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49ers 2017 NFL Free Agency Day 1 Recap

ByLogan Stanley|
December 23, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; General view of a card stunt between the first and second quarter in the final regular season game at Candlestick Park between the San Francisco 49ers and the Atlanta Falcons. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
December 23, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; General view of a card stunt between the first and second quarter in the final regular season game at Candlestick Park between the San Francisco 49ers and the Atlanta Falcons. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
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Dec 4, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Washington Redskins wide receiver Pierre Garcon (88) against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Redskins 31-23. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 4, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Washington Redskins wide receiver Pierre Garcon (88) against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Redskins 31-23. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

WR Pierre Garçon

Contract: 5 years, $47,500,000; $20 million guaranteed

Grade: B+

The contractual numbers have been released for wide receiver Pierre Garçon’s deal, as reported by The Washington Post‘s Master Tesfatsion. The whole deal broken down:

  • A $12 million signing bonus and base salary of $3,675,000 in 2017.
  • Garçon can make up to $16,000,250 in the first season (exclusively in terms of base salary, that would put him as the highest paid receiver in the NFL); a total of $23 million can be made in the first two seasons.
  • Final three years are club options.

Adding the total guaranteed money in this upcoming season for Garçon, which stands at a total of $15,675,000, and the 30-year-old receiver’s contract ranks as the highest in the NFL compared to other base salaries, per Spotrac. That might baffle some people that someone who has never been selected to a Pro Bowl received that kind of money.

The contract is set up financially beneficial to the 49ers, as it’s front loaded and the team-options at the latter part of the deal work in San Francisco’s benefit.

This is how Garçon stacks up against the other top paid wide receivers in the league, according to Pro Football Reference:

Totals Table
Rk Player From To CarAV G Lng Rec Yds TD Y/R Lng
1 Dez Bryant 2010 2016 56 97 6 462 6621 67 14.3 85
2 Pierre Garcon 2008 2016 51 132 18 564 7068 37 12.5 88
3 A.J. Green 2011 2016 58 86 22 481 7135 49 14.8 82
4 Julio Jones 2011 2016 67 79 19 497 7610 40 15.3 81
5 Jeremy Maclin 2009 2016 48 102 18 474 6395 46 13.5 83

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/9/2017.

Granted, Garçon has played less games than all of the guys on the list, but the point remains that the wide receiver has remained productive over his NFL career.

Most importantly, Garçon had the best season of his career with Kyle Shanahan at the the helm of the offense. Back in 2012, he recorded a league-leading 113 catches for 1,346 yards and 7 TD’s. And just this past season, Garçon posted a 79/1,041/3 stat line with DeSean Jackson opposite of him.

San Francisco gets a veteran wide receiver who has already proven himself, a player who’s familiar with Shanahan and what he wants from the receiver position and someone who still has the speed needed in Shanahan’s offense –check this play from last season (via the Niners Wire’s Rob Lowder):

Schedule