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In an offseason that's already seen two up-and-coming tight ends, Travis Kelce and Zach Ertz get paid, Thursday brought the number three. This after Jordan Reed signed a five-year contract extension that will keep him with the Washington Redskins through 2021.
All three youngsters are pushing into elite fantasy-football territory at the position. The lone concern, Reed’s injury history — he’s missed 14 games in three seasons — didn’t get in the way of the team’s desire to make the deal and Reed said it wouldn’t stop him from making it pay off.
“It means a lot that the Redskins invested that kind of money in me,” 25-year-old Reed told John Keim of ESPN.com. “I’ll show them that they made a good investment and I’ll prove them right in making me one of the highest paid [tight ends] in the league.”
According to Profootballtalk.com, the base value of the deal is just under $50 million, with $22 million guaranteed.
PFT went on to note that Washington’s top two wide receivers, DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon, are aging veterans heading into the last seasons on their contracts. And quarterback Kirk Cousins is only under contract through this year as well.
With Reed signed for the long-term and wide receiver Josh Doctson arriving as a first-round pick, the Redskins have figured out two pieces of their passing game for the future. As PFT's Michael David Smith notes, the 2016 season will sort out Cousins’ place in that future and having Reed should help his bid for a long-term contract as well.
And there's reason to believe a healthy Reed can get better.
Remember, entering the 2015 season, Reed quietly made changes to his offseason workouts that led to his best season yet with career highs in catches (87), yards (952) and touchdowns (11). He also had a big game in Washington’s postseason loss to Green Bay, catching nine passes for 120 yards and a touchdown.
“I just figured out a routine that was effective for me, and that was what I did last season,” Reed said. “I went out to Miami this offseason and trained with Pete Bommarito for the last two months out there in Miami. That’s where I trained for the combine at my rookie year. After OTAs is over, I’ll go out to Texas and train …out there at Trent Williams’ gym. That’s where I trained before at the season last year, and he helped me a lot and put a lot of muscle on me. His workouts are real hard so he was able to make practices and games easy, working those hot summers in Texas.”
Reed also benefitted from a “real accurate passer” in Cousins last season. His hope is that the chemistry they have created will make for bigger and better things in 2016.
“I feel like I can create separation for him and get open, timing, where he needs me to be and things like that,” Reed said. “I think those are some reasons why we were effective last year.”
They were certainly effective together last year.
According to NFL.com's Kevin Patra pointed out that with Reed on the field Cousins had 421 pass plays, 7.7 pass yards per attempt, 24-4 TD-to-INT ratio and 111.9 passer rating.
Cousins without Reed on the field?
The QB had 148 pass plays, 6.2 pass yards per attempt, 5-7 TD-to-INT ratio and 73.3 passer rating.
In addition to setting franchise record for yards, Reed also caught the second-most TDs by a Redskins tight end in one season (11). Reed also tied for the most games with multiple receiving touchdowns last season (four). Only Doug Baldwin had a higher passer rating when targeted in 2015 than Reed's 129.0.
The Redskins were 6-1 last year when Reed earned more than 65 receiving yards and 3-4 when the tight end went under that plateau.
As a result, Reed is getting his due contractually speaking. And fantasy owners are going to have to pay a similar premium to secure his services come draft day.