The Colts and star linebacker Darius Leonard have agreed to a five-year, $99.25M extension, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports. Leonard is now the highest-paid off-ball LB in the league.
Leonard and 49ers ‘backer Fred Warner, both selected in the 2018 draft, became extension-eligible at the end of the 2020 campaign, and because they were not first-round choices, they were slated for free agency next spring. So it was imperative for their respective clubs to extend their defensive cornerstones sooner rather than later, and after Warner signed a five-year, $95M pact last month, it felt like only a matter of time before the Colts and Leonard came together on a slightly more lucrative accord.
Indeed, we heard on July 21 that the two sides were close to a new deal, but as Rapoport adds, negotiations came to a standstill over the past several weeks. It’s unclear exactly what the holdup was, but perhaps it had to do with guarantees and cash flow.
As Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com reports, Leonard did not just set the off-ball LB market in terms of average annual value ($19.85M). His $52.5M in guaranteed money edges out the $51M that C.J. Mosley pulled down from the Jets several years ago, and the $60M that he will receive over the first three years of the deal tops Warner’s $58.7M.
Leonard, 26, is certainly worthy of that type of commitment. He earned Defensive Rookie of the Year honors in 2018, and in his first three years as a pro, he has made three Pro Bowls and earned two First-Team All-Pro nods. Although Pro Football Focus did not think as highly of his run defense or pass coverage in 2020 as it did in the prior two years, he consistently ranks among the best LBs in football in terms of both advanced metrics and raw stats. Since entering the league, Leonard leads all inside linebackers in tackles per game (9.9), TFL per game (one), sacks (15), forced fumbles (nine) and he is second in interceptions (seven), as Field Yates of ESPN.com notes.
In short, he is an elite defender and an indispensable piece of Indy’s front seven. He is now being paid like it.
Alex Marvez of SiriusXM NFL Radio first reported that a deal was either done or close to being done.
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