The Denver Broncos should extend Jerry Jeudy in 2023
Denver Broncos’ third-year wide receiver Jerry Jeudy broke out a bit in 2022, and the team should consider offering a contract extension this offseason. Why not stay ahead of the game? The 2020 first-round pick struggled a bit during his first two seasons with some injuries and a bit of inconsistent play but really came on in his third year as a Bronco.
Jeudy finished the year first on the team in receiving yards and first in touchdowns. He accumulated 972 receiving yards, six touchdown catches, and 1,012 yards from scrimmage. Over the last six weeks of the season, we began to see how valuable Jeudy is to the offense.
He had 523 yards and three touchdowns over this time, and his catch rate was a whopping 82.2%. Not only that, his passer rating when targeting was 110.1, which is an insanely high number.
It’s baffling that his name popped up in a few rumors during the trade deadline, and it’s smart that the team held onto him. Now, at the end of the 2022 season, it’s abundantly clear that Jerry Jeudy is the top target in the offense, and the Broncos should consider giving him a contract extension this offseason.
Denver Broncos should extend Jerry Jeudy this offseason
The first reason why is that the team may have to begin offering contract extensions to the 2021 draft class, which was insanely good for the Broncos. Players like Patrick Surtain II, Quinn Meinerz, and Baron Browning may all play well enough in 2023 to command extensions. This could end up being a bit messy if you’d add Jeudy into the mix, who would need an extension.
The next part of this is, perhaps a bit selfishly, trying to save a bit of money. Paying Jeudy now to reward him for his play in 2022 can lock him into Denver for the long term and also satisfy him surely believing that he wants a deal.
Plus, if Jerry Jeudy does continue to play well into next year, his price tag is only going to go up, so locking him in now could save the team a bit once they get to the 2024 offseason, which will likely have several contract extensions tied to it.
The Broncos also do not have a ton of high-dollar players to take care of this offseason. Outside of Dre’Mont Jones, other top priorities for the team to re-sign would be guys like Cameron Fleming, Alex Singleton, and Latavius Murray.
None of those three players will be clamoring for a bunch of money, so their extensions should be rather easy to wrap up.
I think it makes a ton of sense to get an extension for Jerry Jeudy done this offseason.