when he was able to record 982 yards. Based on a promise, coupled with Madden 23 coins the obligation to pay a "bad team tax" the Jaguars completely destroyed the wide receiver market in only one deal. Kirk wasn't just 27th in the league in receiving yards last year, he wasn't even viewed as the best player in this class of free agents -- so when he was paid as an elite cornerstone of the franchise, everything shifted.
The tenor abruptly changed. It became obvious Green Bay wasn't going to be able to sign Adams for the lengthy extension they hoped which led to his departure. Hill was in discussions with the Chiefs and the Chiefs, but now money had become the key issue. The Chiefs aren't the only ones to blame Adams or Hill in this case. If one of them like Kirk is earning $74 million, with a guaranteed $37M -- it's within reason that two of the Madden NFL 23's greatest players are worth nine-figure contracts.
Simply put, this was difficult for the teams to take in. Given that both Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes who have signed big-money contracts, it's not realistic to give up more than an entire quarter of the wage limit to two players -however, without putting at risk the other players as a result. Meanwhile the shared DNA of Las Vegas and Miami is that they're not vastly overspending on QBs. Derek Carr is at the final stretch of an extension that was signed in 2017 that will bring in just over $19 million towards the cap for this year, while Tua Tagovailoa is still on the rookie contract. Both teams have the capacity to absorb a mammoth cap hit from a top-flight receiver under the Madden NFL 23's new inflated pay.
The paradigm shift highlights how ill-prepared the Madden NFL 23 had been for the soaring salaries of receivers. The year before, Amari Cooper was the sole WR to make over $20M The majority of high-end contracts with receivers coming in the range of $10-15M. There are now five receivers who are expected to earn more than $20 million, and seven who are earning more than $15M. There's likely to be a lot of pain moving forward and exceedingly tough decision-making. While QB and WR pay increases exponentially, the salary cap has not kept up. In the last four years the cap has only increased 20 million dollars, while positions have increased, particularly on offense.
This means that unless there's significant cap relief in 2023 to allow teams to spend more (something owners may be reluctant to do since it takes into their profit) Teams will need to make a decision on whether they want to pay an elite quarterback or an elite receiver because they'll likely not be able to afford both. Players should be paid, and they're going to find someone to pay them regardless of whether it requires competing with other teams or not.
The most interesting wrinkle to the whole thing is when we consider how effective young receivers have become in recent times. Madden NFL 23 defenses are so similar to college modern football that the idea of a slow process for onboarding or the two-year building up to becoming the top receiver has been discarded. Justin Jefferson broke the Madden NFL 23's record for rookie receptions in 2020. but it was soon beaten By Ja'Marr C Chase. In fact 11 of Madden NFL 23's top 25 recievers by the yardage were still in rookie contracts as of 2021.
Therefore, while we'll have contracts balloon at the position that has proven talent, we could be seeing a churn starting in the future. This could affect the position in relation to the best teams, just like what we've seen at running back -- though with madden coins buy different motives.
