Dante Fowler Out For the Season

Posted on by Jason Fitzgerald

Per Adam Schefter of ESPN the Jaguars top pick in the draft, Dante Fowler, suffered a season ending ACL injury in their minicamp today.


So I know that means a number of questions on what this means for his contract, since Fowler had yet to sign with the Jaguars. 

Rookies that participate in these minicamps all sign a standard injury protection agreement that should protect their earnings in the event that a player is injured. The NFL treats all injuries that occur in minicamps and workouts the same as if they occur in the training camp or preseason so Fowler will be placed on injured reserve once his contract is finalized.

Fowler should be in line to sign a fully guaranteed contract that should be worth $23,490,240 that includes a signing bonus of $15,343,812.  There is no reason to believe that this will change, though losing out on a rookie season can impact future earnings since usually his position can have a bit of a learning curve that takes place in a player’s rookie season where he would have seen only partial snaps. If that extends through 2016 with him he won’t have as much leverage when it comes to quickly earning a second contract.

I’d imagine the Jaguars will come under added scrutiny by the NFL Players Association in regards to what was occuring during their practices. There is not supposed to be any live contact during minicamp and the video circulating of the injury looks as if they certainly were pushing the limits on that. All practices are filmed by the team and they will likely need to turn that over if a formal complaint is filed on behalf of the players.