Jacksonville Jaguars make Brandon Linder league’s highest paid center
Jacksonville Jaguars players are continuing to be paid among the top starters in the league
Jaguars center Brandon Linder has agreed to a five-year extension with the team, keeping him in Jacksonville for the foreseeable future.
Linder’s deal is reportedly worth $51.7 million with $24 million guaranteed, making him the highest paid center in the history of the NFL.
Jacksonville sat in the middle of the pack last season allowing 34 sacks en route to a three-win season. Linder’s production up front will be especially crucial with rookie running back Leonard Fournette joining the fray.
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Quarterback Blake Bortles, who is coming off a season full of regressions, hopes to flourish with a consistent body lined up at center. With the fifth-year option on his contract picked up by the Jaguars, Bortles has two seasons to show he’s the franchise quarterback Jacksonville has searched for.
The Jaguars can still opt-out of the final year of Bortles’ contract and take on zero dead money against the $19 million base salary Bortles will be owed.
With first-year head coach Doug Marrone the Jaguars once again spent big in free agency addressing the defense. Adding Calais Campbell, A.J. Bouye, and Barry Church the Jaguars will look to make a playoff push not seen in Jacksonville since 2007.
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Since the loss to New England in the divisional round of the 2007-08 playoffs, the Jaguars have managed just one eight win season. Just twice in the Jaguars’ 23 years has the team won the AFC South or reached the AFC title game.
With Linder remaining on the payroll in Jacksonville, the team hopes to have another piece to a winning core that develops under Bortles and Marrone.