Former 7th overall pick Josh Allen has agreed to a new deal to keep him in Jacksonville through the 2028 season.

The wind picked up in Northeast Florida on Wednesday morning as Jacksonville Jaguars fans collectively sighed in relief.

Outside linebacker Josh Allen has agreed to a five-year, $150 million contract extension with the team.

The deal makes Allen the third-highest-paid defender in the league behind only Nick Bosa and Chris Jones. Allen’s $88 million guaranteed ranks fourth behind Bosa, Jones, and reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett.

It’s the largest contract in team history, and just the third time the team extended a first-round player in the past 15 years (joining Tyson Alualu and Blake Bortles).

Jacksonville’s homegrown star is now signed through the 2028 season. He was previously expected to play on a one-year, roughly $19 million contract after the Jaguars placed its franchise tag on him last month. The team similarly tagged-then-extended tight end Evan Engram in 2023 and left tackle Cam Robinson in 2022.

According to ESPN, Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke didn’t offer Allen a contract extension last offseason, making 2023 a prove-it year for Allen. And boy did he deliver.

Allen broke the franchise’s single-season sack record previously held by Calais Campbell. His 17.5 sacks were tied for second among all players in 2023, and his 33 quarterback hits ranked third.

Allen ranks 14th in sacks (45) and 10th in quarterback hits (103) since he was selected seventh overall in the 2019 NFL Draft. He recorded 10.5 sacks as a rookie, which broke the franchise’s rookie sack record and made him the first Jaguar to make the Pro Bowl as a rookie (albeit as an alternate).

As the Sacksonville era came to an end, Allen registered just 2.5 sacks, 7.5 sacks, and 7 sacks over the next three seasons -- but in a contract season playing on his fifth-year option, the Kentucky product made his case as one of the NFL’s premier pass rushers. Allen earned his second Pro Bowl nod in 2023 after finishing second (behind Garrett) in pass rush win rate on true pass sets among 118 qualifying edge defenders, per PFF.

Allen also ranked top 10 among all NFL defenders in Sports Info Solutions’ Points Earned and Wins Above Replacement metrics plus Trench Warfare’s sack score and pressure score metrics.

Tony Brackens is the Jaguars’ career sack leader with 55; Allen has 45 through five seasons. It’s only a matter of time before the latter overtakes the former, and Allen establishes his place on the Mount Rushmore of all-time Jags.

“Of course I want to be in Jacksonville. You know, I have a chance to leave a legacy behind,” Allen said at this year’s Pro Bowl.

“And you know, that’s something I wanted to do. I wanted to be with the best defensive player to come out of Jacksonville. And that’s everywhere that I go so I got a great opportunity to finish what I started. You know, but at the end of the day I know what comes with the business side of it. So, you know, whatever play out, play out. But, you know, I’d love to be back.”

Congrats on the new contract, 41!

Related reading: Jaguars power rankings: Josh Allen’s best plays of the 2023 season