Over the last two years, Darren Waller has firmly established himself as one of the league’s top-two tight ends. In fact, only Travis Kelce has more receiving yards than Waller since 2019 and there is a fairly significant gap between No. 2 and No. 3.
With Waller being the best player on the team, his recent contract extension makes him among the best values in the entire NFL.
In a recent piece by Mike Tainer of ESPN, he wrote about the 22 best values in the NFL when it comes to contracts. Here is a snippet of what he had to say about the Pro Bowl tight end for the Raiders:
“When Waller signed this extension with the Raiders in October 2019, he was a 27-year-old career backup earning roughly the veterans minimum who was just a few weeks into a breakthrough season. In other words, the Raiders lowballed Waller when they had the chance and have been rewarded with two 1,000-yard seasons (and first- and third-place rankings among tight ends in Football Outsiders DYAR) at journeyman prices.”
The contract that Tainer referred to was a four-year extension worth just under $30 million for Waller. As we are set to enter the 2021 season, ten tight ends are set to make more money per year than Waller. But what is more shocking is that 36 tight ends have more fully guaranteed money than Waller going into the season, according to OverTheCap.com.
At some point, the Raiders might want to rework this contract to help Waller as he has clearly outperformed expectations. But as of now, it remains one of the most team-friendly deals in the NFL.
