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ESPN is doing its position rankings now – top 10 at each position and then some honorable mentions.
They purported to survey league executives, coaches and scouts to help us rank the top 10 players at 11 different positions.
I have no idea who they talked to, so unless you show me the list, it’s kind of a leap of faith in totally buying into this enterprise. If they listed the panel, that would be a different story.
But their WR rankings came out today.
The top 10 receivers were led by Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase.
There were six honorable mentions listed, led by the Giants’ Malik Nabors.
Jets WR receiver Garrett Wilson was listed in a third category, called “also receiving votes,” which had 10 players.
When you pay a wide receiver $32.5 million a year, you’d expect him to land on the list of top 10 receivers, or at least the honorable mentions, don’t you think?
According to the contract website – Spotrac – Wilson is the seventh highest paid receiver in football.
Last spring, Wilson signed a four-year extension for $130 million with $90 million guaranteed.
He ended up playing seven games last year before his season ended with a knee injury, which is obviously not his fault. You could argue he took quite a beating last year due to QB inaccuracy, putting him in harm’s way.
Look, Wilson is a very talented player, but some might surmise that when a new football regime comes in looking to rebuild a broken team, which was the case last year with the Jets, breaking the bank on a wide receiver might not be one of the better things to do right out of the gate.
San Francisco 49ers mastermind Bill Walsh believed in building teams – wide receiver should be one of the last things you address.
Wilson had just finished his third year with the team when they gave him that contract. They were under no obligation to pay him. He was still under contract for the fourth year of his rookie deal, and they could have used the fifth-year option after that.
The Jets used to look to wait until after the fourth year of a first-round pick’s deal to give out extensions. Just ask Jamal Adams. That was the root of the contract dispute in 2020 that led to the Jets trading the safety to Seattle. He wanted a new deal after his third year, and they wanted to wait until after his fourth.
Not sure who’s idea it was to back up the Brink’s Truck for Wilson after his third year. It doesn’t seem like a Darren Mougey kind of move. That assessment could be wrong, but look at how fiscally pragmatic the GM was this off-season in doling out contracts. He spread the money around, signing a bunch of starters and key backups.
Wilson should be a solid contributor to the Jets this year. He’s very talented.
But $32.5 million a year talented?
We shall see.
And none of this is a shot at Wilson. What is he supposed to do, turn life-changing money down?
Of course not.
Good for him and his family that they are set for life.
However, the bottom line is, while you might think lists like this are nonsense, you could still make the argument that when you pay a player $32.5 million a year, he should at least be perceived as a top 10 or honorable mention receiver, in the view of whoever ESPN talked to.
July 15, 2026
