JACKSONVILLE, Fla. _ The Jaguars are signing linebacker Myles Jack to a four-year, $57 million extension, a league source confirmed.
The deal is expected to be finalized later Saturday.
ESPN's Adam Schefter was the first to report Jack's extension. And Jack's new deal reportedly includes $33 million guaranteed.
Jack, a second-round pick out of UCLA in 2016, is in the final season of a four-year, $6.3 million rookie contract that will pay him $1.3 million in 2019.
When his new deal starts, Jack will become the third highest-paid linebacker in the NFL behind Seattle Seahawks' Bobby Wagner and New York Jets' C.J. Wagner.
Jack, the Jaguars starting middle linebacker, is set to make $14.25 million annually.
In his first season as the Jaguars' starting middle linebacker in 2018, Jack played all of the team's 1,024 defensive snaps and was second on the team in tackles with 107. Smith's role this season is vital because the Jaguars don't have Telvin Smith, who is sitting out the season for personal reasons and rookie Quincy Williams is expected to start in his spot at weak-side linebacker.
Unlike defensive end Yannick Ngakoue and cornerback Jalen Ramsey, who are both members of his 2016 draft class, Jack didn't publicly push for an extension or stage a holdout.
Ngakoue ended an 11-day holdout for a long-term deal on Aug. 4 and Ramsey reporting for training camp on July 24 in an armored truck with fake money bags. In June, Ramsey made it known in an Instagram Live video with teammate Leonard Fournette that he won't be giving the Jaguars any discounts in his next contract negotiations. It came after the franchise informed he's not getting a contract extension in 2019 because they had already picked up his fifth-year option for 2020.
"When my time comes up, that's when it's going to come up," Jack said in June when he was asked about a possible contract extension. "But right now, I'm just focused on going out there winning games, getting numbers and then by the end of the season that all will take care of itself."
