Who is the highest paid Wide Receiver in the NFL?

There has been a lot of chatter this week about NFL wide receivers. For one, it's the Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams and his contract negotiations. It was reported that Adams wants to be the highest paid wide receiver in the National Football League and may need to leave Green Bay to do so.

Wide receivers also became the highlight of the discussion as many revealed their thoughts on receiving the COVID-19 vaccine and whether they would want consider retiring.

So, who is the highest paid wide receiver and what does his contract entail?

DeAndre Hopkins is the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is the highest-paid wide receiver in the National Football League. Hopkins will make $12.5 in 2021 but with the two-year extension he signed, he will make $25.1 million in the 2022 season and is expected to make $27.2 million in the 2023 season.

With Hopkins announcing this week that he would be willing to retire instead of going through the non-vaccinated COVID-19 protocols, that eowuld he would leave over $60 million on the table.

Highest paid WRs on a per-year basis:DeAndre Hopkins: $27.25MJulio Jones: $22MKeenan Allen: $20.02MAmari Cooper: $20MMichael Thomas: $19.25MHopkins' AAV is 24% higher than the next wide receiver, the largest gap at any position by a considerable margin.

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) July 23, 2021

The second highest-paid wide receiver is now Tennessee Titans' Julio Jones. When Jones signed his contract, he was the highest paid receiver in the NFL. In terms of cap space, Jones is still the highest paid receiver, seeing as his three-year contract extension is worth over $66 million.

Here's what a team acquiring Julio Jones in a trade would owe him on his current deal: 2021: $15.3M2022: $11.513M2023: $11.513M3-years, $38.326M in total.Jones has averaged 95.5 receiving yards per game in his career, by far the most in NFL history. Still a huge weapon.

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) April 26, 2021

Last year when Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Amari Cooper signed his deal he became the first wide receiver to ever sign a $100 million contract. But the way that Cooper and the Cowboys set the contract, he makes just over $20 million a season, meaning his salary cap space stays equal each season.

Some contracts are heavy toward the beginning or toward the end of the deal, meaning that NFL teams would lose significant money in dead cap space of they were to release those players. With a contract like Cooper's it's "team friendly" because it's fair for both sides.

Davante Adams becomes a free agent after the completion of the 2021 NFL season. It looks as if he may leave Green Bay, especially if Aaron Rodgers doesn't return, and will go elsewhere. With Adams' NFL resume so far, he could easily be the next wide receiver to sign a $100 million contract. Whichever team decides to pay him that remains unknown.