 games, with 1,000 yards in each of those three campaigns. Along with 18 touchdowns, Waddle has quickly become a fan favourite. We have seen the Tennessee Titans struggle to replace AJ Brown and the Houston Texans until 2023 struggle to replace Deandre Hopkins. It would not have been guaranteed that the Dolphins could have gotten a top wideout in the NFL draft next year, especially with the team unlikely to have a poor enough season to warrant a high draft pick.
The future of the Dolphins is Jaylen Waddle.
ANDY DAVIES
NFL ANALYST
ANDY IS A SPORTS JOURNALISM GRADUATE WITH OVER FOUR YEARS EXPERIENCE OF NFL WRITING AND PODCASTING. ANDY IS THE HOST OF THE ACROSS THE POD, FINS NATION UK AND EURO TRIPZ PODCASTS AND HAS PRESS PASS EXPERIENCE AT THE LONDON GAMES AND MANY OTHER NFL BASED EVENTS, HAVING INTERVIEWED THE LIKES OF JASON BELL, OSI UMENYIORA, DOUG PEDERSON, DERRICK HENRY, TREVOR LAWRENCE AND MIKE VRABEL.