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NFL free agency rumors: Jaguars will have to pay a lot for a guard

By Alfie Crow
Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

NFL free agency is set to begin in a few days and rumors are starting to trickle out about figures for certain positions in the open market. Teams are starting to get linked to players and you can get a gauge for what the contracts are going to look like for the players that will be signing on Thursday and Friday this week. It looks like guard specifically is going to command some big money on the open market, which is an area the Jaguars will be looking to improve right away.

Charles Robinson of Yahoo! reports that Cincinnati Bengals guard Kevin Zeitler is expected to get a deal in the range of $10 to $12 million per year, which would make him in the range of the highest paid guard in the NFL. Oakland Raiders guard Kelechi Osemele clocks in at $11.7 million per year, which I would guess is the range that Zeitler will get on the market.  On the flip side, Green Bay Packers guard TJ Lang is expected to get $8 to $10 million and would also put him up there with the highest paid at the position.

There are a lot of players at the guard position that will be available in free agency, but for the cream of the crop teams are going to have to pay, obviously. The Jaguars are in a position, as are a lot of teams, with a boatload of cap space to be able to reel in one of the big fish at guard. I'm sure a lot of people will wrinkle their brow at the cost of a guard in free agency, but you have to over pay in free agency and in reality the Jaguars are in a situation where they can afford to over spend without hurting their future.

In the end, don't worry about the cost. It doesn't matter.

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