News broke late Friday night that the Jacksonville Jaguars had come to terms on a three-year, $51 million contract extension with offensive lineman Cole Van Lanen. The Green Bay, Wisconsin native has been something of a super-sub for the Jags this year, logging snaps at four of the five positions on the offensive line.
Most recently, Van Lanen has been seeing extended action at left tackle, logging exactly 300 snaps as quarterback Trevor Lawrence's blindside protector since week 13. Judging by the average annual value of the extension ($17 million), Jacksonville sees Van Lanen as its left tackle of the future.
At that rate of pay, he would be tied for the seventh-highest paid left guard, tied for the second-highest paid center, seventh-highest paid right guard, and 11th-highest paid right tackle in the NFL. But at the position he is currently locking down, he is the 17th-highest.
Jaguars OL Cole Van Lanen's Contract Comp
Jacksonville decided to get ahead of the market on an extension for their breakout pass protector. In my research of NFL contracts, I typically look at production and comps over three different time horizons: last three years, the last two years, and the most recent year. Typically, I find actual contracts are a combination of the three.
Van Lanen's deal is unique in that Jaguars general manager James Gladstone and Van Lanen's representation had to build a valuation almost completely off of his 2025 season, as he had less than 300 career snaps before this season. But the deal that looks to be the guiding light on where the two sides agreed was Alaric Jackson's contract with the Rams last year. Here is a comparison of the two players in the year leading up to their deals.
Player | Age | Draft Round | Snaps | Pressure Rate Allowed | Pressure Rate Allowed in True Pass Sets | PFF Run Block Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alaric Jackson (2024) | 27.1 | UDFA | 893 | 4.38% | 7.14% | 75.9 |
Cole Van Lanen (2025) | 28.4 | 6 | 636 | 6.12% | 7.83% | 78.9 |
*Note: data is pulled from Pro Football Focus, and Van Lanen's snap count is a projection that includes Week 18. Age is based on September 1st of 2025 for Jackson and 2026 for Van Lanen.
Jackson was younger and the better pass protector, but the similarities are close enough to warrant the comp with some small decrements for each of the factors noted. Jackson's three-year, $57.75 million deal has an APY of $19.25 million. That's just a few ticks ahead of Van Lanen's $17 million.
The deal is a fantastic leverage of an excellent platform season for Van Lanen and a bit of a bet for the Jags. But at $32.5 million in guaranteed money, some of which Jacksonville will pay out this year, it's a reasonable one for them to make.
Related: 3 biggest winners and losers from the Cole Van Lanen extension
What will the Jaguars do with Walker Little?
This deal follows in the wake of a three-year, $40.5 million extension Jacksonville gave to Walker Little just last year to be their left tackle of the future. The team appears to be moving on from him just 12 months later.
The team looks set at most of their line positions. They gave solid deals to Patrick Mekari and Robert Hainsey in free agency to bring consistency to the interior offensive line, and Anton Harrison has right tackle locked down.
Little is due $12 million next year. $11 million of it is guaranteed. That's not an unreasonable amount for a guard, but it is on the higher end. The team could decide that Little provides them with a higher ceiling than Cleveland, which has no guaranteed money in 2026. But Little only has 120 career snaps at guard. Standing over 6-feet-seven-inches, he would be in the 99th percentile for height at the position. This seems like an unlikely outcome.
That means the team should look to trade him. And there should be a market. My current valuations have Little at a $12.5 million value on the open market. He has proven to be a capable, if low-end starting option. Any team trading for him is assuming a two-year, $25 million contract with just $11 million guaranteed. That's an attractive deal.
Acquiring teams will be valuing just the 2026 portion of Little's contract and play when considering trade compensation. Based on previous research I have done regarding player for draft pick trade values, Jacksonville can expect a fifth-round draft pick for their former starting left tackle. That might kick to a fourth based on the tackle free agent market featuring scant few starting options.
Turning a $3 million swing lineman into a starting tackle, only to turn a former starting tackle who is owed $11 million guaranteed into a draft asset, would be just another in a long line of wins for Jacksonville over the past 12 months. And the playoffs aren't even here yet.