The Jaguars and defensive end Travon Walker have come to terms on a four-year, $110 million extension on Friday, per Adam Schefter of ESPN. The deal includes $77 million guaranteed and $50 million guaranteed at signing.
This is a strong deal for both Walker and the Jaguars. Though Walker, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NFL draft, might not have lived up to the billing of a top pick (and that year’s No. 2 pick Aidan Hutchinson has turned into the better pro), Walker has emerged into a good player and one worthy of this extension.
This past season, Walker tallied 38 total tackles and 3.5 sacks over 14 games. Walker’s also a really strong run defender, and played a key part in the Jaguars ranking No. 1 in rushing yards allowed per game last season. His sack numbers were down after he recorded back-to-back double digit sack campaigns in 2023 and 2024. In part as a result, the Jaguars finished just 27th in sacks as a team, and both Walker and his teammates will look to improve upon those numbers next season.
Still, this contract makes a ton of sense for the Jaguars.
The edge rusher market has become one of the most expensive in the NFL. The five highest-paid edge rushers are all making at least $40 million per year, with Micah Parsons topping the market at a salary of $46.5 million.
Walker’s $27.5 million salary puts him nearly $20 million below the salaries of Parsons and Hutchinson, the two highest-paid players at the positions. To land one of the better edge rushers in the league at a price below $30 million is a good deal these days, especially since the Jaguars did not re-sign Walker until after his fourth NFL season.
This new contract makes Walker the 12th highest-paid edge rusher in the NFL, via Over the Cap, a reasonable landing spot for him. His $77 million guaranteed ranks 11th at his position, and is nearly half that of Hutchinson, who has $141 million in guarantees in his contract. Walker’s annual salary is just below Trey Hendrickson, who signed with the Ravens on a salary of $28 million per year. He also makes just less than teammate Josh Hines-Allen, who is earning a $28.25 million salary.
Walker’s new deal notably lines up near the top of this year’s free agency market, which saw Hendrickson join the Ravens, Jaelan Phillips sign with the Panthers for $30 million per year and Odafe Oweh sign with the Commanders on a deal around $25 million per year.
Both Phillips and Oweh were pricey additions for their new teams, especially given Phillips’s injury history and Oweh’s inconsistency. As a homegrown player, the Jaguars know what they’re getting in Walker. He is also young at just 25 years old, and has room to keep developing and getting better. Keeping him long-term gives them the opportunity to do that, and prevents them from taking a risk or overpaying for an edge rusher in free agency, which other teams have had to this offseason. They are also not expected to be drafting high enough in the near future to take a premier edge rusher, adding to the importance of extending Walker at a good price.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Why Travon Walker’s Contract Extension Is a Good Deal for the Jaguars.
