Jacksonville Jaguars extend 2nd round tender to Ryan Davis, Abry Jones

Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Ryan Davis has done enough to warrant coming back, with the Jags extending a second-round tender on the player.

While the Jaguars didn’t have many unrestricted free agents worth talking about this offseason (no slight intended to Andre Branch, Bryan Anger, etc.), but they did have a couple intriguing restricted free agents after the 2015 season.

The Jaguars decided to extend second round tenders to two promising young defensive lineman – Ryan Davis and Abry Jones.

Both Davis and Jones would have garnered interest from other teams, but now the Jaguars have some leverage in either re-signing the two players or having them play on one-year offers.

The second round tender means a few things: Davis and Jones can sign the tender and play for whatever the contract number is for a second-round tender (about $2.35 million in 2015) but still pursue a long-term deal. If one of them decides to sign a deal with a different team, the opposing team has to give up a second round pick in order to sign them to their roster.

Davis and Jones are both good, young players, but their impact on the field doesn’t really correspond with a second round value as of now. Davis regressed a little bit in 2015 at least in terms of productivity, but he will likely thrive if the Jaguars add more talent around him along the defensive front.

Jones seems to be the heir apparent to Roy Miller – a stout defensive tackle who can hold the point and help stuff the run on 1st and 2nd down.

I expect both guys to be on the Jacksonville roster at the beginning of the 2016 season.