Austin Seferian-Jenkins is on his way back to the Sunshine State.
Per Jordan Schulz of Yahoo Sports, the 25-year-old tight end will sign with the Jacksonville Jaguars. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport added that he’s signing a two-year, $10 million deal with the opportunity to make $11 million with incentives. Seferian-Jenkins spent his first two seasons in the league and part of a third with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before joining the New York Jets.
Austin Seferian-Jenkins signs two year deal with Jags, per source
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) March 15, 2018
The #Jaguars are signing former #Jets TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins to a 2-year worth $10M, source said. He can make up to $11M. @Schultz_Report on it first.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 15, 2018
Jacksonville Jaguars Will Sign Tight End Austin Seferian-Jenkins to Two-Year Contract
In his second season with the New York Jets, Austin Seferian-Jenkins set NFL career highs in a number of categories. First, he played his most games in a single season (13). Obviously, that’s not the 16-game benchmark that every NFL player strives for, but it was an improvement over his previous career high (9).
Seferian-Jenkins’ attention to his own personal health is likely the primary variable in the increased availability. It had been no secret that he had a drinking problem earlier in his career. However, he was able to move on from those issues in 2017. Seferian-Jenkins was reportedly clean and sober for seven months before the 2017 season had started. That in itself is a great achievement.
Second, Seferian-Jenkins set a career high in catches (50). Those receptions placed him 13th at the position for the 2017 season. His previous career high had been only 21 receptions. Since Seferian-Jenkins was able to remain healthy, he was able to catch more passes from Josh McCown.
McCown and company targeted him 74 times over the course of the season (good for 14th at the position). The increased targets led to Seferian-Jenkins also setting a career high in receiving yards (357). The 357 yards was the 26th best (if you want to think optimistically) in the league last year for a tight end. With 50 catches and 357 yards, it would be fair to say that Seferian-Jenkins wasn’t a downfield threat in 2017. He did, however, demonstrate that ability earlier in his career.
In his brief second season with the Buccaneers, Seferian-Jenkins averaged a career-best 16.1 yards per reception. The Buccaneers had selected the 6’6″ tight end from the University of Washington to pair with Vincent Jackson (6’5″) and Mike Evans (6’5″) to form an unstoppable trio. And for seven games in 2015, it looked like Seferian-Jenkins was going to break out and live up to his first-round draft status. However, an AC joint injury ruined what could have been his best season since his sophomore season at Washington.
While people expected the former first rounder to have more impressive statistics at this point in his career, it’s important to remember that he still has time. Seferian-Jenkins will only be 26 when the next season starts. He has the athletic profile, age, and college production to continue to set career highs for himself.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
