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Jags and Garrard talking extension

Written by Paul Raymond in Sunday, March 23rd 2008 under Jaguars, NFL

The Jacksonville Jaguars and starting QB David Garrard have begun talks on a long-term contract extension. The two sides are in no rush to get a deal done soon thou as Garrard is already under contract for the 2008 season. Garrard and his agent, Albert Irvy, are looking for a contract in the Tony Romo range (i.e. 6-year deal $60-70 million range). Contracts that big take a while to get done, so I’m quite sure this will carry on through most of the off season at least. So what could be the sticking points lets look.

For the Jaguars, they could first of all take their time as Garrard is under contract. If they fail to sign an extension they could always slap the franchise tag on him for the 2009 season. Downside, could cause friction between Garrard and the team itself. The team’s arguing points could also use Garrard’s age, he’s already 28 and two years older then Romo. The team could also use their market size in negotiations, as Jacksonville is a much smaller market then Dallas. In today’s NFL with the contract sizes being given out, I don’t see how the team could use that effectively thou.

For Garrard, the Romo contract is the starting point for all negotiations. “We’re not insisting that [Garrard] gets more than Romo, but it’s got to be in that ballpark,” Irby said. “We’re not going all the way back to [Houston Texans quarterback] Matt Schaub.” This does show Garrard is willing to come down some from the contract demands, it’s just not going to be far. Schaub’s contract with the Atlanta Falcons is for 6-years worth $48 million and $7 million in guarnatees with him just starting two games in his entire career.

I can see the Jaguars meeting those demands or at least coming damn close. The team is starting to get in range of competing for a Super Bowl title, and they would not want contract talks getting in the range of greatness. The Jags also believe that Garrard is the long-term future of this team, so you have to expect them to lock him down, no matter the price.