RAVENS SIGN WR NELSON AGHOLOR TO ONE-YEAR EXTENSION
The Baltimore Ravens have signed veteran wide receiver Nelson Agholor to a one-year extension, the team announced late Sunday night, retaining one of their most experienced wide receivers from last season.
Agholor was set to become a free agent next month. As reported by ESPN’s Jamison Hensley, had Agholor not signed a new deal by 4pm ET Monday, his contract would have voided and he would have counted as $1.668 million in dead money in 2024. Baltimore fell short of announcing the terms of the new deal on Sunday.
The eight-year veteran signed with the Ravens in March of last year and proved a good addition throughout the 2023 season. Agholor finished second in touchdowns amongst Ravens receivers with four and was one of the better options for Lamar Jackson in the red zone all year.
A big play threat from the slot for most of his career, the 30-year-old registered 35 catches from 45 targets for 381 receiving yards in 2023, which ranked fifth on the team in his first season in Baltimore. Only Zay Flowers, Odell Beckham Jr., and tight ends Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely had more. Agholor should reprise a role as a depth piece with Baltimore’s receiving corps behind Flowers and Bateman again in 2024.
While the former USC Trojan’s production in terms of catches and receiving yards didn’t reach the highs he saw previously in Las Vegas, Agholor did record the highest catch percentage of his career with Baltimore this season. The Lagos-born receiver has a storied history of dropped passes but ended last year catching an impressive 77.8 percent of his targets in the regular season, dropping only 2 passes. He also added 51 yards and a touchdown from 2 receptions in the postseason as he helped the Ravens reach their first AFC Championship game since 2012.
Agholor, a first round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2015, has 4,627 receiving yards from 375 catches in his career to go along with 35 touchdown catches. He played for the Eagles, Raiders and most recently, the New England Patriots in 2022.
Super Bowl LVI champion Odell Beckham Jr. is currently the only veteran scheduled free agent in the Ravens receiver room, with it becoming increasingly unlikely that he will return to Baltimore. The Ravens now have a good, well-established presence in their wide receiver room with Agholor in 2024. Beckham signed a one-year, $18 million deal in April last year and is expected to seek compensation in a similar range to sign back.
Besides Beckham, the Ravens also have a pending contract issue that needs resolving with All-Pro kick returner Devin Duvernay. Duvernay was eligible for an extension in the offseason last year and could also hit the open market if he and the Ravens don’t come to terms on a new deal.
If the Ravens can’t strike a pact with both Beckham and Duvernay, the team could still add at that position via the draft, with early mock drafts projecting Texas Longhorns wide receiver Adonai Mitchell to the Ravens at 30th overall or in the second round.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: Gage Skidmore. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.