The Jaguars and guard Andrew Norwell have agreed on a five-year, $66.5MM deal, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter), with $30MM fully guaranteed. The deal is set to pay the former Panther an average of $13.3MM per season, making him the highest-paid guard in the NFL.
Norwell, a former undrafted free agent, was ranked at No. 4 in Pro Football Rumors’ Top 50 NFL Free Agents for 2018. The Jaguars fill a need at left guard as Patrick Omameh is due to become an unrestricted free agent.
Pro Football Focus ranked Norwell as the third-best guard in the league last year. The Jaguars have solidified the left side of their offensive line for newly-extended quarterback Blake Bortles and standout rookie Leonard Fournette, with Cam Robinson — the team’s second-round pick last season — entrenched at left tackle. The signing will certainly give the upstart Jaguars a boost a day after watching wide receiver Allen Robinson agree to a deal with the Bears.
Norwell started all 16 games at left guard for Carolina last year for the second straight season. They elected to not place the franchise tag on Norwell as the offensive lineman tag was at $14.54MM. The Panthers originally signed Norwell as an undrafted free agent in 2014 out of Ohio State.
The Giants and Cardinals had both been reported to have been in pursuit of Norwell and both have connections to the All-Pro offensive lineman. New Giants general manager Dave Gettleman originally signed Norwell as an undrafted free agent and new Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks worked with Norwell all four years of his career while on the Carolina coaching staff.
Amazing signing
Good deal for them. Bummed my 9ers didn’t get get him, this one I wanted them to get done more than anything else.
The giants really messed up by not signing him. They even had the advantage of having Gettelman, Norwells last GM
Oh Arizona… tsk tsk tsk
Really like this move. O-line has been their biggest issue for the past couple of years and this should help patch it up. I can live with letting Robinson walk if this was the intended target the entire time.
F*ck
– Giants fans