Clay was 22nd in the NFL for TD receptions by a TE, 14th in receiving yards for a TE and tied for 12th with two others for receptions by a TE.
He's not top 5 TE in football....just off the top there's Gronkowski, Graham, Olsen, Davis, Bennett, Witten, Miller, Gates...that doesn't even take into account young players who share the position like Ebron, Fleener, Eifert, etc.
Only 1 TE had a base salary higher than $6M last year. Only 10 had a base salary higher than $3M. Factoring in bonuses, only 4 TEs had a cap hit higher than $6.2M last year, only 13 had a cap hit higher than $4M.
What are we thinking he is worth? $4M - $5M a year including the bonus (cap hit)? If he doesn't agree to something do we cut him instead of paying the transition tag? We could probably get Jermaine Gresham for half of the transition tag price.