And you still have a #2 in the 2025 draft. I told y'all after the WAJ trade to stop worrying about draft picks. Picks are crapshoots. Make the deal and get what you WANT. The 2nd they traded back (from the 1st) was for Lassiter, btw.
This is a different thread, but in two years, unless we are at minimum in AFC title game with Diggs being a big part, we will be wishing we had Brian Thomas, T Arnold or some of the others between 23 and Lasiter. No Diggs and Lassiter compared to other possibilities at 23 is the comparison. And no I would not do a 2nd for a one year rental of Diggs unless you think we are right up there with SF or KC this year.
Nice but Diggs being a one year rental suggests this year is Super Bowl or bust no? Why would you give up assets unless you don't think this guy is going to take you over the top, and what does that mean this season? It means at least afc championship game. Anything less is a failure.
With it being a 3 year deal, it’s not that bad. It’s a bit rich for my liking, and it leaves no wiggle room salary cap wise, in the WR area. But if Nico Collin’s can replicate the type of performance he had this past season, it will be much better.
Collins was racking up huge numbers with Collins after Dell and Noah Brown went down. He has near elite physical attributes, runs great routes, is sure handed and has reportedly been a model teammate. Collins is not getting top of the scale pay, but a reasonable salary bump while he is still young and improving. For the record, the Texans did not give up a first for Diggs, either.
this is added on to end of rookie contract. this year Nico gets his signing bonus from this contract and whatever his rookie contract value is. We have Nico locked for 4 more years (his prime)
Those of y’all who are criticizing the deal… good lord. Come on. You need to be ok with having nice things. When you get a star franchise QB on a rookie deal you do everything to surround him with weapons. Collins is a rising star and $25 million will be a huge value soon enough. It’s basically a 4 year $75 million deal anyway since it doesn’t kick in until after this season. Bottom line: we locked up our stud WR for the duration of the remainder of CJ’s cheap years. Let’s be ok with that. There’s not a single good reason to criticize it.
Depending how much credit you give CJ for elevating the play of WRs on his team, there is plenty of reason to question the extension. I'm OK with it because I like the continuity and certainty it provides. I also believe Nico will be a legit WR1 with CJ at QB for the next 3 years if he stays healthy.
Even if CJ does elevate Nico, there’s still no reason not to extend him for the duration of CJ’s rookie deal. Once CJ starts getting paid then it’s more of a question, but there’s not a single team out there that wouldn’t extend their young stud receiver while having their stud QB for cheap.
It works both ways. Each can make the other better or limit the other by not playing their best. There are no guarantees in the NFL, but I like taking this risk.