The Jacksonville Jaguars opened up an additional $16.648 million in additional cap space Tuesday with the releases of starting cornerback Darious Williams and safety Rayshawn Jenkins.
They are immediately utilizing the extra financial breathing room as they are expected to apply the franchise tag on pending free agent edge rusher Josh Allen, according to NFL Media. With the league's salary cap jumping up to $255.4 million per team, the value of Allen's one-year, fully guaranteed franchise tag salary will be $24 million. The team is reportedly confident in their ability to re-sign their two-time Pro Bowler to a long-term deal later this offseason.
Allen, the seventh overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft out of Kentucky, set the Jaguars' single-season sacks record with 17.5 in 2023, tied for the second-most in the entire league last season with Bengals Pro Bowler Trey Hendrickson. Only Steelers All-Pro T.J. Watt had more sacks (19.0) than Allen in 2023.
He didn't just hunt big plays either in 2023 as he displayed consistent effort in harassing opposing quarterbacks, totaling 90 quarterback pressures, the fifth-most in the entire NFL. Allen, who is only 11 sacks away from breaking his team's franchise record of 55.0 set by Tony Brackens, is a cornerstone player who should be the face of the Jaguars defense for years to come.
