Nelson Agholor agrees to one-year deal with Raiders
He had an injury-plagued season in which he missed five games with a knee injury and averaged a career-low 9.3 yards per catch.
Five years after the Eagles selected him with the 20th overall pick in the 2015 draft, Nelson Agholor is moving on.
The 26-year-old wide receiver has agreed to a one-year deal with the Las Vegas Raiders, a source confirmed Saturday. The deal was first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Agholor’s departure hardly was a surprise. The Eagles had decided a while ago not to re-sign him.
He was hurt much of last season, injuring his right knee in a Week 6 loss to Minnesota, then aggravating it a month later against New England. He played in just one of the Eagles’ last six regular-season games, and also sat out their playoff loss to Seattle.
Agholor finished with just 39 catches and three touchdowns in 11 games last season, and averaged a career-low 9.3 yards per catch.
The 6-foot, 198-pounder’s best position is in the slot, which is where he mostly played in 2017 and 2018, when he had his two best seasons, and where the Raiders figure to use him. But DeSean Jackson’s injury last year forced Agholor to play outside a lot.
Agholor struggled his first two seasons with the Eagles, catching just 59 passes and three touchdowns. But he had a breakout year during the the Eagles’ run to the Super Bowl in ’17. He caught 62 passes for a career-high 768 yards and eight touchdowns. He led the team with 21 third-down receptions.
In the Eagles’ three postseason wins that year, he caught 15 more passes, including nine for 84 yards and five first downs in their 41-33 win over the Patriots in Super Bowl LII.
“It’s been an amazing time,’’ Agholor said in January. "Amazing growth. Definitely growth. An opportunity to go through hard times and reach the highest point of happiness too. At the end of the day, I got to experience the ultimate high.
“The lows allowed me to grow as a man and put me at peace with understanding things you can’t control. And also look yourself in the mirror and find ways to get better. It’s been a beautiful thing and it’s helped me form who I am as a man. And I’m happy for that.’’