The Jacksonville Jaguars have rewarded offensive lineman Cole Van Lanen with a huge new $51million contract.
The guard, 27, has agreed to terms on a three-year deal that includes a huge $32.5m fully guaranteed.
Van Lanen has been an impressive part of Liam Coen’s team during their remarkable run into the postseason in recent weeks.
The 12-4 Jaguars, who have won seven consecutive games, can wrap up the AFC South title with a victory against the Tennessee Titans at home Sunday.
Van Lanen was selected in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers after playing college football for Wisconsin. But he played just once and was eventually traded to the Jaguars for a seventh-round draft pick in August 2022.
After a slow start to life in Florida, he has started nine games this season and established himself as part of the offensive line protecting Trevor Lawrence.
The Jaguars have rewarded offensive lineman Cole Van Lanen with a huge new $51m contract
The guard, pictured with wife Sam, signed a three-year deal that includes $32.5m guaranteed
Going into this weekend’s final round of regular season games, the Jaguars still have a slim chance of clinching the No. 1 seed in the AFC over the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots.
Jacksonville secured a playoff berth two weeks ago and has faced division-clinching scenarios since. But all of those required Houston to lose, and the Texans are the only NFL team hotter than the Jags right now.
‘You can talk about winning the division because it´s what we´ve got an opportunity to do, and it´s one game,’ Lawrence said this week.
‘We´re here. Leading up to this point, we weren´t here yet. … We had to win all those games to get to this point to have the opportunity to continue to control the division and keep it in our hands.
‘And that´s what we did, and none bigger than this one. We´re here to win the division this week.’
