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“The Jacksonville Jaguars’ free agents are boring.”
Thus begins Justis Mosqueda’s analysis of this team’s free agent contracts going into the offseason. Mosqueda broke down every NFL team’s toughest contract decision and Kelvin Beachum was at the top of the list for us in his article.
Like Russell Okung with the Denver Broncos last offseason, Kelvin Beachum signed an interesting deal with the Jaguars when he came over from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Essentially, his five-year, $45 million contract is a one-year, $5.38 million deal with four one-year options that make up the rest of it.
That means Beachum is playing in a contract season in every year from now until 2020. After he started 15 games last season—and considering this year's weak offensive line class, both in free agency and in the draft—there's a good chance he stays put in 2017 and waits for another big decision in 2018.
Beachum was certainly an upgrade over former first round pick Luke Joeckel last year, playing all but 89 snaps on offense and giving up just 4.5 sacks last year. He’s a no-brainer to keep around and (justifiably) why his contract is a bit boring — his contract was set up for a prove-it deal and he proved it, so he’ll likely get paid this offseason.
Frankly, I don’t think Beachum is the toughest contract situation this offseason. I think that honor goes to Prince Amukamara who was also on a one-year prove-it deal and is a serviceable player, but is on the bubble when it comes to being paid like a No. 2 cornerback on this team. I’d give him an extension, but it’s still a tougher decision than Beachum who most certainly is a guy worth keeping around.
Read up on the toughest contracts this offseason for the Jaguars and 31 other NFL teams here.