Here's what DeVonta Smith's extension with the Eagles might look like

The clock ticks and it tocks. If we had an hourglass, we'd turn it over and watch sand spill from top to bottom. Another day passes, and the report of the Philadelphia Eagles' interest in inking DeVonta Smith to an extension drifts further away in our rearview mirrors.

That's okay. We're confident that things will work themselves out. Sometimes, these matters take time. But, DeVonta told us he wants to be here, and we have all learned that few are better than Howie Roseman at doing his job. That gives us hope and confidence, but idle minds play tricks on us sometimes.

Yeah... We believe all that, but what's taking so long? Are there issues in getting the deal done? Are there any stalemates? What if, Heaven forbid, things don't work out?

May 2nd is a day worth eyeing. That's the deadline for clubs to exercise the fifth-year option for players selected in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. DeVonta was selected tenth overall during the selection meeting that season. The Birds could realistically explore that option and buy themselves some time to hammer out a new deal.

What might an Eagles extension given to DeVonta Smith look like?

So, what might that extension look like when Philly finally gets it done? One could argue that tarrying would only makes the number more expensive. Let's do some digging in the meantime.

Over The Cap offered fifth-year projections recently, and DeVonta's price tag for the 2025 NFL season sat around $15.59 million at that time. Spotrac lists his market value at $22.8 million as an annual salary. They believe a fair deal would pay him $91,332,376 over four seasons.

At the time of this story's release, that would rank 41st league-wide and eighth among wide receivers. His current deal carries an average salary of $5,035,348. That ranks 321st league-wide and 41st among wideouts.

CBS Sports Jeff Kerr recently stated the following:

"No player from the 2020 or 2021 draft class has been signed to a contract extension yet, but that should change soon. Justin Jefferson is in line to become the highest-paid wide receiver in football, while CeeDee Lamb and Brandon Aiyuk are both set to enter fifth-year options. These are the top wideouts from the 2020 class and neither have signed a long-term extension. 

His base salary is for the coming 2024 regular season is $1,055,000. He'll also earn a signing bonus of $3,002,071 and a roster bonus of $2,351,554, making his 2024 cap hit $6,408,625. The Birds aren't cutting him or trading him, so this is possibly inconsequential, but his dead cap hit would also be $6,408,624.

So, here we sit, awating news of any kind, news that may follow the 2024 NFL Draft or the announcement that Philly has exercised his fifth-year option. In the meantime, here's something we can state with certainty.

He's definitely underpaid by today's NFL standards. There certainly aren't 40 wide receivers in the game today who are better than our Skinny Batman.

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