When the Jaguars announced that they would not exercise their option on defensive end Dante Fowler’s contract for the 2019 season, executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin said the Jags want “him to have a great season and earn a new long-term contract.”
Given the lack of security beyond this season, Fowler could find himself in a position where he’s soliciting offers from multiple clubs. On Wednesday, the 2015 first-round pick said he knows “how good of a player I am” and that his plan for the coming season is to make sure every team in the league knows it as well.
“I can really only do so much playing a certain percentage of the snaps,” Fowler said, via Jacksonville.com. “When I look back on it, I feel good but there are some things that I need to work on. I’m going to keep working hard and do my job so I can put good film out there for everybody to see.”
Fowler had eight sacks while playing over 44 percent of the team’s defensive snaps last season, which represented a jump in productivity despite playing less often than he did in 2016. If the productivity continues to rise in his fourth season, missing out on the option year may turn out to be a good thing for Fowler’s long-term outlook.