Jacksonville Jaguars' star edge rusher, Josh Allen, enters the 2023 season knowing his contract will be up for negotiation in 2024, thus adding incentive to outperform this year. 

The Jaguars selected Josh Allen with the 7th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. The Jags' selection of Josh Allen proved to be a good one, as Allen stepped into stardom in his rookie season. In all 16 games played, Allen recorded 44 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks (Most by a rookie in Jaguars' history), and two forced fumbles. Allen was also the first rookie in Jags' history to be selected to the Pro Bowl.

Following Allen's rookie campaign, he was named team captain in just his second year in Jacksonville. Allen, now a 3rd-year captain for the Jags, is coming off a season where he tallied seven sacks and recorded a career-high in forced fumbles (four).

Despite all of Allen's tremendous play so far, 2024 will be the most critical year yet for the young star, as he has an opportunity to become one of the League's highest-paid outside linebackers (OLB). TJ Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers is currently the highest-paid OLB in the NFL, earning an average salary of just above $28 million. 

Josh Allen is entering the prime of his career. If he continues to stay healthy and wreak havoc on opposing offenses, he'll make a case for earning an annual salary up there with Watt's.

"(There's) always room for improvement and I'm ready to take those next steps," Allen stated last month at the Jaguars' minicamp.

If Allen does continue to improve, he'll have no problem negotiating a healthy contract next off-season. He has a championship-like leadership that Doug Pederson and Co. need in order to win a Super Bowl in Jacksonville.

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