3 Jaguars most likely to have their contracts restructured in 2025

• The Jags could restructure the contracts of the following 3 players to free up space.

Jaguars WR (13) Christian Kirk takes off his helmet on a break between drills during the Jacksonville Jaguars Organized Team Activity session at TIAA Bank Field Monday, May 23, 2022.
Jaguars WR (13) Christian Kirk takes off his helmet on a break between drills during the Jacksonville Jaguars Organized Team Activity session at TIAA Bank Field Monday, May 23, 2022. | Bob Self/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Jacksonville Jaguars aren't currently in a cap crunch. They have around $37 million in cap room and have done a good job of locking up their most important players. That said, the Jags will need a bit more space if they want to make a few splash signings in free agency.

While the front office could release a few players to get a bit of extra space, they could also restructure a few contracts. That way, Jacksonville wouldn't have to move on from anyone. That's what they did with right guard Brandon Scherff in 2024 to keep him from leaving.

Of course, the downside of reworking deals is that you're just pushing cap charges into future years. Still, that may be the best course of action if the Jags don't want to part ways with some key contributors in the upcoming months.

With that in mind, here are three Jaguars who could get their contracts restructured:

Christian Kirk, wide receiver

When you think of candidates to get the cut, traded or restructured, Christian Kirk is probably the first who comes to mind. After all, he's entering the last year of the deal he signed in 2022 and the Jags already have a potential in-house replacement in Parker Washington.

Add the fact that Jacksonville already tried to trade Kirk last year, and it's easy to see why he could leave in 2025. Having said that, there's a new regime in place, one that may want to keep the former Texas A&M Aggie. If that's the case, the Jags could either ask him to take a pay cut or push some of his salary to next year.

Kirk has a base salary of $15 million for 2025. The team's brass could split that amount in half and push it to next year to free up $8 million in space. Sure, the Arizona native would have a cap charge next year even if he isn't in Duval, but that's a bridge the Jaguars will need to cross in due time.

Evan Engram, tight end

Like Christian Kirk, tight end Evan Engram poses a conundrum to the Jaguars brass. Do they keep one of their offensive mainstays or cut ties with him? If they were to put him on the trade block, he would most definitely garner consideration. On the other hand, his production and veteran presence could come in handy for a team that's in transition like the Jaguars.

For the sake of the argument, let's say the Jaguars decide to keep Engram at his current salary. He's scheduled to make $14.7 million in base salary in 2024. They could compromise and push some of that into next year. Sure, Strange would remain the No. 2 tight end, but he could wait for his chance to get the starting nod.

Walker Little, offensive tackle

Unlike Evan Engram or Christian Kirk, left tackle Walker Little isn't a potential cap casualty. In fact, he just signed a three-year deal worth $45 million in 2024, so he won't be leaving anytime soon. However, he's one of a handful of players who will have a robust base salary in 2024 and could restructure it in the upcoming months.

Although Trevor Lawrence and Josh Hines-Allen have cap hits of $17 million and $15 million, respectively, in 2025, they're only scheduled to make $2 million in base salary, meaning that they're not candidates for restructuring their respective deals.

Meanwhile, Little has a base salary of $8.5 million for next season. The Jaguars can slash that in half and push the cap hit to 2026.

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