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Ben Arthur
AFC South Reporter
At his end-of-season press conference last month, Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke acknowledged that contract negotiations with soon-to-be free agent Josh Allen hadn’t even started yet. But when asked about the star edge rusher’s future in Jacksonville, Baalke left no room for misinterpretation.
“Josh will be a Jaguar,” Baalke said.
The definitiveness of his response spoke to Allen’s value to the Jags. He’s the face of the defense. He’s their most important player not named Trevor Lawrence. And considering his standing among the best at a premium position, Allen is arguably their best player.
If Baalke can’t bring Allen back, he risks angering the locker room and sending the wrong message to homegrown players at a time when many would argue the GM’s job security is already on rocky ground, considering the Jaguars’ 2023 collapse.
So if losing Allen is not an option, what could his second contract look like?
What we know is that Allen cemented top-tier pass rusher money with a breakout 2023. He set a single-season franchise record with 17.5 sacks, to go with 33 quarterback hits, 17 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and an interception. He also ranked second in the league with 96 pressures, according to Next Gen Stats.
His second deal figures to slot somewhere between that of the Bears’ Montez Sweat ($24.5 million in average annual value) and 49ers superstar Nick Bosa ($34 million).
Through five seasons, the 26-year-old Allen has more sacks (45), quarterback hits (103), tackles for loss (53) and pressures (318) than Sweat, who signed his extension with Chicago in November shortly after being acquired from Washington. But Bosa’s numbers are better than Allen’s across the board. The 2022 AP Defensive Player of the Year, Bosa became the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history when he signed his extension with San Francisco last September.
Allen’s camp would be justified…
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/what-will-it-take-for-jaguars-to-reach-multi-year-deal-with-josh-allen
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Publish date : 2024-02-20 17:47:59
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