A Look At Market Value

by: Michael Steffes

To continue on with the news of the day, Bobby Engram, I thought I would attempt to answer the one question we really don't know. What does Bobby want? More money obviously, but how much. The length of the deal will be a factor too, so I will broach that as well.

Here is a chart I quickly compiled of some of the notable receivers that Bobby likely could use as comparisons. I tried to be fairly diplomatic. Marvin Harrison is included, but he is a touch out of place on this list by every thing but his age. Mostly he serves as a warning in the danger of having an older player make so much money. Anyway, to see the chart....



One of the first things that you should notice is that all of the receivers in this comparison, other than Harrison, were relatively durable, and mostly productive. The low man, Moose, was plagued by despicable quarterback play. Although, Issac Bruce could say the same and he racked up more yards.

Overall, by looking at the salaries, you can see that all these receivers are compensated fairly equally. Derrick Mason is making the most money, but he is in the third year of his deal, well three of the others are just starting new deals. Galloway is in year two. Mason has very comparable numbers to Bobby. So 3 million seems to be the high end of what Bobby could be seeking.

However, if we take a bit of deeper look, we see that three of these receivers were free agent signings of this year; Bruce, Moose, and Patten. This may help us to establish what the market value for a receiver of Bobby's caliber commands on the open market. Helping this comparison is that all of these receivers are viewed in a very similar light to Bobby; sure handed possession receivers. Bruce commanded the most money at 1.98 million. The other two have base salaries of 1 mil. Patten had a 1.5 million dollar signing bonus, while Muhammad only got .5 to sign. Bruce's bonus was 1 million. All three players received 2 year deals.

These are the three best comparisons for Bobby and his agent. Here are their career lines....


It is unfortunate to say, but Bobby has been less productive than both Bruce and Muhammad. You could argue Patten too, considering he is younger and has less time in the league. Bruce clearly has them most pedigree, and thus he deserves to be paid what the most, which he is. Bobby is already getting a base salary this year that exceeds both of the other two. Patten, with his signing bonus received more actual money though. So why all the fuss?

In doing this research, I thought I would also point out that there were several receivers this age that didn't get deals, such as Eddie Kennison and Eric Moulds. So I think it is fair to say that any big money for Bobby just isn't there. Realistically, Bobby can't expect anything more than a one year extension, two years total. And at best he will receive 1.5 mil up front in exchange for lowering his base salary. Seems like a lot of fuss about nothing to me. In my opinion Bobby really shouldn't be complaining. If he has another year like he did last year, he can get his money. It is the same money that all 35 year old possession receivers are getting, and currently, he is already making it.