This week, we asked Jacksonville Jaguars fans if they would have offered defensive end Travon Walker more or less than the $27.5 annual salary he signed for.
It was a close call, but over half of the respondents said they would’ve offered him less.
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Walker has the 36th-lowest odds to win Defensive Player of the Year next season (+10000). Two of his teammates are listed ahead of him: Travis Hunter (+4500) and Josh Hines-Allen (+5000).
Because Walker is the kind of player
whose value will never quite shine through on the stat sheet, he has an uphill battle to prove that he’s “worth” paying $27.5 million per year. If fans are split about 50/50 on the price tag, though, that’s a pretty decent sign it was a fair deal.
“He’s somebody that by season’s end,” said general manager James Gladstone, “we wanted to align ourselves with beyond just the contract that we had at the time. His commitment to our football team, his commitment to his teammates, it seeps out of his soul. It was very easy to see what his piece to our puzzle meant. The scheme fit, the priorities we have on our defense, it just all really matches up in a real way. Glad he was able to earn himself that opportunity and know he’s going to take advantage of it. He doesn’t take it for granted. He’s the type of human being that you feel comfortable making a decision like that about. Really excited for really the evolution we’ll see moving forward with not only his usage, but that entire defensive front and those guys behind him as we get into year two of the system.”
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