Jaguars defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen is just getting settled in his new job, but he’s been in it long enough to know that it will be easier if he has Josh Allen coming off the edge next season.
Allen is out of contract after playing out the fifth year of his rookie contract and he set a new career high with 17.5 sacks during the regular season. Jaguars General Manager Trent Baalke said the team won’t let Allen get away, but there have not been any talks about the long-term deal that Allen is looking for at this point. ‘
At a Thursday press conference, Nielsen said he’s looking forward for the contract situation to be settled.
“A lot of production, very important. When you’ve got a guy like that, you want him back and think that’s going to work out,” Nielsen said. “I’d be really excited if that works out. Really excited to work with him, heard nothing but great things. I talked to Josh and he’s been fantastic. That’ll get worked out, get him back and get him going, hopefully get him to improve. That’s the ultimate goal, if we can just get that much better next year, what does that look like? That’s pretty exciting. That’s what we want to work towards.”
The Jaguars can use the franchise tag to keep Allen from hitting the open market, but that could lead to an extended absence from team work that would cut into Allen’s preparation time and his opportunity to learn all of what Nielsen wants to do defensively. That would make a swift solution a positive one for all involved, but it remains to be seen if that’s on the table.
