Every season, a different set of players face a crossroads or have something to prove for a variety of reasons. The most common reasons are related to age, contract or salary cap concerns, injury, poor performance or off-the-field issues.
Wide receiver Calvin Ridley is a prime example of capitalizing when there's something to prove. He returned from a one-year suspension in 2022 under the NFL's gambling policy. Prior to the suspension, Ridley stepped away from football seven games into the 2021 season to focus on his mental health and suggested a change of scenery would be best. He posted 76 catches for 1,016 receiving yards and eight touchdowns in 2023 with the Jacksonville Jaguars after a trade during his suspension. Ridley signed a four-year, $92 million contract, averaging $23 million per year, with the Tennessee Titans in March as an unrestricted free agent.
Here are 10 offensive players, who aren't quarterbacks, to keep an eye on during the 2024 season, fitting into one of those categories.
Last year was a tale of two Stefon Diggs'. He caught 49 passes for 620 yards and five touchdowns in Buffalo's first six games last season. Diggs had five 100-yard games in the process. Over the final 11 games, Diggs didn't have any 100-yard games and averaged 51.2 receiving yards per game. The disappearing act continued in the playoffs where Diggs had 10 receptions for 73 yards without any touchdowns in two games.
The Bills were comfortable with $31.096 million in 2024 dead money, a salary cap charge for a player no longer on a team's roster, to deal Diggs, a 2024 fourth-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick to the Texans for a 2025 second-round pick in March. Diggs' contract was reworked in connection with the trade. His 2025 through 2027 contract years worth $56,102,941 were replaced with 2025 through 2028 contract years automatically voiding on the 23rd day prior to the 2025 league year (Feb. 17, 2025). Diggs, who turns 31 at the end of November, also received a raise for 2024 where he is making $22.52 million instead of $19.005 million. He could be in for a rude awakening in 2025 free agency if some semblance of the early 2023 Diggs doesn't consistently return this season.
Chubb was in the best NFL running back conversation before suffering a gruesome left knee injury two games into the 2023 season. He tore his ACL, MCL and meniscus. Chubb was coming off a career-high 1,525 rushing yards in 2022, which was his fourth straight season of at least 1,000 yards on the ground. It was Chubb's second serious injury to his left knee. He tore the LCL, MCL and PCL in 2015 while at the University of Georgia.
The Browns opted to keep Chubb on a revised contract rather than release him. Chubb was scheduled to make an unsecured $12.2 million in 2024. The base value of the new deal is a fully guaranteed $2.05 million, worth a maximum of $12.225 million. Chubb gets an additional $225,000 if he is active for one game. There are a total of $2.25 million in per-game roster bonuses outside the initial game in which Chubb gets $185,416.67 for each game active up to a maximum of 12 games provided he has more rushing yards (170), receptions (4), touchdowns (0) or offensive playtime (4.35%) than in 2023. Most of the remaining $7.7 million in incentives is based on Chubb's 2024 yards rushing and rushing touchdowns. The lowest thresholds are 1,050 yards rushing and 10 rushing touchdowns, respectively.
Chubb is beginning the regular season on the reserve/physically unable to perform list. The earliest Chubb can come off this list is on Sept. 30 after Cleveland's fourth regular-season game.
Injuries limiting Higgins to 12 games in 2023 prevented him from having a third straight 1,000-yard receiving season. He had 42 receptions for 656 yards with five touchdowns. The Bengals squatted on Higgins' rights by designating him as a franchise player for $21.816 million. Higgins requested a trade after the franchise tag was placed on him. He might have ended up with the Titans with a $23 million-per-year contract instead of Calvin Ridley had he been on the open market since Brian Callahan, who spent the last five seasons as Bengals offensive coordinator, is the new coach for Tennessee. This season is expected to be Higgins' last in Cincinnati because of fellow wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase's looming blockbuster contract extension. A second straight season with production being affected by injury wouldn't be an ideal way to enter free agency next March.
Stanley was arguably the NFL's best offensive tackle when he parlayed a 2019 First Team All-Pro campaign into a five-year, $98.75 million contract extension worth up to $100 million through incentives, with record-setting guarantees for an offensive lineman contract during the middle of the 2020 season. The deal contained a little more than $65.5 million in overall guarantees where slightly more than $58.8 million was fully guaranteed at signing.
Injuries have largely derailed Stanley's career after he signed that contract. Stanley has only played 26 of a possible 61 regular-season games since then and 13 of the 26 were last season when Stanley was a shadow of his former self. He allowed five sacks and committed a career-high 11 penalties, while dealing with a right knee injury that limited his mobility and strength.
Stanley took a pay cut in the offseason where his 2024 compensation was reduced to $7.5 million from $15 million and the $20 million he was scheduled to make in 2025 was converted into a voiding/dummy contract year. Ten million of incentives, based on offensive playtime and honors (Pro Bowl and All-NFL), were added so Stanley can make a maximum of $17.5 million this season. A healthy 2024 with a return to anything close to his previous level of play should set Stanley up for another big payday.
Pitts had 1,026 yards receiving in a Pro Bowl season as a rookie. He's been an underutilized asset the last two seasons. In the 27 games Pitts played over the 2022 and 2023 seasons, he was 3 receiving yards shy of the total from his 2021 rookie campaign. New Falcons coach Raheem Morris expressed excitement about how Pitts will be used in March at the NFL annual owners meeting, which was a precursor to his fully guaranteed fifth-year option in 2025 for $10.878 million being picked up.
Brown reuniting with Kyler Murray, his college quarterback at the University of Oklahoma in 2018, because of the 2022 trade from the Ravens to the Arizona Cardinals didn't pay big dividends. He had a career-low 574 receiving yards on 51 catches in 14 games last season.
Brown signed a one-year, $7 million deal worth up to $11 million through incentives to be a part of Kansas City's revamped receiving corps. A dislocated left shoulder is expected keep Brown out of the regular-season opener against the Ravens and possibly a couple more games. Becoming a trusted target of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes could be extremely beneficial financially since the wide receiver market continues to explode. There are currently 22 wide receivers signed to contracts averaging $20 million per year or more.
Harris has gained over 1,000 yards on the ground in each of his three NFL seasons. He is the only player to do so over the last three seasons (2021 through 2023). The feat wasn't enough to convince the Steelers to exercise a fully guaranteed $6.79 million fifth-year option in 2025 with Harris. His production has been largely a function of volume. Harris' 834 rushing attempts are the NFL's second most since he entered the NFL. He has averaged a rather pedestrian 3.9 yards per carry in his career.
Harris surely took note of the New England Patriots giving Rhamondre Stevenson a four-year, $36 million extension (worth to $48 million through incentives) averaging $9 million per year with $17.116 million fully guaranteed at the end of June. Another 1,000-yard rushing season with increased efficiency could put Harris in a position to eclipse Stevenson's deal.
The Chiefs surprisingly put Taylor in the exclusive $20 million-per-year offensive lineman club, which had five members at the time, rather than re-sign left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., who played 2022 under a $16.662 million franchise tag. Taylor signed a four-year, $80 million contract with $60 million in guarantees, of which $40 million was fully guaranteed at signing. He was expected to make the transition to left tackle until Buccaneers castoff Donovan Smith was signed.
Taylor led the NFL in penalties and penalty yards in 2023. He was flagged 20 times for 140 yards. Unfortunately for the Chiefs, the $20 million Taylor is scheduled to make in 2025 became fully guaranteed on March 19, the fifth day of the 2024 league year. Because of this, the Chiefs will likely be stuck with Taylor in 2025 if he has another disappointing season. In order to get another team to consider taking Taylor off the Chiefs' hands, a good portion of his 2025 salary would need to be absorbed in a trade.
The Lions used the 12th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft on Williams knowing that his rookie year was going to be jeopardized because he tore the ACL in his left knee during the College Football Playoff National Championship game that January. His development was hindered in 2023 because of a four-game suspension to start the season for violating the NFL's gambling policy. Williams had 24 for receptions for 354 yards with two touchdowns in 12 games last season.
Josh Reynolds leaving in free agency for the Denver Broncos opens up a starting spot for Williams. He'll need to be an upgrade over Reynolds, who had 40 catches for 608 yards with five touchdowns last season, to convince the Lions to exercise an option for a fifth year in 2026. Williams' fully guaranteed option year salary should at a minimum be more than $15 million.
Burks was selected 18th overall in 2022, which was the first-round pick the Titans obtained from the Philadelphia Eagles for A.J. Brown. He hasn't come close to filling Brown's shoes. In Burks' two NFL seasons, he has 49 receptions, 665 yards receiving and one touchdown in 21 games.
The Titans continually addressing a glaring need at wide receiver with veterans on the open market keeps pushing Burks down the depth chart. DeAndre Hopkins was brought in last year right before the start of training camp on a two-year deal. Calvin Ridley was signed in March to be the primary receiver target. Tyler Boyd joined the Titans in May on a modest one-year deal after a soft free agent market. Tennessee was attractive to Boyd because new coach Brian Callahan was his longtime offensive coordinator in Cincinnati.
Burks may need to make good on his opportunities, which will be more limited than in the past barring a rash of wide receiver injuries, to get a fourth year in Tennessee, although his $2,664,489 2025 salary is fully guaranteed. The Titans just demonstrated a willingness to part ways with early draft picks taken before Ran Carthon became general manager in January 2023 that aren't panning out. Caleb Farley didn't survive the roster cutdown to 53 players. The oft-injured cornerback was 2021's 22nd overall pick.
