Marcedes Lewis Agrees to Long-Term Contract with Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars have finally signed tight end Marcedes Lewis to a long-term contract. A lot was made out of the fact that he hadn't had an extended deal through last season, and when the NFL lockout hit, he still hadn't been given a new contract. Now though, he will be one of the highest paid tight ends in football, and that should remain the case for the next five years.

According to ESPN, the Jaguars gave Lewis a five-year deal worth about $35 million on Friday. He will be guaranteed about $17 million under this new deal, but it is probably likely that he will finish out the contract and get all of it by the time the deal comes to an end. After receiving the franchise tag from the Jaguars, the team didn't have to give him a new long-term deal, but could have risked really frustrating one of the franchises biggest assets.

Last year, Lewis was named to the AFC Pro Bowl team after putting up some impressive statistics for the Jaguars. He would finish the season with 58 catches for 700 yards and 10 touchdowns. Those are the high-water marks for his career, and it starting to show just how much of a weapon he can be to the team on offense. Now the 6-foot-6, 262-pound tight end won't have to worry about contracts for at least another four seasons.

Jacksonville has a lot of work to do in order to get back to the postseason, but an 8-8 finish to the 2010 season showed some promise for the team. After going 8-5 though, the team had high hopes of making the postseason come crashing down with three straight losses to end the year. Jacksonville had been sitting in first place in the AFC South at that point; holding back the Indianapolis Colts through the first 14 weeks of the regular season. The Colts would ultimately win its last four games of the year, clinching the AFC South and sending Jacksonville fans into the offseason with quite a few frustrations.

Making sure that Lewis stayed with the team was one of the most important goals of the offseason for Jacksonville, and now the team can get back to focusing on getting better for the 2011 regular season. The preseason will open for the Jaguars on Thursday, August 11 when the team travels to play the New England Patriots. Week one of the regular season brings the Tennessee Titans to town on Sept. 11.