Malik Neighbors doesn’t need a cutting-edge navigation system to find where the rainbow is at the other end.
This week, Justin Jefferson signed the richest contract in NFL history for a wide receiver, making his destination clear — that is, until the next star pass-catcher is given the next huge contract.
Will Neighbours end up joining this conversation?
Before we speculate about his future stardom and the wealth that comes with it, can we just see the 20-year-old Giants rookie actually take the field and play in an NFL game?
Of course, this is premature and everyone around Neighbours will be well advised to keep the thought out of his mind while he continues to take part in organised team training activities this week.
Just a few months ago, the Giants selected Jefferson sixth overall in the 2024 draft following a stellar career at Louisiana State University. In 2020, the Vikings selected Jefferson 22nd overall out of Louisiana State University, but at the time it was more of a hope than a plan in Minneapolis to expect him to make big money.
To earn that amount, Jefferson needed 392 receptions for 5,899 yards and 30 touchdowns over four years. He caught an NFL-high 128 passes for 1,809 yards and finished fifth in the league in MVP voting in 2022. Jefferson is just 24, and the Vikings signed him for four more years on a $140 million contract on Monday.
The $110 million guaranteed is a record for a wide receiver, as is Jefferson’s average salary of $35 million, putting him ahead of the Eagles’ AJ Brown ($32 million average), the Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown ($30 million), the Dolphins’ Tyreek Hill ($30 million) and Jaylen Waddle ($28.85 million), the Raiders’ Davante Adams ($28 million), the Rams’ Cooper Kupp ($26.7 million) and the Eagles’ Devonta Smith ($25 million).
The next contenders to challenge Jefferson for the wide receiver benchmark are CeeDee Lamb (Cowboys) and Ja’Marr Chase (Bengals). Seeing Jefferson make money would no doubt be a joy for Lamb, Chase and their agents. A rising tide floats all boats, and a rising salary scale floats all players. Lamb and Chase don’t yet have a solid case for making more money than Jefferson, but that doesn’t mean they won’t try.
“Since the moment he arrived in Minnesota, Justin has consistently proven himself to be one of the NFL’s best players on and off the field,” Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said the day Jefferson’s big contract was announced. “We’re excited to have him as a cornerstone of our team for a long time to come. His joyful dedication to the process and goals embodies our culture.”
Will Giants general manager Joe Sean express similar praise and sentiment four years later in response to the announcement of Neighbors’ new contract?
Neighbors caught 89 passes for 1,569 yards and 14 touchdowns in his final season at LSU. Jefferson caught 111 passes for 1,540 yards and 18 touchdowns in his final year at LSU. Jefferson is (slightly) taller at 6’1″ and both players weigh around 200 pounds. Both players have good speed and breakaway ability after the catch.
“He has all the tools,” Giants wide receivers coach Mike Groh said of Neighbors. “I think in baseball we say a ‘five-tool player.’ He has the ability to win the short game, the intermediate game and the long game. He’s dynamic with the ball in his hands and can play inside or outside. We’re excited to see what he can do combined with our teammates.”
The Giants believe Neighbors has a spirited competitive spirit and wants to produce at the highest level, but Jefferson is a special player and Neighbors, while promising, is a rookie who has a lot to prove before he deserves to be in the discussion for the NFL’s top targets.
The Giants haven’t been down this path for a long time. In late August 2018, the previous front office regime gave Odell Beckham Jr. a five-year, $90 million contract extension, making him the highest-paid wide receiver in the league. Beckham’s $65 million in total guarantees and $41 million at signing were the highest ever for a receiver. Beckham’s $20 million per season over the first three years of his contract surpassed Antonio Brown (who averaged $17 million per year), and his $65 million in total guarantees surpassed Mike Evans’ $55 million.
Beckham, who was on a Hall of Fame trajectory during his first three years with the Giants, played in just four games in 2017 because of recurring ankle injuries but still received a paycheck.
But the relationship quickly soured, and by March 2019, he was traded to the Browns. Since then, Beckham has played for the Rams and Ravens, but has yet to come close to the level of excellence he achieved early in his career with the Giants. He is currently on a one-year contract with the Dolphins.
Beckham, like Neighbors and Jefferson, is a product of Louisiana State University, once known for developing the nation’s best defensive backs but now a wide receiver factory. As a rookie, Beckham caught 91 passes for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns despite missing the first four games with a hamstring strain. Jefferson caught 88 passes for 1,400 yards and seven touchdowns in his first NFL season. Chase, also from Louisiana State, was sensational as a rookie, catching 81 passes for 1,455 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Perhaps Neighbors can follow the lead of his Tigers colleagues and make an immediate impression on a Giants offense desperate for a breakout star.
“We’re certainly talking about top 1 percent players,” Groh said, “and I think they can because there’s so much passing going on at all levels of the game now, starting in high school, and guys are throwing passes on virtually every snap. Malik played a ton of college football, where he recorded two 1,000-yard seasons and caught a ton of balls for a premier program among the best competition in college football in the SEC. They’ve made the transition very well.”
“We’re not trying to put those expectations on him, but we’re very confident in the players we have.”
With Daniel Jones returning from knee surgery, it remains to be seen whether the Giants have a quarterback capable of making that happen with Neighbors.
But that’s a discussion for another day.
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Drew Lock was a second-round draft pick out of the University of Missouri in 2019 and arrived in Denver during Vic Fangio’s first year as head coach of the Broncos. The combination did not lead to a productive three-year tenure for either player or coach, as the Broncos went 19-30 and Lock went 8-13 in 21 games as the quarterback.
Lock has since been traded to the Seahawks and didn’t play a single down in 2022. He was 1-1 last season as a replacement under coach Pete Carroll.
Lock signed a one-year, $5 million contract with the Giants in March to back up Jones unless Jones undergoes reconstructive knee surgery and is unable to play (he is expected to be ready in time for Opening Day).
Besides the new uniform he’s wearing this spring, Lock is also experiencing something he hasn’t experienced in his first five NFL seasons.
“It was fun because it was my first offensive head coaching,” said Lock, who spent his first five years in the NFL under two former defensive coordinators in Fangio and Carroll.
Brian Daboll has risen through the ranks in the NFL as an offensive coach and respected quarterback mentor, and his experience working with Josh Allen with the Bills was a factor in the Giants’ decision to hire him in 2022.
Lock’s addition coincides with what could be a big change in how the Giants run their offense.
Daboll handed play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Mike Kafka for 2022 and 2023. The Giants used three quarterbacks last season to weather multiple injuries and shoddy play from the offensive line, but the overall operation didn’t work.
That led to Daboll taking over play-calling duties in the second half of the season, and judging by Daboll’s comments and actions during OTAs this year, it seems likely that Daboll will take over full-time play-calling this season. During spring practice, Daboll was in charge of play-calling with Kafka on the sidelines.
“It’s fun to hear his voice in the headset,” Lock said of Daboll. “You can tell he’s been doing it for a long time. Great reminders and good tips, but not too much. Not to the point where you get too hung up on what he says. Good tips and reminders.”
“There are a lot of components to the offense, but it’s fun to learn and it shows you how to be really successful.”
