OT Monroe signs five-year, $35.4 million deal with Jaguars has 0 comments

Aug 15th 2009, 10:14 | FFN-Score: 3 points

The Jacksonville Jaguars wasted no time trying to get first-round draft pick Eugene Monroe up to speed.

Monroe ended a 12-day holdout Friday by signing a five-year contract, worth a maximum of $35.4 million with $19.2 million guaranteed, a league source told NFL Network's Jason La Canfora. The $19.2 million is the largest guarantee in Jaguars history.

About an hour later, Monroe was on the field, in the huddle and lining up against Jacksonville's top defenders.

He whipped 'em, too.

"Eugene, I heard they washed your pants with money," veteran defensive end Reggie Hayward shouted as the eighth overall draft pick stepped into his first training-camp drill.

Monroe, a 6-foot-5, 320-pound left tackle from Virginia, responded by winning two of three one-on-one battles against fellow rookie Julius Williams. A few minutes later, Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio called for Monroe to go against veteran defensive end James Wyche in the "Oklahoma drill." That matchup was a beatdown.

Del Rio then pitted Monroe against last year's No. 8 pick, defensive end Derrick Harvey, and the newcomer dominated both battles.

"Hopefully, I get a chance to get at that again," Monroe said. "That was fun. Back at college, we did that almost every practice and camp. It's exciting to get to do that again, to be in pads and to be back out here."

For nearly two weeks, it looked like Monroe would be a no-show during camp.

The Oakland Raiders gave wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bay, the seventh overall pick, $23.5 million guaranteed, and Monroe's representatives wanted a deal in line with that figure. But the Jaguars, a small-market franchise that's struggling to sell tickets and facing several television blackouts, refused to budge.

The two sides eventually came to an agreement one day after Green Bay Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji, the ninth pick, agreed to a five-year, $28.5 million contract that includes $18 million guaranteed.

"It gave a better idea of where I should be," Monroe said.

The Jaguars wanted Monroe on the field. He had been expected to start this season, but he fell behind three-time Pro Bowler Tra Thomas and seventh-year NFL veteran Jordan Black after missing 22 workouts.

However, Monroe believes he can catch up. He went back to college during the holdout and worked out on his own. He also studied all his notes from minicamp and organized team activities.

Although he's not expected to play in Monday night's preseason opener against the Miami Dolphins, Monroe could be in the Jaguars' starting lineup by the end of the month.

"I feel he'll have a bright future as a Jaguar," general manager Gene Smith said. "He's a quick study. I know he'll come in and compete and do whatever it takes to get prepared to compete to be a starter. ... It was nice to see him get out there and compete against a couple of our defensive linemen.

"He'll catch up in a hurry."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.