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The Jacksonville Jaguars appear to be the leaders in the clubhouse for free agent tight end Julius Thomas by all accounts, but some reports have surfaced of the Seattle Seahawks making a late push, and even offering a deal close to what the Jaguars have laid out. Fortunately, the Jaguars have a lot more expendable cap room to structure a deal and according to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com, the Jaguars are willing to flex those financial muscles.
"#Jaguars are willing to overspend for a talent like Julius Thomas." - @ProFootballTalk
— PFTonNBCSN (@PFTonNBCSN) March 9, 2015
"Seattle will likely make a 'spirited move' at signing JT, but at the end of the day, I think he'll be a Jaguar." -@AlbertBreer
— Wiggle Man (@Wiggle_Man) March 9, 2015
It's not a big surprise this is the case, as the Jaguars seemingly missed out on guys like Randall Cobb and Devin McCourty returning to their own teams before hitting the open market. Rumors were that Thomas would likely get a deal in the range of $10 million per year, likely on a five-year deal.
Many reports still consider the Jaguars the favorites to land Thomas and according to my own sources, the expectation is that when the new league year officially starts on Tuesday afternoon, he'll be announced as a member of the Jaguars.