Dolphins sign RT Austin Jackson to 3-year extension. Details on the new contract
The Dolphins have several notable pending unrestricted free agents in the upcoming offseason but are taking care of one early.
Miami signed right tackle Austin Jackson to a three-year contract extension, the team announced Thursday. According to a league source, the deal is worth $36 million. It has a max value of $39 million and includes $20.7 million guaranteed.
Jackson, the No. 18 overall pick in the 2020 Draft, is in the midst of a breakout season after early-career struggles that included an ankle injury that limited him to two games last season. The Dolphins drafted him to be their franchise left tackle but he moved to left guard in 2021 and has settled into his spot as quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s blindside protector.
Now healthy and under the tutelage of offensive line coach Butch Barry, the 24-year-old Jackson has been one of the best right tackles in the NFL this season. Jackson has started every game for an offensive line that has used eight different starting combinations because of injuries.
This season, he is rated as the No. 36 tackle in the league, a marked improvement over previous years.
Jackson said there were conversations between his representation and the team but he didn’t know a deal was imminent until Wednesday morning.
“I’m excited and extremely grateful,” Jackson said after Thursday’s practice. “If you know my journey here, it’s been one with a lot of stuff to remember. It’s been a lot going on, but I’m just glad that I’ve got a place that allowed me to work on my craft and get better every day. And I’m looking forward to keep doing that.”
Last May, Jackson’s future in Miami appeared to be at a crossroads after the team declined his fifth-year option, which would have paid him $14.2 million in 2024. Jackson, though, acknowledged the reality of his situation and vowed to be better. He now becomes the second member of the Dolphins’ 2020 Draft class to receive an extension, joining long snapper Blake Ferguson.
Tagovailoa, who is also a member of the 2020 Draft Class, got choked up as he spoke about the strides Jackson has made.
“It’s almost like a heroic story or something for how he’s turned his career around within the last year up to this year and all the things that’s been said about him,” Tagovailoa said. “I’m very proud of him.”
He added: “I just smile because of where he’s come from early when we got here together. There’s a lot of things that’s been said about him in front of team meetings and in the media and things like that, so I’m just happy. ... To sit in those meetings and have things told about you that you know aren’t true but they get planted in your head, and then you have the media on you as well. And then you have someone like [coach] Mike [McDaniel] and his coaching staff come in and basically build you back up. And it’s not just Austin. It’s really everyone that’s been here for some time and [to] kind of give you that renewed confidence in yourself to just go out there and play the way you’ve played. That’s why the organization chose you. You see the fruits of his labor.”
McDaniel recalled meeting with Jackson when he first arrived in Miami and saw him as a “very ambitious, goal-oriented, driven professional athlete.” Despite prior labels, McDaniel wanted Jackson, who was 20 when he entered the league, to get the opportunity to grow. McDaniel added that he noticed Jackson started to believe in his potential after the second week of Phase 2 in the 2022 offseason workout program when veteran left tackle Terron Armstead also told Jackson, “You can be different.”
“He’s taken the reins and I think that is something that epitomizes what I think this sport is supposed to be about,” McDaniel said.
Jackson said that he met with McDaniel, Armstead and offensive coordinator Frank Smith when Armstead signed with the team in the 2022 offseason. Armstead was “adamant” that Jackson could be successful in the league, he recalled, and they all focused on areas of improvement.
“It was a great conversation between all of us because I really felt that I had a good opportunity to handle everything on my end, which is all I wanted, for me to be able to do everything that I needed to do and benefit the team.”
The Dolphins now turn their attention to a handful of other key contributors who will become free agents after the season. Notable players include defensive lineman Christian Wilkins, offensive linemen Connor Williams and Robert Hunt, outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel and safety DeShon Elliott.
Before Jackson’s extension, the Dolphins were projected to be $23 million over the cap for the 2024 season. But Miami’s front office, led by general manager Chris Grier, has freed space in recent years through extensions and contract restructures.
This story was originally published December 7, 2023 at 8:28 AM.
