Is Travon Walker Due for a Big Payday in the Next Couple of Years?

The Jacksonville Jaguars fielded one of the worst defenses in the NFL last season. They had some terrible defensive outings last season, including losing to the Detroit Lions 52-6 and losing to the Buffalo Bills 47-10.

Despite their awful play as a unit overall, their first overall pick in 2022, Travon Walker, had the best season of his short career. In 2024, he had 61 total tackles with ten and a half sacks, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery.

The NFL has seen a couple of historic deals take place with defensive ends in the past couple of days. First, it was the Las Vegas Raiders giving a massive contract extension to Maxx Crosby, making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league.

Even more recently, the Cleveland Browns gave their cornerstone defensive end Myles Garrett an even bigger contract extension, surpassing Crosby's and making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league.

These historic deals reset the market for defensive ends and benefit players like Micah Parsons or Aidan Hutchinson in the future. This begs the question, what kind of payday is in store for Walker when he's due for an extension?

The Jaguars don't have to give him an extension this off-season, nor the next one, because he has a fifth-year option on his contract. However, in the next couple of years, the Jaguars will have to pay him. Could it be in the same ballpark as these massive extensions other players playing his position got?

A good way to discern how much many Walkers could hypothetically receive is by comparing each player's first three years in the league to see how they stack up. So far in his career, Walker has played 49 games, and he has 162 total tackles with 24 sacks.

In Crosby's first three years, he also played 49 games with 142 total tackles and 25 sacks. Finally, Garrett's first three years consisted of him only being able to play 37 games, but he had 104 total tackles with 30.5 sacks.

I think the most important thing to consider is that both Crosby and Garrett got an additional contract before receiving these massive extensions. However, based on their first three years, it looks like Walker is on a trajectory upward.

The next season will be important in deciding whether or not the Jaguars offer him a league-shattering contract or if he gets a contract that's huge but not highest-paid non-quarterback-in-the-league huge.

The Jaguars have shown that they're willing to dish out massive contracts without stellar results on the field, so who knows? One way they can help out Walker and their defense is by drafting a defensive stud with their high draft pick. They could also target some premier offensive weapons in free agency so as not to put so much stress on their defense.

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