Jaguars Should Extend Travon Walker Sooner Than Later

It is clear the Jacksonville Jaguars want to strike a new deal with pass-rusher Travon Walker.

With this being the case, why shouldn't the Jaguars learn from the mistakes of a past regime and do it now?

If the Jaguars know this is the path they want to move forward with Walker, then it isn't going to get any cheaper. Instead, it is likely to get more expensive by the day with a rising cap and new deals being handed out the pass-rushers over the last few weeks.

Jacksonville's past regime faced a similar scenario with start pass-rusher Josh Hines-Allen. After the 2022 season, the Jaguars elected to have Hines-Allen play on his fifth-year option instead of extending him, a move that ended up benefitting Hines-Allen in a big way but resulted in the Jaguars paying a much higher premium for their best defender.

Hines-Allen had not yet had his 17.5-sack season in the 2023 offseason, but he was a clearly top-notch pass-rusher based on his pressure numbers. All logic pointed to Hines-Allen being in store for a monster season as long as he stayed the course.

The Jaguars, though, seemed to want to see the sacks come first. With the prior regime also not negotiating deals in-seasn, Hines-Allen's career year in 2023 backed them into a corner.

As a result, Hines-Allen got a then-record breaking contract that made him amongst the highest-paid pass-rushers in the NFL. Hines-Allen would have gotten a big deal nonetheless, but the Jaguars dragging their feet resulted in them paying their best player far later than they should have.

If the Jaguars want to extend Walker -- which it certainly appears they do -- then the new regime should avoid the mistakes of the old.

We have already seen Maxx Crosby and Myles Garrett reset the pass-rushing market this offseason. Trey Hendrickson will eventually be in line for a big deal himself, and Aidan Hutchinson will likely sign a record-breaking deal whenever he receives his extension.

If the Jaguars want to get the best price they can on Walker's extension -- which will not come cheap after back-to-back 10-sack seasons -- then they would be wise to get him paid at least before Hutchinson.

Walker is a player the Jaguars believed in when they made him the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft under a previous regime. He repaid their belief with big production in each of the last two seasons, and now a new regime is set to benefit from it.

“I’ve had some good conversations with [Travon[. We’ve had a number of hour-long conversations where, man, I feel a guy that wants to go be great, that wants to continue to take the next step and dominate," Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said this week.

"I can feel that from him. Sounds like a guy who wants to work, does things the right way. I’m excited about working with him. He’s really been pleasant to talk to.”