Jaguars’ Investment in Joe Schobert Was a Sound One Due to the Details of His Contract

The Jaguars gave Joe Schobert a sizeable deal, but the details of the contract show it is a rather team-friendly agreement.

When it was first announced that the Jacksonville Jaguars had signed free agent middle linebacker Joe Schobert to a five-year, $53.75 million contract, the initial thought was that the Jaguars had made a massive investment in the veteran. 

While that is still true, there is more context and nuance needed to truly gauge the value of Schobert's deal with the Jaguars. 

On the surface, it appears to be one of the largest financial commitments made to any inside linebacker in the league. The $53.75 million in total contract value is the sixth-highest among inside linebackers, with only the following signing for more than him according to Spotrac: 

1. New York Jets LB C.J. Mosley: $85 million
2. Dallas Cowboys LB Jaylon Smith: $68.421 million 
3. Jacksonville Jaguars LB Myles Jack: $57 million.
4. San Francisco 49ers LB Kwon Alexander: $54 million
5. Seattle Seahawks LB Bobby Wagner: $54 million. 

But while Schobert's total contract value is among the highest in the league, and is higher than any other linebacker who has signed this offseason, it is important to view the contract through a lens separate from the total value. 

To start, little of Schobert's contract is guaranteed. He has $21.5 million total guaranteed in his deal, all of which was guaranteed at signing. According to Spotrac, Schobert has the ninth-most guaranteed money committed to him out of all inside linebackers in the league, but only 40% of his contract is guaranteed. 

For context, Wagner has 74.54% of his deal guaranteed, Mosley has 60% guaranteed, Smith has 51.75% guaranteed, Jack has 58.01% guaranteed, and Alexander has 47.22% guaranteed. 

And what of other linebackers who have signed this offseason? Blake Martinez got 61.79% ($19 million) of his contract guaranteed, while Cory Littleton has 62.41% ($22 million) of his deal guaranteed.

Realistically, Schobert has less of a percentage of his contract guaranteed than most other inside linebackers who have been paid in recent years. His total value and overall guarantees are high, but it is not as astronomical of a commitment as the early numbers may have indicated.

And when one takes a deeper dive into Schobert's contract, it becomes clearer and clearer the large contract is actually a team-friendly contract that is mostly backloaded. 

Joe Schobert (Jaguars) five years, $53.75M, $21.5M gtd, $12M signing bonus, salaries $2.5M (gtd), $7M (gtd), $8.75M, $10.25M, $10.75M; annual up to $300K in per game active roster bonus, $200K workout bonus annual

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) March 18, 2020

According to Spotrac, Schobert has a cap hit of only $5.4 million in 2020, which is slated to be the Jaguars' ninth-highest cap hit next season. This is a smaller cap hit than players like wide receiver Marqise Lee and A.J. Cann will have next season. His cap hit increases to $9.9 million in 2021, but as of now only the first two years of the salary of Schobert's contract ($9.5 million), along with his guaranteed signing bonus ($12 million) are the only guarantees of his contract.

The Jaguars would face stiff salary cap repercussions if they release Schobert before 2022, but his dead cap falls to $7.2 million in 2022. If the Jaguars were to release him after two seasons, they would save $4.45 million. The savings of cutting him increase along with his salary each season from this point on, making it easy for the Jaguars to get out of the deal without many ramifications after two seasons if they choose to do so.

Because of this, the Jaguars have put themselves in a win-win situation with the veteran linebacker. Either he lives up to his contract and becomes the consistent playmaking linebacker the Jaguars need in the middle, justifying his deal and giving the Jaguars reason to keep him around past 2021, or they have buyers remorse and escape from the contract after two seasons. 

It remains to be seen how Schobert will fare with the Jaguars, but the team built in enough security with the contract to make it a smart deal from the franchise's point of view. Either Schobert becomes the franchise middle linebacker, or he falters and is replaced in two seasons with little consequences following.

Signing Schobert was an aggressive move for the Jaguars' front office, but it was also a sound one that has built-in protection in the long-term. The hope for the team is that Schobert is good enough to justify keeping him on his contract for all five seasons, but it won't be crippling to the team if he isn't.