The Jacksonville Jaguars will enter this season with a young team that’s full of players on their rookie deals. One of those players is No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence, who plays the most expensive position on the field.
This month, the Jags signed Lawrence to a four-year deal worth $36.8 million that includes a $24.1 million signing bonus. When looking at what the top quarterbacks in the league are making (averaging $25-$45 million) that’s a bargain. However, he’s far from the only player the Jags are getting on such a cap-friendly deal.
When looking at the Jags’ entire starting skill group (and a few other notables), fans might be even more astonished at their overall price. Their starting skill players plus their RB2, WR3, and TE2 all combine for a cap figure of just over $22 million in 2021 ($22.2 million by Spotrac’s math), which leaves room for a lot of opportunities down the road.
The #Jaguars are now poised to start an offense that contains a QB1, RB1, RB2, WR1, WR2, WR3, TE1, & TE2 at a combined $22.2M of 2021 cap.
There are 10 #NFL players who will carry a higher single cap hit alone.
— Spotrac (@spotrac) July 19, 2021
The Jags’ starting skill group is projected to consist of Lawrence, James Robinson, DJ Chark Jr., Marvin Jones Jr., and James O’Shaughnessy based on who is on the team now. Rookie first-round selection Travis Etienne could be considered the Jags RB2 by some, although the plans are probably to use him mostly on third downs. Then at the WR3 position will be Laviska Shenault Jr., and the TE2 should be Chris Manhertz (or he and O’Shaughnessy could be interchangeable at TE1)
Of the aforementioned names, Etienne and Chark are on rookie draft selection contracts like Lawrence. Meanwhile, Robinson is on an undrafted free agent rookie deal, while Jones and O’Shaughnessy have cap hits that are just under $1.6 million and $4.8 million, respectively. Manhertz’s cap hit is also $2,625,000 (base salary is $1 million) this season. When combining these total figures using Spotrac’s numbers it all totals out to be approximately $22,299,696.
As mentioned last week, a bulk of the Jags’ money is going to their offensive line and linebacker groups, both of which are the highest-paid in the NFL. In fact, the Jags’ top-6 highest salaries for 2021 belong to either an offensive lineman or linebacker. The Jags’ highest base salary figure ($13,754,000) of 2021 will be paid out to Cam Robinson on the franchise tag. Behind him are Myles Jack ($9.5 million), Andrew Norwell ($9 million), Brandon Linder ($8 million), Joe Schobert ($7 million), and A.J. Cann ($4,675,000), respectively.
Of course, these numbers change on a year-to-year basis, and in 2022, DJ Chark will be the top skill player on the roster due for a new contract. Still, all of the aforementioned figures mean there will be plenty of money to get a deal done with him, especially with Cam Robinson, Norwell, and Cann being more replaceable 2022 free agents.