Star Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson generated headlines this week at OTAs when he declared he wants to be a Jet for life.
"I'm hopeful that I'm a Jet for life, we get this thing rolling and all of our best days are ahead of us"
- Garrett Wilson pic.twitter.com/7A6MjLvSGP— Jets Videos (@snyjets) May 21, 2025
First let’s start off by noting this is very good news. Near the end of last season, there were a lot of rumblings about Wilson being unhappy. It would be tough to blame him for that. He’s done his job with three straight 1,000 yard seasons to start his career. Still his team has had minimal success.
Of course, a new contract won’t guarantee that Wilson will spend his entire career with the Jets. It can, however, keep him in green and white through his prime years.
Let’s figure out how much it will cost.
First, I think we need to note the rare air Garrett Wilson is in. Sometimes I think we don’t do enough to appreciate a player who is consistently excellent.
There are only eight wide receivers who have entered the NFL since 2010 who have posted 1,000 yards in each of their first three seasons. Garrett Wilson is one of them.
With that in mind, I decided to take a look at the second contracts the other seven receivers received. Of course with the salary cap changing every year raw, numbers aren’t that meaningful. It felt quaint to look at AJ Green’s second contract with a $15 million annual salary ten years ago and remember a time where that was a market busting figure.
It felt more relevant to look at the percentage of the salary cap each of these players’ second contacts annual salaries accounted for in the year they signed the deal.
The seven players are Green, Mike Evans, Odell Beckham, Michael Thomas, Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase, and Jaylen Waddle.
The lowest was Evans, whose second contract took up 9.3% of the cap. The highest was Chase’s who took up 14.4% of the cap. The average was 11.5%.
So if we take that 11.5% average and apply it to the 2025 salary cap of $279.2 million, Garrett Wilson’s next contract would come in around $32 million per season. That would tie him with AJ Brown for the fifth highest salary in the league.
I know there are other elements to consider. Guarantees and contract structure are significant. This is also only one way to estimate salaries. Still, if I had to ballpark a new Garrett contract off the top of my head, it probably would come in around $32 million.
Is Garrett Wilson a top five receiver? I’m not sure about that.
Would I have a problem with the Jets giving him top five receiver money? If this is what it takes to get a deal, I encourage them to do it. I can’t imagine that money would go to anything more valuable.
