Kiko Alonso contract could pave way for Telvin Smith deal

The Miami Dolphins re-signed linebacker Kiko Alonso on Tuesday, to the tune of a four-year deal worth $28.8 million with $18.5 million guaranteed. The deal for Alonso makes him a top 10 paid linebacker, based on average salary, for the 2017 season. The reason why this news is relevant to the Jacksonville Jaguars is because the team will likely start working to re-sign one of their own linebackers in Telvin Smith.

While Alonso plays middle linebacker and Smith plays weakside linebacker, I would imagine the deals would end up being fairly similar. You can pull up outside linebacker contracts if you want to get an idea, but you'll have to sift through all the 3-4 outside linebacker deals, which are essentially defensive end deals.

One thing worth noting however, and while ultimately Tom Coughlin is in charge now, general manager Dave Caldwell cut his teeth learning under former Indianapolis Colts general manager Bill Polian, who had a couple of roster quirks that were pretty consistent. One of those perks were a revolving door at the weakside linebacker position. The Colts were known for letting those players walk. It's how the Jaguars ended up with Mike Peterson, but other players like Cato June etc. were part of that revolving door.

At this point, the Jaguars don't have a lot of young players who are going to command huge contracts, so they shouldn't be letting good players walk because of some odd roster belief. Not that Caldwell has the same feeling as Polian did, but it's just something to think about.