Lions WR reinforces the market ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft; what’s it mean for the Steelers?
Could we see multiple wide receivers on the move during Round 1 of the draft?
Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown received a record-setting contract extension Wednesday — a four-year, $120.01 million extension to become the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history. His extension comes a little more than a week after the Philadelphia Eagles and former first-round receiver DeVonta Smith agreed to a three-year, $75 million deal extension.
Two more wideouts have indicated they’re searching for new contracts before the season begins: Tee Higgins of the Cincinnati Bengals and Brandon Aiyuk of the San Francisco 49ers, who play in the AFC North. What does Aiyuk and Higgins’s contracts with St. Brown signify, and how would this impact the Steelers’ efforts to align talented players opposing George Pickens in 2024?
How Amon-Ra St. Brown’s contract could provide the blueprint for Brandon Aiyuk, Tee Higgins and others
Well, in the broad scope of things, it means we can certainly expect big-time paydays in the very near future for these young wideouts. Their looming paydays also mean that their respective teams will be forced to make a business decision. If St. Brown’s contract provides agents the blueprint for negotiating the extensions of other up-and-coming stars at the position, the 49ers and Bengals will each be forced to assess their cap situation in the coming seasons and make a decision; can they afford to take on such a significant contract?
With 38 players under contract, they are expected to be slightly over $34.808 million over the cap in the 2025 season going into Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft, pre-Aiyuk extension (second-least available cap space in the NFL, only behind the Saints). While the 49ers are slated to have $60.49 million in effective budget space in 2026—the seventh-lowest projected cap availability among the 32 NFL teams—things appear to be looking up. However, it should be noted that they will soon have to (probably) pay Brock Purdy, their young quarterback sensation.
The Bengals find themselves in a much better position overall (for now), with $48.1 million in projected effective cap space in 2025 and $153.1 million in 2026 (compared to the 49ers at -$34.808 million and $60.49 million, respectively). Still, their priority is an extension for their former No. 5 overall pick in the 2021 draft, wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase
— a cornerstone of the franchise. Suddenly, the idea of paying two players “WR1 money” makes their long-term financial outlook appear a bit more grim.
That’s the thing about accumulating talent in the NFL. Sooner or later, you’ll have to pay them. All of them. And that’s why a draft night trade could be in the works. Though a trade between the Steelers and Bengals would never happen, given their division rivalry, fans can enjoy the fact that a very talented wide receiver will be leaving the division while hanging onto the potential of Aiyuk wearing black and gold… at least for now.
The good thing about the timing of these deals is that it provides Steelers GM Omar Khan with a reasonable projection of their own cap situation in the coming years, should they take on a trade-and-extension for Aiyuk.
You can read a full breakdown on the St. Brown’s extension with year-by-year breakdowns with our Lions sister site, Pride of Detroit. But here’s their TL;DR recap on the deal:
Like many contracts, St. Brown’s deal is heavily backloaded. For the next two years, St. Brown’s cap hit is extremely sensible. His 2024 cap hit of $4.86 places him 45th among receivers; the increase to $13.9 million the following year places him 20th.
However, in 2026, his compensation skyrockets to $27.5 million, placing him as the fourth most expensive wide receiver ($33.1M) in 2026 and the most expensive in 2027 ($29M) and 2028 ($41M).
But like a lot other contracts, that last year appears to be a sham one. It is very likely that in 2028, when St. Brown will be 29 years old, he will either be cut, restructured, or given a whole new deal because there is very little guaranteed money left on the books.
Aiyuk would become a cornerstone and franchise player from Day 1 instead of taking a chance on talent in the 2024 NFL Draft, which is always risky—even if the Steelers have a decent eye for value at the position in later rounds. It’s a steep price to pay.
When it comes to anticipated cap space for the 2025, 2026, and 2027 seasons, the Steelers are ranked in the top eight. Being economical with offensive expenditures only makes sense if you’re genuinely driving offense to produce more, which hasn’t happened with their current roster in previous seasons.
Per PFF, among NFL teams in the regular season dating back to 2021, the Steelers have ranked…
- 28th with 4.7 yards per play
- 29th with 552 offensive points scored
- 26th with a 32.6% scoring drive percentage
- 29th with a 15.8% touchdown drive percentage
- 28th in successful play percentage (32.3%)
- 21st in EPA per play (-0.041)
