The 2021 FA Market With Emphasis On TE & WR

This free agent wide receiver group is extremely diverse in terms of playing styles, with a handful of true X receivers, great slot weapons, deep threats, after-the-catch specialists and so on. Whatever type of playmaker a team is looking for, they’re out there.

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Here’s how the top of the class stacks up over the 2019 and 2020 regular seasons, with a few notable position ranks (min. 75 targets) included in parentheses:


PlayerYards per route runExplosive Plays (15+ yards)Average depth of targetYards after catch / receptionContested catches
Chris Godwin2.10479.65.9 (8th)22
Kenny Golladay2.124015.8 (4th)4.136 (3rd)
Allen Robinson II1.9154 (4th)11.02.844 (1st)
Will Fuller V2.17 (8th)3413.95.014
JuJu Smith-Schuster1.36257.44.816
Corey Davis2.034212.24.519
Marvin Jones Jr.1.424413.52.132 (4th)
Curtis Samuel1.223111.43.711
T.Y. Hilton1.752511.34.111
Sammy Watkins1.41229.05.38
A.J. Green0.93813.71.718

The 2021 NFL Draft class at wide receiver is also as highly touted as they come, with five players currently in the top 20 on Mike Renner’s Big Board and fourteen players in the top 100. However, the same could be said about the 2020 class, which had no noticeable effect on the free agent market. Nevertheless, with so many wide receivers from the 2020 class already playing high-level NFL football, perhaps we do see some more trepidation from clubs.

Most likely playing for a new team in 2021​

WR Allen Robinson II, Chicago Bears

It has been quite the rollercoaster this season following the contract negotiations between Allen Robinson II and the Chicago Bears. After tensions seemed to reach a boiling point earlier in the year, several Bears players took to Twitter with the #ExtendARob movement, but to no avail.
Chicago once again focused its spending this past offseason on defense, which was as nonsensical as it's been disappointing. The Bears have the fourth-most money in the NFL currently invested on defense, and they rank 19th on offense.
Unsurprisingly, they rank 27th in expected points added per play on offense so far in 2020. To his credit, Robinson already has over 1,000 receiving yards on the season, good for his second consecutive 1,000-yard season while catching passes from some of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL. No other Bears player has eclipsed 500 yards.
The Bears playing hardball with their only established receiving weapon is a bold strategy, and at this point, it may backfire with Robinson heading for greener pastures.

WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, Pittsburgh Steelers

Even before the 2019 season ended, rumors were swirling that 2020 could be Smith-Schuster’s final campaign in Pittsburgh. The writing has been on the wall for a myriad of reasons, the most apparent being the Steelers’ cap situation in 2021 and beyond.
Pittsburgh attacked a Super Bowl window with Ben Roethlisberger much like the New Orleans Saints did with Drew Brees, and 2020 is really the final frontier for both. In addition to Smith-Schuster, left tackle Alejandro Villanueva and edge rusher Bud Dupree are also set to hit free agency, among others.
Finally, Pittsburgh has taken a wide receiver in the top 66 draft picks three years in a row — James Washington in 2018, Diontae Johnson in 2019 and Chase Claypool this year. While Smith-Schuster primarily operates out of the slot, meaning his skill set would not necessarily be redundant, Pittsburgh has clearly prepared for life without him.
A big market like New York seems like a perfect fit for Smith-Schuster, already one of the more marketable players in the NFL. He’s also still only 24 years old, so teams shouldn’t be afraid to sign him to a long-term extension running for up to five years.

WR Marvin Jones Jr., Detroit Lions

The other Detroit Lions wide receiver is an interesting free agent case study for 2021 because the range of outcomes here is really wide. Marvin Jones Jr. has been his usual productive self for the Lions this season, stepping up and taking on a bit more of the load with Golladay’s absence. Even though more snaps on the outside would make sense with no Golladay, Jones has actually seen his slot snaps increase dramatically.
This could be for various reasons, but it’s a good sign that his receiving grade out of the slot (68.2) falls in line with his receiving grade out wide (70.5).

 
I felt bad for the guy but I still chuckled as I read that crazy story about Watkins. Too bad the author didn't ask him if he was a flat-earther like Kyrie but I think I know the answer.
That eliminates Watkins for the Pats for certain. Football is hard enough without demons popping up on your screen during a catch.

The Pats need mental stability and physical health. Please, BB, no more skill players with an injury history longer than the US Tax Code.
No Henry then... :coffee:
 
No Henry then... :coffee:

For the same reason as Gronk I guess.
injured cast GIF by Cuco
 
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