Titans cornerback Jason McCourty is entering the final year of his rookie deal, but he won’t become a free agent after the 2012 season.
The Titans announced Thursday that they have agreed to a five-year contract extension with McCourty, who they drafted in the sixth round of the 2009 draft. The team did not announce any financial terms of the deal, which kicks in next season and runs through 2017, but Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that it is worth $43 million with $20 million in guarantees and bonuses.
It’s a bit number for a player who only became a starter last season. McCourty, who is set to make $1.26 million this season, did show he was ready for the job with a season that made him one of the most valuable players on the Tennessee roster, however. McCourty finished the year with 103 tackles, two interceptions and a sack, production that likely played a role in the team’s decision not to make more than a cursory effort to keep Cortland Finnegan from leaving as a free agent.
Now that McCourty is being paid like the team’s top cornerback, he will be expected to step into the role that Finnegan left behind.