Contract negotiations between the Jacksonville Jaguars and franchise-tagged kicker Josh Scobee reportedly have come to a halt.
A league source familiar with the negotiations told The Florida Times-Union that part of the problem is the deal given to the Oakland Raiders' Sebastian Janikowski, who is the NFL's highest-paid kicker. Janikowski signed a four-year deal worth $4 million per year two years ago.
But Scobee's agent, Ken Harris, denied that Janikowski's deal is holding up contract talks.
"Any claim that Janikowski's contract is somehow the reason we don't have a long-term deal yet would be a myth," Harris said. "Josh's current proposal used a few appropriate contracts as its basis, not just one. More importantly, his proposed (average per year) wouldn't even register in the top couple of spots, even though his stats beat both of them last year."
"I have to give Josh a ton of credit," Harris said. "He had me convey invitations to them on three different occasions to sit down, for he and I and their top brass to sit down together and talk, and that hasn't come to pass."
Jaguars general manager Gene Smith said during April's NFL draft that he's confident a long-term contract will be worked out.
"I'm confident that will happen in time," Smith said, according to The Times-Union. "We want Josh Scobee here."
