Have Jaguars Contract Extensions Come Back to Bite Them?

The Jacksonville Jaguars were determined 2024 would be their year, but after investing millions in their players, has the investments come back to bite the franchise?

A Jacksonville Jaguars fan disapproves of a Houston Texans touchdown score during the third quarter of an NFL football matchup Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. The Texans held off the Jaguars 23-20. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Jacksonville Jaguars have been busy with their checkbooks in the recent years, dishing out hundreds of millions of dollars to further advance the team. After locking down certain players to multiple year extensions, the results have only looked to come back to bite the team where the sun doesn't shine.

Star quarterback Trevor Lawrence agreed to a five year contract extension with the Jaguars, which includes $275 million and a no trade clause in June of 2024. While Lawrence was drafted and now extended for the long haul, the major extension has yet to pay dividends.

Playing in ten games this season, Lawrence was underwhelming and expereienced career low numbers with Jacksonville. Before being sidelined for the season due to injury, Lawrence dropped 2,045 passing yards in 172 completions, had a quarterback rating of 58.5, and threw 11 touchdowns.

While Lawrence experienced his first down season, along with an injury, the first season under his new record breaking deal did not go according to plan with what the Jaguars wanted to accomplish this season. Lawrence was not the only one with a contract extension that hasn't resulted well in the first season though.

Earlier this season, the Jaguars also extended defensive end Josh Hines-Allen to a five year, $141.3 million contract in what looked to be a good move for the Jaguars. In 2023, Hines-Allen had one of his best seasons, dropping 66 total tackles, and a new career high in quarterback sacks, with 17.5.

After a tremendous season, the extension made sense for Jacksonville, but the team has gotten less production out of their new investment oin defense then expected. So far this season, Hines-Allen had totaled 39 total tackles in 15 games played, and saw his sack numbers drop by ten, sitting at seven for the season.

While Hines-Allen has not been an issue for Jacksonville this season, his decrease in production just adds to the difficulty the Jaguars season has had.

The blows have kept coming for the Jaguars, as the Jaguars reached another contract extension with left tackle Walker Little at the beginning of the month. The theme for contract extensions this season has been either injury ridden or lack of production. For Little, the injury bug caught him.

After signing a three year, $45 million contract extension, Little has been ruled OUT going into a rivalry matchup between the Tennessee Titans.

Multiple other extensions in wide receiver Gabe Davis (three years, $39 million), cornerback Tyson Campbell (four years, $76.5 million) and defensive lineman Arik Armstead( three years, $43.5), have all suffered from the two fate options.

Maybe 2024 was not supposed to be the year for the Jaguars, but for the future of the franchise, the player investments will need to improve come 2025 if they want to turn not only their individual careers around, but make names for themselves.

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