The Raiders are paying Nelson Agholor a lot less than the Eagles paid him last year

Even Nelson Agholor’s biggest detractors might be surprised by the terms of the one-year deal he signed with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Agholor only received a veteran salary benefit contract worth $1,047,500 with $887,500 guaranteed.

Those (relatively) paltry figures are legitimately surprising. That’s not even enough to qualify towards the Eagles’ compensatory pick formula.

Sure, Agholor is coming off a disastrous season where he really struggled prior to suffering a season-ending knee injury. But he’s also a former first-round pick who’s only 26 years old. One would’ve expected him to earn more than $1 million.

Agholor’s 2020 salary is basically nine time less than the $9.4 million that the Eagles paid to him in 2019.

Such a decision was not merely a mistake in hindsight. Bleeding Green Nation wrote at the time that there was a big issue with the Eagles paying Agholor that much prior to his fifth-year option becoming fully guaranteed. The receiver responded by saying “Only time will tell.”

Agholor arguably finished 2019 as the NFL’s worst wide receiver. It wasn’t the first time in his career he’s earned that distinction.

Pro Football Focus

2019: 124th out of 124

2018: 74th out of 108

2017: 35th out of 107

2016: 103rd out of 104

2015: 101st out of 101

Football Outsiders

2019: 66th out of 66

2018: 78th out of 84

2017: 32nd out of 86

2016: 88th out of 94

2015: 83rd out of 88

With this in mind, perhaps it’s not so shocking that Agholor didn’t receive better offers.

Another factor to consider here — one that’s relevant to the Eagles moving forward — is that the free agent wide receiver market has been pretty stagnant across the board. Amari Cooper re-signed a $100 million mega-deal with the Dallas Cowboys but remaining top receivers like Robby Anderson and Breshad Perriman haven’t been generating much rumored interest. It would seem that the 2020 NFL Draft, which is expected to be loaded with receiver talent, is suppressing the free agent market.

The Eagles could obviously stand to benefit from adding a veteran speedster like Anderson or Perriman at a reasonable price tag. Neither player will be available at Agholor’s cost, of course, but they could be more affordable than previously expected. It’s looking like a buyer’s market.

We’ll have to wait and see if the Eagles go that route.