Gene Frenette: Jaguars, Josh Allen will have to find common ground on monster long-term contract

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Gene Frenette: Jaguars, Josh Allen will have to find common ground on monster long-term contract

Gene Frenette, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union · The Florida Times-Union

Thu, Feb 15, 2024 ·

8 min read

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With the two-week NFL franchise tag window starting Tuesday and ending March 5, it doesn't leave much time for the Jaguars to get a long-term extension done with pass-rusher Josh Allen before likely using the tag to buy them more time to consummate a deal.

This leverage game for both the team and Allen's camp appears not much different than what we saw last year with tight end Evan Engram . He got tagged March 6 at the end of the franchise tag window and eventually signed a three-year, $41.25 million extension July 16, one day before the deadline to sign tagged players.

From an impact standpoint, Allen is a more indispensable commodity for the Jaguars moving forward than Engram was last year.

After making the Pro Bowl and setting the Jacksonville Jaguars' single-season record with 17.5 sacks, Josh Allen will be looking for a monster contract in 2024. — Jacksonville Jaguars outside linebacker Josh Allen talks with media at the 2024 NFL Pro Bowl Games.

More: Gene Frenette: Mahomes' Super Bowl greatness doesn't mean he belongs on Tom Brady pedestal

So it's highly unlikely general manager Trent Baalke, who publicly declared three weeks ago that Allen would be a Jaguar next season, will allow the player who just set the single-season franchise record for sacks (17.5) to walk into free agency without the tag protection.

Think of this leverage situation almost the same way as the Jaguars' future negotiations with the city of Jacksonville on a renovated stadium deal: An agreement is going to get done, it's just a question of when and what the terms will be.

So what's that going to look like?

Considering the last two veteran pass-rushers to sign long-term contracts in the 2023 midseason — the Green Bay Packers ' Rashan Gary and the Chicago Bears ' Montez Sweat — were also first-round draft picks like Allen in 2019, that's a proper starting point for where the two sides might land.

Gary received a four-year, $96 million deal and Sweat got slightly more five days later in signing a four-year, $98 million contract. Both players were selected after Allen in the 2019 draft. They also have fewer career sacks than his 45.0 total through five seasons.

Translation: Allen and his agent, Joel Segal, are probably going to want money surpassing or at least comparable to the NFL's top two edge rushers in T.J. Watt ($28 million per year) and Joey Bosa ($27 million), who signed those deals in 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Plus, with edge rushers Brian Burns ( Carolina Panthers ) and Danielle Hunter ( Minnesota Vikings ) also free agents, Allen would likely be hesitant to sign with the Jaguars before free agency unless Baalke makes him the highest-paid player at his position, or close to it.

It's understandable if a long-term contract doesn't get done before the start of the NFL league year (March 15), but things could get interesting if Allen remains on a franchise tag into July.

Allen won't be happy without a long-term contract and could threaten not to play on a franchise tag ($21 million projection), though that number is still about double his 2023 salary on a fifth-year option.

One potential side issue to Allen being franchise tagged is whether Baalke wants to get a long-term deal done in the next couple of weeks, just to have the tag option available for impending free agent receiver Calvin Ridley .

My guess is Baalke would like to retain Ridley, but preferably giving the Atlanta Falcons a third-round draft pick and not a second in return for the Nov. 2022 trade. That would mean the Jaguars signing Ridley after the start of the league year and as an unrestricted free agent if the tag is used on Allen.

Looking at the big picture, Allen is the higher priority. He must wear a Jaguars uniform in 2024, or Baalke runs the risk of angering his locker room and the team's reputation with other NFL players.

If all this means Ridley going to another club in free agency, so be it. The Jaguars simply can't afford the fallout of losing Josh Allen. At his point, it's just a question of what his payday is going to look like.

A fine-heavy season

Thanks mostly to Cam Robinson 's four-game suspension for PED use, the Jaguars ended up being the second-most fined NFL team in the 2023 season, paying out $3,971,478, according to SportingPost.com.

With Robinson sacrificing a four-game salary that amounted to $3,555,552, that alone accounted for almost 90 percent of the total fines the Jaguars incurred last season. Without the Robinson suspension, the Jaguars would have finished 10th in total fines.

The Indianapolis Colts led the NFL with fines amounting to $4,379,497, most of it accumulated by one player. Defensive tackle Grover Stewart was suspended six games for performance-enhancing drugs, costing him $3,625,000 in salary.

Second-guessing Shanahan overblown

While many criticized San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan for electing to take the ball after winning the Super Bowl overtime coin flip, the truth is that decision had nothing to do with the Kansas City Chiefs prevailing 25-22 after Patrick Mahomes led the game-winning TD drive.

It made little difference whether KC had the ball first or second because, despite what some have suggested, it's highly doubtful play-calling would have been altered for either side.

The 49ers decided to kick a field goal on fourth-and-4 from the KC 9 on the opening possession for a 22-19 lead. The only way that call changes is if San Francisco had the ball second and trailed the Chiefs by a touchdown. If it's a three-point deficit, he likely kicks to tie the game given the distance needed to move the chains.

Feb 11, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan walks off the field after losing Super Bowl LVIII to the Kansas City Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports ORG XMIT: IMAGN-734691 ORIG FILE ID: 20240211_jcd_al2_0356.JPG

If KC faces its same down-and-distance situations and the Chiefs had the ball to start overtime, does anybody think for a second coach Andy Reid isn't going for it on fourth-and-a- foot from his own 34?

Point being, Shanahan didn't do anything wrong by taking the ball first. For one thing, he gave his defense more time to catch their breath after just coming off the field on the Chiefs' game-tying field goal drive to end regulation.

By scoring first, Shanahan forced KC and quarterback Patrick Mahomes to have a perfect drive in order to win.

Just because San Francisco lost the game, it doesn't mean Shanahan did the wrong thing by taking the ball to start OT. The 49ers were one KC mistake away — a holding penalty, a bad bounce, a dropped pass, a strip sack — from winning the game. It just didn't happen.

Gilmore biography in works

On Feb. 5 at the Bonefish Grill in Jacksonville Beach, customers did a double-take as NBA Hall of Famers Artis Gilmoreand Julius Ervinghad dinner with author and former Florida Today sports columnist Peter Kerasotis, who interviewed the legends for Gilmore's biography.

"It was productive. You're always mining for more information," said Kerasotis. "Most of the conversation centered around their days in the ABA and their friendship. They play a lot of golf together, but what I didn't know is Artis likes to scuba dive and he took Julius diving with him down in the Florida Keys.

"Julius said he was one-and-done because 'there were things down there not only bigger than me, they were bigger than Artis.'"

Here's how deep their friendship is: When Gilmore, a Jacksonville University star on its 1970 NCAA runner-up team, gave his Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame speech in 2011, the only person on stage with him was Erving.

Kerasotis, who also authored the biography of former JU coach Tom Wasdin, hopes to have the Gilmore biography done this summer and released in time for the 2025 NBA All-Star game.

Gabbert rings up another one

When the Chiefs won the Super Bowl, backup quarterback Blaine Gabbert became the second former Jaguars player (2011-13) to earn two SB rings with two different teams, per Elias Sports Bureau.

Gabbert, 34, who has attempted just 70 passes in the last four years, got his first SB ring as Tom Brady 's backup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers three years ago in a 31-9 win over the Chiefs. The other ex-Jaguar with two rings from two different teams is center Stefen Wisniewski (2015), who went on to earn SB rings with the Philadelphia Eagles (2017) and Chiefs (2019).

Another former Jaguar, quarterback Chad Henne (2012-17), won both of his rings with the Chiefs in 2019 and '22.

Quick-hitting nuggets

Daryl Bell, 63, the first Black journalist in the Times-Union sports department along with Ben Lumpkinfor a brief time in the early 1980s, passed away last week in the Philadelphia area of complications from a stroke. Bell, a jovial fellow and graduate of Temple University, covered high school sports during his time in Jacksonville and later served as a sports editor and columnist at the Philadelphia Tribune. RIP, Daryl. …

Among the top 75 NFL prospects for The Athletic draft analyst Dane Brugler, only three from colleges in Florida — Florida State edge rusher Jared Verse (No. 21), FSU receiver Keon Coleman (No. 28) and Miami safety Kamren Kinchens (No. 62) — made his list. In the last 10 NFL drafts, Florida has had 26 players selected in the top 75, followed by FSU (11) and Miami (9).

Daytona 500 forecast

1. Ryan Blaney; 2. Chase Elliott; 3. Ross Chastain.

Gfrenette@jacksonville.com : (904) 359-4540; Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @genefrenette

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars, Josh Allen will be playing leverage game to get to contract extension

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