The Jacksonville Jaguars have made an effort to extend Parker Washington, but they haven't been able to get it done. While he's made it clear that it won't become a distraction, it doesn't seem like both sides are close to reaching a deal.
Several receivers have gotten new deals since the end of 2025. Couple that with the fact that Washington is coming off a banner year, and it's not surprising to hear Michael DiRocco of ESPN say that he doesn't believe the former Penn State Nittany Lion will have an extension by the start of the regular season.
The Jaguars and Parker Washington may not strike a deal before the regular season
Michael DiRocco made an apperance on 1010 XL and said that he isn't sure that the Jaguars will have struck a deal with Parker Washington by the season opener, noting that both sides are apart on his potential annual average.
"It's clear that they're going to continue talks, but it's also clear that both sides are far apart on what they want. Because if they weren't, the deal would probably be done by now, right?" DiRocco said (17:40 mark). "I mean, if you're Parker, you're taking a risk at this point right now a little bit because you can get hurt, and then all of a sudden you're not worth as much as you thought you were, or wouldn't command as much as you thought you were. You are."
DiRocco continued, What if you play and don't have a great year? Your numbers are down because Trevor's spreading the ball all over the place, and at the end of the year they can the numbers they put the numbers in frame. It's like, 'Hey, you had less receiving yards this year than you had last year. We're not paying 20.' If he has less receiving yards this year than he had last year, he shouldn't be making 25 million. Right, and that would be obviously the logical thing there."
Later in the show, DiRocco says that the Jags and Washington are rumored to be more than $10 million apart.
Jakobi Meyers earned a three-year, $60 million deal just a few weeks after he landed in Duval via trade. Based on what several beat writers are saying, Washington seemingly wants more money than that. From an outside perspective, though, it's hard to tell just what kind of amount he's aiming at.
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What's next for Parker Washington if the Jaguars don't extend him by Week 1?
Ideally, the Jaguars would have had Parker Washington under contract beyond 2026 since they had no trouble locking up defensive end Travon Walker, tight end Brenton Strange, and cornerback Montaric Brown.
From the team's side of things, though, the Jaguars may want to see more of Washington before they make a big commitment to him. It's also hard to imagine they're lowballing him.
Instead, it's possible that Washington may want to get a premium contract, and that's where you can't blame them for not raising their offer. As impressive as the Sugar Land, Texas native was in 2025, he's only had more than 50 receptions in a season once. Similarly, he's never reached the 1,000-yard mark in his career.
On the other hand, you can't blame Washington for getting as much as he can since an NFL player's income window is limited and can shut at any time because of injuries. Then again, he may need to bet on himself next season if he wants the Jags to give him the deal he wants.
The good news is that the team's brass won't stop negotiating during the season. Washington, for his part, is setting himself up to put up even better numbers than he did in 2025. If he does, Jacksonville will have no option but to cave.
Both unless both sides compromise, this storyline will loom in the regular season.
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