During last night’s game between North Dakota State and Colorado, the announcers at one point kicked around the question of whether two-way Buffaloes star Travis Hunter should aspire to play receiver or cornerback in the NFL.
All things equal, it’s a no-brainer. Receivers make more money than cornerbacks. The top of the market for pass-catchers is $35 million. For pass-stoppers, it’s $21 million.
But perhaps Hunter won’t have to make an Art Vandelay-style decision between importing and exporting. Maybe Hunter will do both.
It hasn’t happened in the NFL for years. Yes, plenty of players have made cameos on the other side of the ball. (Some went well; some did not.) In the 1990s, Deion Sanders dabbled in augmenting his primary position with periodic appearances at receiver. In the early 1980s, Roy Green of the St. Louis Cardinals played both ways before becoming a two-time All-Pro receiver; in 1981, he had a touchdown catch and an interception in the same game.
If Hunter were to play both ways on a regular basis, the way that he currently is at Colorado, that would turn the clock back to the 1940s, before the NFL allowed substitutions freely and repeatedly.
It also would present an interesting contractual conundrum. Not for his rookie deal, which would be tied to draft slot. For the second contract, a player who plays extensive reps on both side of the ball should get more money than a player who plays on one side of the ball.
It’s appropriate, and it’s fair. One person would be doing two jobs. He should be getting paid to do both jobs.
The injury risk would be more pronounced, since it would remove a key player from offense and defense. Still, a full-time, two-way, receiver-cornerback would — after three NFL seasons — create a contract question unprecedented in the salary-cap era.
For now, it’s unclear whether Hunter can do both in the NFL, or whether he wants to. But if he can and if he does, he becomes a far more valuable. And he should be compensated accordingly.