Trent Baalke: Josh Allen Will Be a Jacksonville Jaguar in 2024
Josh Allen isn't going anywhere.
Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke held his end-of-season press conference Thursday, where he made it clear Allen will still be on the roster in 2024, and therefore won't hit free agency.
"Josh will be a Jaguar."
Baalke noted the Jaguars haven't yet started contract negotiations with Allen, who played the 2023 season on the fifth-year option.
In 17 games this year, Allen recorded 17.5 sacks, a career-high 33 quarterback hits, a career-high 17 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, and an interception. Allen also finished No. 5 among all EDGE players in pressures and No. 7 in win-rate.
"Haven’t started. Those negotiations will start," Baalke said.
“Yeah, I’d love to say yes. I know Josh wants to be here, I know we want him here. Can we come to a number that works for everybody? That’s the key. I respect that. Like I said last year with Evan’s (Engram) situation, you got to respect these guys that put themselves in this position. They work hard, they deserve to make good money. What that good means to them could be different than what it means to us. We just got to come together, sit down at the table and work things out.”
The last two years, the Jaguars have used the franchise tag as a mechanism to continue negotiations. It happened with Evan Engram last year before he signed a new deal ahead of training camp, and it happened with Cam Robinson in 2022 before he signed a new deal around the draft.
“I’m not going to commit to anything right now relative to the franchise tag. But at the same token, Josh Allen is going to be a Jaguar next year," Baalke said.
"Obviously it's something we'll evaluate, but yeah the type of year he had. That's what we expect out of him, he expects the same, so yeah if we can work it out gosh, you'd love to keep him," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said after the season ended.
"You want him to be a Jaguar forever, so these are all the tough decisions and conversations we've got to have in the coming weeks. He did his part and put himself in a good position to make it interesting and tough. I'm excited for the future, obviously, and hopefully we can get something done.”
