The 2014 Draft NFL class was one of the best. It is now time to pay them

On Friday, the news broke the Titans against Taylor Lewan, who re-established the offensive lineman market with a major $ 80 million five-year contract extension. Less than an hour later, Jake Matthews of the Falcons reached a $ 75 million deal. The deal gives the founding blind protectors of Tennessee and Atlanta well into the next decade – and provides additional evidence the 2014 NFL project may be the best ever … unless you are the Browns.

In just four years, the first round of 2014 – where Lewan and Matthews were selected among the top 11 – produced 13 Pro Bowlers and three All-Pros from the first team. All but one of the top 21 players became full-time beginners for the team that wrote them. Defensive players of the year Aaron Donald and Khalil Mack broke into the league with the class of "14. Odell Beckham Jr. and Mike Evans joined them. While the talent at the top is staggering, just about every player in this first round has managed to meet or exceed expectations.

Lewan's monster deal is another example of how NFL teams are willing to pay for the absurd talent of 2014. 2018 has been dotted with these offers; $ 150 million for Lewan and Matthews, 5 years and $ 82.5 million for Evans. Sammy Watkins may be part of the third team of his career, but he still managed to sign a $ 16 million annual deal with the Chiefs. Blake Bortles, also besieged, signed a $ 54 million three-year extension with Jacksonville several months after leading the Jaguars in the AFC title game.

But while these players were locked in large money contracts, several other members of their class excepted onnelle are still waiting for theirs.

Some of the best players of 2014 are still waiting for massive expansions

While hundreds of millions of dollars already distributed to the promotion of 14, the group's biggest gains are yet to come. Overall # 1 Jadeveon Clowney is expected to wait a little longer, but players like Donald, Mack, and Beckham continue to move closer to Lewan-esque's contract extensions. After surpassing the value of their recruiting contracts, this trio will impose tough decisions on wage caps for their teams.

Donald and Mack, respectively DPOY 2017 and 2016 NFL will carefully monitor the situation of each other. They began parallel maneuvers at the start of the training camp while they were looking for long-term guarantees during the final year of their rookie contract. While Donald is no longer a pocket destroyer from inside the line and Mack is a hybrid of linebacker / defensive end, the two will likely end up with similar contracts. Any sign of the first will look to eclipse the six years and $ 114 million Von Miller has obtained. Whoever signs in second will try to eclipse the first guy.

The Rams spared no effort to fill their place in the repechage while another under-paid draft pick, Jared Goff, went through his rookie contract. They followed Cook's huge WR1 contract with a $ 57.5 million four-year extension for Todd Gurley, who was two years older on his first contract. Any further delay on a Donald deal would send a message about its importance to the team – and could trigger another wide maneuver.

The Mack Raiders are similarly pressed against the salary cap, and his negotiations with the Oakland brass would have taken place He had to bear the charge of a subparitary defense throughout his career, and it's hard to see the Raiders go from their biggest star to a move to a new city on the horizon. The Donald agreement can be the catalyst that leads to the talks between the two parties.

Clowney is a more difficult puzzle to understand. He put the health problems that decimated his first two seasons in the league behind him to evolve into a perpetual pro-Bowl defender. While he's still an athlete who served as a glue to an injury-wracked Texans team last fall, his relative lack of production – at least compared to Mack and Donald – will drop him into a leaner contract. There is a chance that Houston, who is expected to spend more than $ 47.6 million (more than a quarter of his capital) on his top five defensemen in 2019, even without Clowney, could let him play the game. year without making serious efforts to re-sign it.

Then there is Beckham, who will look for a monster contract after watching his counterparts hit the gold during the off season. An agent suggests that no agreement will be reached that does not give the gambling gap the highest annual average salary in the history of the league and the most money ever guaranteed to a receiver; it would be something in the five-year market and $ 92 million, with guarantees of $ 40 million.

But Donald, Mack and Beckham are not the only ones ready for lucrative second contracts

the headliners, too. C.J. Mosley is the last great linebacker of the Ravens lineage. Anthony Barr is an integral part of a Vikings' defense that missed one game less than the Super Bowl last winter. Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, in the past two seasons, has been the driving force behind the Packers' High School. Jason Verrett, when in good health, is a Pro Bowl cornerback for the Chargers – even though another injury seems to derail his 2018.

These players, and many more from this year's draft cohort, are expected this year. They will just not be 24-point market deals, which brings us to the saddest part of the 2014 class. Ryan Shazier seemed to be the leader that the Steelers were hoping for when they drafted it with choice # 15 that year, becoming a Pro Bowler twice while adding value to each phase of the match as a versatile linebacker. Then, a spinal injury ended his 2017 season and put his career at risk. While he will make $ 8.7 million on Pittsburgh's PUP list in the final year of his rookie contract, he missed what would have been a lucrative long-term extension due to an injury .

Three teams scored their first-round picks. Two have played in the Super Bowl 52. The other is the Browns

Several teams got franchise talents in 2014. A handful of others found reliable starters. Three had little value in one of the first laps loaded with the NFL's history.

For the Patriots and Eagles, this did not matter. New England made an astonishing selection by choosing Florida's Dominique Easley at number 29, despite two ACLs torn at the university. His potential has never paid off for the Pats – he finished his first two seasons with the team in the injured reserve and was released before getting a third. They finally had a taste of this 2014 success by introducing Cooks via the trade in 2017, and then summarily sending it west in another case a year later.

Philadelphia bets on the ridiculous production of Marcus Smith in Louisville's 26th pick, but the athletic defensive end has never developed into entry for Chip Kelly or Doug Pederson and was released last summer. Fortunately for the Eagles, the arrival of Carson Wentz in second place in 2016 and some savvy free agent signatures have helped to overcome the loss of production created by Smith's career arc.

The Browns, in contrast, pushed their chips in the middle of the table with a pair of high-profile picks, and then saw the table ignite. Cleveland traded twice in the repechage to select players who have actively aggravated his team. Justin Gilbert played just two years with the team before his stock fell so low that the club traded it to rival Pittsburgh for the low cost of a sixth-round pick. Johnny Manziel was 2-6 as an NFL starter and was recently traded … to the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.

Jeff Fisher's Rams joined them after choosing Greg Robinson's No. 2 choice offered by Washington in the business Robert Griffin III. Robinson started during his three seasons in St. Louis / Los Angeles, but was never better than average and has since been traded (for a sixth round pick) and waived. He is currently the last chance for the Browns to claim some of the glory of 2014.

Fisher hit the lottery with his team's own pick, however. Donald provided the value of a No. 2 pick of No. 13, and the successful drafts over the next three years – which brought players like Todd Gurley, Jared Goff and Cooper Kupp to Los Angeles – helped the team to overcome an offensive line He missed a draft where two tackles were chosen after Robinson managed to sign mega-deals.

The 2014 NFL draft reshaped the league, although the top two teams of 2017 were not selected. These players triggered rebuilds, constructed suitors, and wanted teams unlikely to head for division titles. Now it's time for them to be paid – and if the extensions already inked this offseason are an indication, it will be a great summer to be a conscript of 2014.