The Buffalo Bills and pending free agent wide receiver Stevie Johnson agreed to a new five-year contract on Monday morning, allowing the Bills to avoid placing the franchise tag on the talented young wide receiver. Details of Johnson's contract have now emerged from Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Stevie Johnson signed a five-year, $36.25 million deal that includes $19.5 million gtd and over $24 million in deal's first three years.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 5, 2012
Johnson's deal isn't massive, but it should set the free agency market going forward. The deal for Johnson is front loaded, as to not strap the Bills against the salary cap in the later end of the deals if Johnson's play falls off. Johnson has led the Bills in receptions and receiving yards the past two seasons, notching back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons.
This deal should set the market, so for a team like the Jacksonville Jaguars this is nice to see. Johnson got roughly $7 million per year, which should be right around what Marques Colston should get. I would expect that Vincent Jackson gets more than Johnson did, but I'm not expecting the Jaguars to be big players for Jackson.