If there’s been a “Wait, WHAT?” deal in the 2021 free-agency cycle so far, it’d have to be the four-year, $35 million contract agreed upon by former Chargers defensive back Rayshawn Jenkins and the Jaguars. Jenkins gets an $8 million signing bonus, $16 million in guaranteed money, and while his 2021 cap hit is just $3,968,750 once the contract is signed in the new league year, the hits increase precipitously in 2022 and beyond.
Unless you’re a major Chargers fan, or a Jaguars fan trying to catch up, you may not be familiar with Jenkins at all. But he has been a good player over the last two seasons — in 2019, per Pro Football Focus, he allowed six receptions on 11 targets for 161 yards, 21 yards after the catch, no touchdowns, three interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 60.0. Jenkins followed that up with 41 catches allowed on 58 targets in 2020 for 362 yards, 224 yards after the catch, three touchdowns, two picks, and an opponent passer rating of 89.9.
Not bad at all, especially given Jenkins’ versatility. He’s a decent slot defender, and he really shows up as a deep-third safety, where most of his interceptions come from. As he showed on this 2019 interception of a Patrick Mahomes pass to receiver Demarcus Robinson, Jenkins is a click-and-close deep safety with the recovery speed to jump routes all over the place.
Per Sports Info Solutions, Jacksonville’s defense allowed 24 completions on 67 attempts for 850 yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions against passes of 20 or more air yards, so parking Jenkins at free safety (which the Chargers didn’t do enough last season) would be a big help. Last season, Jenkins allowed just two completions of 20 or more air yards on nine attempts for 54 yards, and no touchdowns.