Free agency is quickly approaching and the Jacksonville Jaguars need to decide which of their own free agents they’re going to keep. That’s not the only decision the Black and Teal have to make this offseason though. They also need to determine if they want to give wide receiver DJ Chark Jr., who is entering the last year of his rookie deal, a contract extension, but do they really have to do it now? Can’t it wait until next offseason?
Demetrius Harvey of Big Cat Country believes the Jaguars should go ahead and re-sign Chark. He argues that this is not the first thing the team finds itself in this situation, as they went through a similar experience with wide receiver Allen Robinson in 2017. At that time, they had the chance to lock up the Penn State product but opted to let him walk in free agency in 2018.
Robinson had a dominant season in 2015, hauling in 80 receptions for 1,400 yards and 14 touchdowns. However, he caught just 73 passes for 883 yards and eight touchdowns the following year and missed all but one game in 2017.
The Jaguars probably thought Robinson’s best years were behind him and decided against giving him a new contract. In retrospect, they made the wrong decision (even though they may have a chance to bring him back), as he signed a three-year deal with the Chicago Bears and went on to haul in 255 receptions for 3,151 yards and 17 touchdowns. Should this Jacksonville team repeat the same mistake?
There’s no doubt the Jacksonville Jaguars should give DJ Chark a new deal.
Demetrius Harvey points out that DJ Chark is coming off a mediocre 2020 season, catching 53 passes for 706 yards and five touchdowns but rightfully points out that his subpar production might’ve been mostly due to the instability at the quarterback position.
Last season, Gardner Minshew II, Jake Luton, and Mike Glennon all took snaps under center and they all failed to move the Jaguars’ offense on a consistent basis, which in turn affected the performance of their skill position players, Chark included.
Nevertheless, Chark showed in 2019 he can play at a high level, hauling in 73 receptions for 1,008 yards and eight touchdowns. That year, he earned a Pro Bowl designation and the third-highest Pro Football Focus grade for a sophomore wide receiver. His numbers will surely go up with better quarterback play and coincidentally, the Jaguars will most likely use the first overall selection in 2021’s draft to take Trevor Lawrence, arguably the best quarterback prospect since Andrew Luck in 2012.
With more stability at the quarterback position, Chark should be able to go back to his dominant self. Harvey thinks the Jaguars ‘have a golden opportunity to get his contract done at perhaps the lowest number it will be’. He later says that the longer they wait, the more they will have to pay him and by the time they end up offering him an extension, there may not be guarantees he will want to stay. For that reason, he thinks the Jags should strike a deal while the iron is hot, but…
The Jacksonville Jaguars should wait to give DJ Chark a new contract.
Chark deserves to get paid, nobody will deny that. Instead, this is about the Jaguars not needing to do it right now. Seriously, what is the hurry? You could argue that they could get him at a lower rate at this moment, but if he ends up having a career-year, the team’s brass will be happy to take its checkbook out.
You could make the case Chark could run the risk of getting injured but it may be one worth taking if he can maximize his value next offseason. Why should he get the team a discount if he could get paid market rate for his services in 2022? If he signed a contract extension, he would probably get a big signing bonus but wouldn’t get the best possible deal, so why not wait one more year to cash in?
On the other hand, the Jags have a league-high $82 million in cap space and should have no trouble re-signing Chark, but they could wait and see how he fits in the new regime’s vision. It’s true that talks about an extension could become heated and even hostile if both the team and Chark don’t agree to a deal right now, but isn’t that the nature of all negotiations?
Don’t the Jaguars and Chark want what is best for both of them? If that’s the case, why not wait one more year before giving the fourth-year receiver a new contract? If he doesn’t wait, he could be missing out on the opportunity to make the most of his earning power.