The Las Vegas Raiders needed depth at the wide receiver position, and they got some on the cheap by signing former first round pick Nelson Agholor.
Nelson Agholor was signed by the Las Vegas Raiders to a 1-year deal which makes him prove his worth to the team. The deal includes a $910,000 base salary with a signing bonus of $137,500. For a former first round pick, as well as Super Bowl champion, that is a very high-reward, low-risk deal for the Silver and Black.
Agholor has been the talk of the town in recent days from fans disliking the signing to some loving it. However you feel about it, one thing is for certain: the Raiders are making Agholor prove he wants to a Las Vegas Raider in the future.
Field Yates was the first to release the contract details of the new signing on Twitter:
Nelson Agholor's one-year deal with the Raiders: $137,500 to sign with a $910K base salary. It's a deal that qualifies for the veteran salary benefit. Prove it chance for him in Vegas.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 23, 2020
Agholor has come under scrutiny for his drops in the past. In fact, 23 total in his 5 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles. However, Julio Jones has had 66 in his 9 seasons with the Falcons, though in a much larger sample set, as Jones has over 1,200 targets and Agholor only has 351.
Statistically speaking, 2017 was his best season. With eight touchdowns on 62 receptions and 91 targets, he had a catch percentage of nearly 70%. The 12.4 yards per catch was his highest of his career and he caught 35 first downs.
The primarily slot receiver joins a cast of Raiders receivers which struggled last year to gain production. They were overshadowed by the emergence of tight end Darren Waller being the No. 1 target last season, but there were bright spots along the way. Tyrell Williams proved to be a playmaker when healthy, and rookie Hunter Renfrow closed out the season with back-to-back 100-yard games.
It will also be interesting watching both Renfrow and Agholor fight for that starting slot receiver role in training camp this year. As a rookie, Renfrow showed he can certainly play at the NFL level, and had great production considering he was a fifth round pick of the Raiders during the 2019 NFL Draft.
Whatever you think of either player, the Raiders have plenty of depth at the receiver position and will presumably take a top 5 receiver in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft, giving veteran starting quarterback Derek Carr plenty of weapons to throw to.