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By David Levin
Since Dante Fowler, Jr suffered an ACL injury that cost him his rookie season last weekend, I have heard the same question asked over and over again.
Will Fowler be paid by the Jaguars despite the fact he was injured and had not signed a contract?
That question has now been answered.
As Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com explained in his blog yesterday, the defensive end from Florida will still negotiate with the team on a contract that is in line with what the No. 3 pick in this year’s NFL Draft is slotted to make.
The Jaguars will sign Fowler, who suffered a torn left ACL less than an hour into the Jaguars’ two-day rookie minicamp, to likely the same contract he would have gotten had he not been injured.
Because of the rookie salary cap and slotting system, Fowler was expected to sign a four-year, $23,490,242 contract (fully guaranteed) that included a $15,343,812 signing bonus.
Before the minicamp, Fowler and the Jaguars signed a waiver that stated that the Jaguars would still enter good-faith negotiations in the event that Fowler were injured. The Jaguars don’t have to structure the contract the same way they would have had Fowler not been injured, but the amount Fowler receives should remain the same.
While this is basically a formality, it is a strong move for the Jaguars. There was so much hope riding on Fowler’s pick – to be the leader of the team’s defense and the person who could finally become the sack artist this franchise has needed since the days of Tony Brackens in the mid-1990s.
While the Jaguars lost the potential Fowler brings to the team, the franchise did add Jared Odrick to the defensive line in free agency. The lineman, who can play both end and tackle, was signed away from the Miami Dolphins.
There is no word yet on plans to repair Fowler’s knee. As of this weekend, according to DiRocco, no surgery date has been set.
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