NEWSLETTER
Michael Pittman Jr. was never hitting the open market this offseason, and now he won’t be any time soon. Just a week after placing the franchise tag on Pittman, the Indianapolis Colts are inking him to a long-term extension.
According to Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz, Pittman’s new three-year deal will be worth up to $71.5M and guarantee $46M.
What does Michael Pittman Jr.’s new deal mean for the wide receiver market?
Pittman turned in an impressive 109-catch, 1,152-receiving-yard season for the Colts in 2023 and turned it into a heck of a payday. Indianapolis keeps its No. 1 wide receiver for the foreseeable future, a plus for an offense hoping to help 2023 first-rounder Anthony Richardson get back on track next season after missing most of his rookie year due to a shoulder injury.
It sets the table for this week’s negotiations for the rest of the league. Pittman is set to make $23 million per season, which ranks eighth in the NFL behind San Francisco’s Deebo Samuel.
Pittman, along with Mike Evans and Tee Higgins, was in the top tier of potential free-agent wide receivers this offseason. With none of the three hitting the open market, the rest of the wide receivers available could see their price tag go up from what it would have been had those three been available.
The Bears are in the market for a wide receiver, and they’ll be impacted by the potential surge in pricing on the wide receiver market.
