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Jacksonville Jaguars place franchise tag on Josh Allen

Former Montclair High star will receive $24 million in 2024 if he signs the tag
Gary Adornato|
Jacksonville Jaguars place franchise tag on Josh Allen
Jacksonville Jaguars place franchise tag on Josh Allen

Former Montclair High linebacker Josh Allen, after 17-1/2 sacks last season, was unable to reach an agreement on a long term deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars prior to Tuesday's deadline for potential NFL free agents and the Jaguars protected their rights to Allen by placing the league's Exclusive Franchise Tag on the one-time New Jersey high school football star.

Allen's 2023 sack total was second only to the 19 recorded by Pittsburgh Steelers' linebacker TJ Watt. Allen is now bound to the Jaguars for the 2024 season and, when he signs the tag, will be guaranteed a $24 million salary, which is the average of the 10 highest players at his position. Should he refuse to sign the tag he will be unable to sign with any other NFL team during the 2024 season.

During his senior year in high school, Allen led all state players in sacks, but was not a hotly pursued college recruit. He was only rated as a 2-Star prospect and more than 2,000 players were rated higher than him at his position.

He eventually landed at the University of Kentucky where he became a 2nd-Team All-SEC selection as a junior and a consensus All-American as a senior. He recorded 31-1/2 sacks during his college career including 17 as a senior. That led to him being a 1st-round draft pick of the Jaguars in 2019 where he has become a two-time All Pro, including in 2023.

The Jaguars and Allen can continue to negotiate a potential long term deal until July 17th. An NFL player can be franchised up to three times, but the price of the tag goes up each time. 

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Gary Adornato
GARY ADORNATO

Gary Adornato began covering high school sports with the Baltimore Sun in 1982, while still a mass communications major at Towson University, and in 2003 became one of the first journalists to cover high school sports online while operating MIAASports.com, the official website of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association. Later, Adornato pioneered market-wide coverage of high school sports with DigitalSports.com, introducing video highlights and player interviews while assembling an award-winning editorial staff. In 2010, he launched VarsitySportsNetwork.com which became the premier source of high school media coverage in the state of Maryland. In 2022, he sold VSN to The Baltimore Banner and joined SBLive Sports as the company's East Coast Managing Editor.

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