Jaguars sign 1st-round pick Dante Fowler Jr. to reported 4-year, $23.5-million deal
The Jacksonville Jaguars have agreed to a four-year, $23.5-million contract with first-round pick Dante Fowler Jr., according to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports.
The $23.5 million is fully guaranteed with no offset language, and Fowler will also receive a $15.4-million signing bonus, Garafolo adds.
Fowler suffered a season-ending knee injury during the first practice of rookie minicamp this past weekend, but the Jaguars still made sure to lock up their potential defensive star of the future with appropriate contract terms.
General manager David Caldwell included a statement with the team's official announcement of the signing:
We are excited to get Dante under contract. Negotiations with Dante's representatives were ongoing prior to his injury last weekend and nothing has changed. His attitude and spirit that he has shown recently are part of the reasons we selected him third overall. He understands the process ahead of him and is willing to do the work. He has a bright future ahead of him with the Jaguars and we look forward to him getting back on the field in 2016 and for many years to come.
Having suffered the injury so early in the offseason, Fowler can be expected to make a full recovery and come back at 100 percent for the 2016 campaign.
Fowler projects as a long-term impact player at weakside defensive end, the primary pass-rush position in head coach Gus Bradley's defensive scheme.