JACKSONVILLE, Fla. The Jaguars have locked up their two starting cornerbacks for at least the next three seasons after the team agreed to negotiate former Seattle Seahawk Shaquill Griffin on a three-year deal, a league source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Griffin’s contract is worth $ 44.5 million, with $ 29 million guaranteed, the source said.
The Seahawks and Griffin were far apart over money before the negotiating window opened, but Seattle put strong pressure on the end and came very close, a source told Brady Henderson, ESPN.
Griffin will team up with CJ Henderson, the first round of 2020, to give the Jaguars two young corners to build the secondary series. They really needed the help: the Jaguars played man-to-man coverage at the fourth highest rate in the league last season, allowing a league high of 8.7 yards per attempt, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
The 25-year-old Griffin has been a starter for the Seahawks since early in his 2017 rookie season. The third round pick began his career on the right and was the team’s no. 1-corner since moving to the left in his second season after Richard Sherman was released.
Griffin has six interceptions in four seasons, including a career-best three in twelve games in 2020. He has also defended 48 times.
He made his stand-alone Pro Bowl as an alternative in 2019.
Griffin has played in 57 of a possible 64 games in the regular season. He missed four games last season while suffering a concussion and a thigh muscle injury. He missed one game in 2017 due to a concussion.
The Seahawks reunited Griffin with his twin brother Shaquem, a linebacker / pass rusher, when they drafted him in the fifth round in 2018. The two also played together at college in Central Florida. The Seahawks do not offer Shaquem Griffin as a restricted free agent, a source told Brady Henderson, which will make him an unlimited free agent.