The Jacksonville Jaguars shored up their defensive backfield Monday morning.
Former seventh-round pick Montaric “Buster” Brown and the Jags reached an agreement on a three-year, $33 million deal ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Adam Schefter announced. The deal comes on a Monday full of big moves across the league as teams prep for the NFL Draft. After this move, the Jags have all four starting corners now under team-friendly deals.
With a yearly value of $11 million for Brown, rookie contracts for Travis Hunter and Jarrian Jones and a $10 million average for starter Jourdan Lewis, all four of the Jags corners amount to around $30 million in total annual salaries. Across the league landscape, Brown’s deal slots him around the 26th highest paid corner in the league.
Since being drafted in 2022 out of Arkansas, Brown has been a solid role player for the Jags, improving his play and usage year over year. Brown played eight games his rookie season, 12 in his sophomore season but broke out onto the scene two seasons ago with 17 games played and a career-high eight passes defended.
Last season, Brown played in 15 games, setting career highs in picks (two) and passes defended (12).
Brown was on track to be one the team’s big free agent signings, or departures, but the team prioritized keeping him first on their list seemingly. The optics of Brown being re-signed first is that linebacker Devin Lloyd and running back Travis Etienne are now almost surely going to be free agents. The deal also likely waves goodbye to mid-season acquisition Greg Newsome after 12 games played in teal.
But at least the Jags know they won’t have to worry about the cornerback room this offseason any longer and can focus on potentially shoring up other aspects of the defense this offseason and during the 2026 Draft.
