Nelson Agholor revitalized his career in 2020 with the Las Vegas Raiders, but is he worthy of the franchise tag?
The question that the Raiders’ brain trust should be asking themselves is whether Agholor’s production warrants such priority. Can they, under no circumstance, allow him to walk in case no long-term agreement is reached? It appears the Raiders will cut ties with Tyrell Williams this offseason so that’s one contract off the books. This is important as it frees up space to lock up Agholor, assuming the Raiders plan on doing so.
Agholor became one of quarterback Derek Carr’s favorite targets alongside tight end Darren Waller in 2020. By season’s end, ‘Nelly’ had posted noteworthy numbers, totaling 896 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. He also averaged 18.7 yards per reception with 230 yards after the catch, though he did have five drops. Nevertheless, he was the closest to a ‘number one wide receiver’ the Raiders had but this does mean they can’t afford to lose him?
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How much do the Raiders have to pay to ‘tag’ Agholor?
Pro Football Focus recently took a look at how much it could cost the Raiders to keep Agholor for at least one more year. They predict the franchise tag will cost Las Vegas a total of $15.80 million in 2021 and, on a side note, they brought up Agholor’s 73.8 PFF grade. That’s important since ’15’ isn’t a star player but in its context, it shows his importance to the Raiders. With Williams gone and Agholor potentially walking away, the Silver and Black would be rather thin at wide receiver.
More than just his stats, Agholor is also a proven champion, something the Raiders know little about. Also, it’s clear he’s a respected voice in the locker room after reports came out he called out his teammates following a loss late in the year. Moving forward, if no long-term contract can be agreed upon, Las Vegas will have to ‘tag’ one of their few bright spots from an otherwise, disappointing 2020 season.
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*Top Photo: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Agholor played well for the Raiders, and may play better for them next season, but a franchise tag is so much more than he would be likely to get on the open market that it’s ridiculous. He was 30th in the NFL in receiving yardage, and extrapolating over the second half of the season he would have been 15th. So if he’s a #1 receiver, he’s a marginal one, especially with Waller absorbing a lot of the attention. I think a lot of guys could have achieved in Agholor’s position with Williams being out for the season and the rookies underperforming – the opportunity was there for the taking. I also think if Agholor doesn’t get re-signed, there will be a lot of receivers wanting to come to the Raiders as it’s obvious there are plenty of targets available. Agholor should also want to stay – the Raiders helped him resurrect his career and he seems to have good chemistry with Carr. Also not mentioned is that the cap is going to fall significantly this year, so there is not going to be a lot of money floating around for free agents. He’s only 27, so a 3 or 4 year deal with some of it guaranteed is not that risky. 4 years / 32 million seems reasonable.
Who wrote this non-sense?? please stop
No. Let him know the team would like to retain him (assuming the Raiders do), but that it is understood he will likely get offers with longer terms or more money than the Raiders can offer at the position. Leave the door open for him to sign another short-term deal with the Raiders if his market isn’t as robust as he hopes. It is a crowded FA receiver market this year.
let him try free agency. Agholor takes targets away from Ruggs,. Ruggs can be better than amari cooper was. Cooper got 130 targets in both of his first two seasons . Ruggs has 4.2 speed, hands and is explosive and the Raiders spent a HIGH pick on him. Ruggs got 43 targets in 13 games. ridiculous low number, agholor got 85 targets. Ruggs needs 100 targets this year to see what he’s got. Waller got 150 targets last year to give you an idea here. Ruggs is BETTER than agholor and is a game breaker. let agholor walk if you want to see what Ruggs can do otherwise his impact will be minimal and will not live to the high pick .