Is Julius Thomas Overpaid?

Julius Thomas is coming to the Jacksonville Jaguars for $46 million with $24 million guaranteed.

That’s big money for a receiving tight end who has limited blocking success. Hell, that’s big money for a tight end who is successful at blocking and receiving!

So, are the Jaguars overpaying for Julius Thomas?

You’ve got to weigh his production with how he can help the team to really find out. It isn’t worth it to the Denver Broncos, for example, to keep a stalwart tight end in town when really anybody can be excellent with Peyton Manning throwing him the ball. There’s another side to that coin, though. Is Julius Thomas only excellent because he had Peyton Manning throwing him the ball?

Right now, the Jaguars are sincerely hoping otherwise. After tying up so much money in Thomas, they’re hoping that he can be the receiver that they need him to be. Blake Bortles needs him to be every bit the receiver he was in Denver. Even if the production drops, the talent and ability still needs to be there. The Jags want a highly productive receiver, but what they need is somebody who is dependable and can turn anything into six points.

Can Thomas do that? Certainly.

Is it worth $46 million? That remains to be seen.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the Julius Thomas signing and I think that the Jags did right, even if they overpaid. Besides, the team had cap money they had to spend anyway, so why not spend it on one of the best scoring tight ends in the past two years? As, Conor Orr over at NFL.com pointed out, though, the Jags are handing Julius Thomas more money guaranteed than Rob Gronkowski.

That stings.

Is Thomas Gronkowski?

At this point, with that kind of cash bet on him, I’m sincerely hoping he is.

What do you think?

Next: Check out the Other Guys The Jags Handed Money To

More from Black and Teal

Home/Jacksonville Jaguars News