Has the newness worn off yet? Late last night, the Jacksonville Jaguars agreed to a six year deal with free agent linebacker Paul Posluszny. The deal is rumored to pay out about $7 million annually with about $15 million in guaranteed money. The Jaguars had to spend, and they spent.
"It was hard saying goodbye to Buffalo. They did a tremendous job," Mike McCartney, Posluszny's agent, told Tania Ganguli of the Florida Times-Union. "Paul got really excited when he saw himself in the middle of a 4-3 defense. Obviously, he's thrilled right now."
There are unconfirmed reports that the Buffalo Bills actually matched the Jaguars offer to Posluszny, but he chose to come to the Jaguars. Most assume it was because of the ability to get back to a 4-3 defense, like his agent mentioned.
Brian Galliford of BuffaloRumblings.com broke down Posluszny for us when we were looking at him as a potential free agent target.
Paul Posluszny, ILB - The lone survivor from the seven-man draft class of 2007 (and himself a free agent), Posluszny is something of a polarizing figure amongst Bills fans. Some call him overrated, others call him underrated. He's struggled some with injury (19 games missed in four years) and is not the type of impact linebacker some Bills fans expected him to be. However, he's a heady player that has been very productive (397 tackles, three sacks, four interceptions and four forced fumbles in his career). Those are in short supply on this team. He may not be a star, but he's a starting-level player in virtually any system, and that's not a bad thing to have. Indications have been strong for months that the Bills want to bring Posluszny back.
UPDATE:
Matt Warren of BuffaloRumblings.com mentioned in the comments:
We are hearing today that the Bills offered four years and less money. Your GM was apparently aggressive.