Despite several recent departures, one depth player from Jacksonville’s secondary will stay with the team. SecurityAn NFL
Network’s Ian Rapoport says that Daniel Thomas has accepted a new contract.
According to Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report, the agreement includes a base value of $4 million and a duration of two years. However,
Thomas may make up to $6MM from this deal, which makes it far more profitable than his rookie deal. The four seasons that the former fifth-round pick has been in Jacksonville have been mostly spent on special teams.
With the Jaguars, Thomas has participated in 56 games and had two starts in his first two seasons.
During that time, he recorded defensive snap shares of 23% and 20%, but ever since, he has been employed almost exclusively in the third phase. With this new contract in place, the 25-year-old will add to his career total of 902 special teams snaps played.
Rayshawn Jenkins, a veteran safety, was dismissed by the Jaguars earlier this week as part of their defensive cap purge.
The team was without a starter as a result of that cost-cutting measure, which may allow Thomas to see more playing time on defense.
Though, considering the vast list of available safeties, the team might decide to add during free agency in particular. The latter would still have a lot of other in-house possibilities to contend with.
Before the deals with Cleveland and Thomas, Jacksonville’s cap space was estimated to be about $24.5MM as of Thursday.
These agreements will reduce the Jags’ spending capacity, but both players will now be eligible for increased pay on their second contracts.
