There are some final orders of business to wrap up before the turn of the New Year and NFL teams dive into Mock Draft Simulator season. Clubs would love nothing more than to avoid letting some of the best 2022 NFL free agents hit the open market, instead inking extensions before the 2021 campaign comes to a close.
Every year before the NFL playoffs kick off, a handful of big deals trickle in as the league’s top talent sign early contract extensions. The 2020 season featured Green Bay Packers tackle David Bakhtiari, Denver Broncos tackle Garett Bolles, Indianapolis Colts interior defender Grover Stewart, New York Giants safety Logan Ryan and Washington Football Team center Chase Roullier all signing and sticking around for the long-term.
The following is a list of players who could be the next to forego NFL free agency and sign long-term deals, along with contract projections.
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*All stats shown in tables are for the two seasons prior to each player signing his next contract.
Green Bay Packers WR Davante Adams
| Player | Explosive Receptions | Yards per route run | Catchable catch % | Receiving grade | Contract |
| Julio Jones | 92 | 3.00 | 87% | 92.5 | 3/$66M |
| DeAndre Hopkins | 67 | 2.26 | 92.8% | 92.5 | 2/$54.5M |
| Davante Adams | 62 | 2.86 | 94.4% | 93.6 | ? |
The Packers have shown a willingness to extend players toward the end of the regular season, most recently making David Bakhtiari the highest-paid tackle in the NFL last November. Talks are likely well underway between the Packers and Adams’ camp — the main issue to sort out is likely by what measure Adams will become the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL.
Contract Projection: Four years, $93 million ($23.25M per year), $52 million total guaranteed
New Orleans Saints OT Terron Armstead
| Player | Pressure % Allowed | + / – graded run block % |
Pass Block Grade | Pass Block w/o screens | Contract |
| Trent Williams | 4.9% | 16.6% / 13% | 84.9 | 82.5 | 6/$138M |
| David Bakhtiari | 4.6% | 9.9% / 9.1% | 91.5 | 90.4 | 4/$92M |
| Terron Armstead | 3.4% | 11.6% / 11.8% | 90.0 | 87.9 | ? |
The Saints already extended quarterback Taysom Hill earlier this season, helping to clear up their 2022 salary cap in the process. An Armstead extension would accomplish the same goal, as he’s currently set to count about $13 million against the Saints in 2022 without even being on the roster. With a new deal, the Saints could clear another $5 million or more.
Contract Projection: Three years, $61.5 million ($20.5M per year), $45 million total guaranteed
San Francisco 49ers OG Laken Tomlinson
| Players | Pressure % Allowed | + / – graded run block % |
Pass Block Grade | Pass Block w/o screens | Contract |
| Ereck Flowers | 7% | 15% / 13.9% | 66 | 62.5 | 3/$30M |
| Rodger Saffold | 4.1% | 14.6% / 11.4% | 73.5 | 70.1 | 4/$44M |
| Laken Tomlinson | 5.2% | 18% /12.5% | 66.9 | 63 | ? |
The 49ers were probably preparing to extend Mike McGlinchey following the 2021 season, but a torn quadriceps suffered in Week 9 could shelf those talks for another season. The 2018 top-10 draft pick has the fifth-year option remaining on his current contract, and head coach Kyle Shanahan discussed how the 2020 campaign was a “setback” for McGlinchey after two solid seasons to begin his career. Odds are the 49ers want to see a bit more before committing huge dollars to their young right tackle.
This may open the door for left guard Laken Tomlinson to stick around if San Francisco has enough cash after a potential Nick Bosa mega-extension. Tomlinson plays next to left tackle Trent Williams, whom the 49ers made the highest-paid offensive lineman in the NFL last offseason despite turning 33 years old. Tomlinson could similarly argue he has shown no signs of slowing down entering his age 30 season in 2022.
Contract Projection: Three years, $27 million ($9M per year), $16.5 million total guaranteed
Chicago Bears OG James Daniels
| Player | Pressure % Allowed | + / – graded run block % |
Pass Block Grade | Pass Block w/o screens | Contract |
| Shaq Mason | 4.3% | 12.8% / 8.9% | 73.3 | 70.3 | 5/$45M |
| Graham Glasgow | 4% | 13.2% / 12% | 73.1 | 70.1 | 4/$44M |
| James Daniels | 5.4% | 14.8% / 14.2% | 66.9 | 64.1 | ? |
Daniels played the majority of his snaps at left guard in 2018 and earned a 69.8 pass-block grade. In 2019, Daniels played almost equal snaps at center and left guard, earning a 67.0 pass-block grade as a center and 73.9 as a left guard. After injuries knocked him out for most of the 2020 season, Daniels now has a 68.1 pass-block grade as a full-time right guard.
Sometimes things don't have to be too complicated: Daniels is going to provide a team with above average play at all three interior spots, and he will still be 24 years old in Week 1 of 2022. The 2018 second-rounder will likely be younger than a handful of players in the 2022 Draft, and he is still brimming with potential.
Contract Projection: Five years, $50 million ($10M per year), $24 million total guaranteed
Miami Dolphins EDGE Emmanuel Ogbah
| Player | Pressure % | Pass Rush Win % | TFL + NG | QB Hits | Contract |
| Shaq Lawson | 13.2% | 12.5% | 18 | 21 | 3/$30M |
| Matthew Judon | 14.8% | 12.3% | 10 | 40 | 4/$54.5M |
| Emmanuel Ogbah | 13% | 13.4% | 7 | 25 | ? |
Ogbah made the most of his two-year, $15 million deal he signed with the Dolphins before the 2020 season, flashing the pass rush arsenal that got him drafted No. 33 overall in 2016. Ogbah’s 122 total quarterback pressures since 2020 rank sixth among edge defenders, with four of the five players ahead of him earning at least $17 million per year.
Ogbah doesn’t win as consistently as the top edge defenders, but his pass-rush grade has improved in four straight seasons, and his 19 sacks since 2020 match his total output over the first four years of his career with games left to play in 2021.
Contract Projection: Three years, $42 million ($14M per year), $30 million total guaranteed
Dallas Cowboys EDGE Randy Gregory
| Player | Pressure % | Pass Rush Win % | TFL + NG | QB Hits | Contract |
| Carl Lawson | 14.7% | 17.5% | 4 | 40 | 3/$45M |
| John Franklin-Myers | 14.8% | 16.5% | 3 | 11 | 4/$55M |
| Randy Gregory | 15% | 16.4% | 7 | 18 | ? |
The key question here may be whether the Cowboys can convince Gregory to stay — perhaps at a slightly discounted rate — after they stuck by him through some challenging times. Edge defender Demarcus Lawrence is already the fifth-highest paid edge rusher in the NFL, and the Cowboys used the No. 12 and 84 overall picks in the 2021 draft on former Penn State phenom Micah Parsons and Iowa product Chauncey Golston.
Since compensatory picks were created in 1994, the Dallas Cowboys have earned the second-most of any club, trailing only the Baltimore Ravens. Dallas was the only club with four compensatory picks in the 2021 Draft. Long story short, the Cowboys are comfortable letting talented players depart in free agency and building through the draft. Gregory’s value has never been higher than it is right now.
Contract Projection: Two years, $25 million ($12.5M per year), $15 million total guaranteed
Cleveland Browns CB Denzel Ward
| Player | Yards / coverage snap | Press coverage Grade | Explosive Play % Allowed | Forced Incompletion % | Contract |
| Marlon Humphrey | 1.04 | 69.5 | 2.1% | 14.9% | 5/$97.5M |
| Marshon Lattimore | 1.2 | 60.2 | 2.5% | 13.5% | 5/$97M |
| Denzel Ward | 0.9 | 66.0 | 1.8% | 13.3% | ? |
Marshon Lattimore’s extension shortly before the 2021 season was great news for Ward, and not just because the two players were teammates at Ohio State in 2015 and 2016 before Lattimore was drafted No. 11 overall in 2017 and Ward subsequently went No. 4 overall in 2018.
Lattimore, like Ward, has had some issues with week-to-week consistency from both a health and performance perspective. However, the two young stars are the rare breed of outside cornerback who are true lockdown players, playing roughly 60% of their snaps in press coverage looks out wide. There are some abilities and skill sets that simply cannot be taught, and excelling as a man cover cornerback on the outside is one of them. For this reason, when a team finds such a player, it tends to pay top dollar at the position.
Contract Projection: Five years, $105 million ($21M per year), $72.5 million total guaranteed
Kansas City Chiefs S Tyrann Mathieu
| Player | Defensive Stops | Coverage Grade | Forced Incompletion % | QB Pressures | Contract |
| Logan Ryan | 57 | 61.0 | 12.3% | 20 | 3/$30M |
| Jordan Poyer | 53 | 76.7 | 2.0% | 11 | 2/$19.5M |
| Tyrann Mathieu | 37 | 74.0 | 4.5% | 17 | ? |
Two contract extensions signed before the 2021 season will make every safety negotiation this upcoming offseason a battle between player and club: Seattle Seahawks safety Jamal Adams inking a four-year, $70 million deal and Minnesota Vikings safety Harrison Smith following that with a four-year, $64 million pact.
The trend with safety compensation had not been overwhelmingly positive for a few offseasons before these players broke through, and the question is how much this new landscape will impact the situation overall. Mathieu is no ordinary safety, either, with experience as a slot cornerback and plenty of snaps down in the box as well as in the deep third of the field.
Mathieu is the vocal leader on a Chiefs defense that has allowed the fourth-lowest expected points per opponent dropback since Week 8, but it's also had the seventh-best quarterback pressure percentage over the same span. Kansas City has shown with its huge investments in edge defender Frank Clark and interior defender Chris Jones that it prioritizes building through the front seven. The question remaining is whether the Chiefs still value Mathieu’s contributions as highly as they did back in 2019.
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