Jaguars to use franchise tag on Pro Bowl LB

Shortly after the season ended, Trent Baalke confirmed Josh Allen would be a Jaguar in 2024. The third-year GM will make the expected move to ensure that happens.

The Jags are franchise-tagging their top pass rusher, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. Making some changes on defense to create cap space, the Jags will not let Allen get away. The freed-up funds, however, will be necessary due to the $24M coming on a linebacker tag this year.

One of this year’s easiest tags to predict, Allen is coming off a monster contract campaign. The former top-10 pick broke through at a good time for his earning power, setting a Jaguars single-season record with 17.5 sacks last year. With Travon Walker tied to a rookie contract, the Jags will cuff Allen with presumptive hopes of working out an extension with him by the July 15 deadline.

The Jags have used their tag in each 2020 offseason. They cuffed Yannick Ngakoue in 2020, kept Cam Robinson off the 2021 and ’22 markets and then slapped the tag on Evan Engramlast year. The team reached extension agreements with Robinson and Engram but traded Ngakoue soon after tagging him. Allen and Ngakoue only played together for one season. Since then, the Jags have looked to the Kentucky alum as their premier edge rusher.

Allen’s career arc could point the Jags to making him prove his 2023 was not a fluke, but the team has other priorities. Trevor Lawrence extension talks have begun, and Baalke has said on multiple occasions this offseason a Calvin Ridley re-up is a goal. Ridley’s situation is more complicated due to the terms of the 2022 trade with the Falcons, but the Jags extending Allen would help on all fronts due to the $24M cap hold on their payroll as long as he is tagged. The Jags cut Folorunso Fatukasi, Rayshawn Jenkins and Darious Williams over the past two days, creating necessary cap room for their Allen move.

The Jags would owe the Falcons a second-round pick if they reached an agreement with the free-agent-to-be before the 2024 league year. If they wait until Ridley hits the market to re-sign him, they will send Atlanta their 2024 third-rounder. The Jags already sent a 2023 fifth as part of the exchange, and while Baalke said the pick is not a major factor here, it would surprise if the Jags re-upped Ridley early. That said, Mike Evans and Tee Higgins being off the market and the Colts likely to tag Michael Pittman Jr. before the 3 p.m. CT deadline would stand to drive up Ridley’s price. Despite his inconsistent past, WR-needy teams will view Ridley as a prime option.

As for Allen, he has said he wants to stay in Jacksonville — but not on a hometown discount. Trade interest came in for the veteran pass rusher at the 2022 deadline, but the team stood pat. After not recording more than eight sacks in a season from 2020-22, Allen erupted in 2023 — a season that also included 33 QB hits. Allen, 26, is in line for a big-ticket extension. The Jags passed on giving one to Ngakoue, but they sound far more eager to reward Allen.