The Denver Broncos won Super Bowl 50 largely on the back of their outstanding defense. Von Miller received much of the attention especially after winning Super Bowl MVP, but one major contributor was his defensive line mate Malik Jackson.
Jackson was also one of the heroes of the Super Bowl, recovering a fumble for the first touchdown of the game.
Coming into free agency, Jackson was viewed as one of the biggest prizes and according to Ian Rapaport of NFL Network, he has agreed to a deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars:
It's a 6-year deal for the #Jaguars and DT Malik Jackson. He'll sign when the league year opens tomorrow.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 8, 2016
Rapaport also reports that Jackson’s deal is for $90 million with a very large guarantee as well:
The #Jaguars deal for DL Malik Jackson is 6 years, $90M with $42M guaranteed, source said. So, wow.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 8, 2016
Jackson’s massive guarantee puts him among the highest paid defensive players in the entire NFL. Now the pressure will be on for him to live up to that contract and improve a defense that was among the league’s worst.
Head coach Gus Bradley will surely be counting on Jackson to help a pass rush that totaled only 36 sacks last season. The team’s sack leader, Jared Odrick, had only 5.5 sacks on the year.
With the Jaguars owning a ton of money this off-season, Jackson is not expected to be the only big addition to the team. Jacksonville will surely be a team to watch as free agency continues on.
