The player who led the Jacksonville Jaguars in sacks in 2023 has completed his contract with the NFL team. So has the player who led the Jaguars in receiving yards and touchdown receptions this season.

Outside linebacker Josh Allen will play for Jacksonville in 2024, Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke said. Baalke didn’t express the same confidence about wide receiver Calvin Ridley.

An All-State wide receiver while at Abbeville High School, Allen record 17.5 sacks in his fifth NFL season.

“Josh will be a Jaguar,” Baalke stated when asked about the prospects of Jacksonville re-signing Allen.

Baalke had a longer and less declarative answer on Ridley’s future with the team.

The Jaguars traded for Ridley in November 2022 while the former Alabama standout was serving an indefinite suspension for violating the NFL’s gambling policy. After the league reinstated Ridley in March, he had 76 receptions for 1,016 yards and eight touchdowns for Jacksonville in 2023, even though when he entered the season, he hadn’t played in an NFL game since Oct. 24, 2021.

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“Calvin did some awfully good things,” Baalke said. “I love Calvin Ridley. He’s all ball. You guys and gals who were able to see us practice, he loves to practice, he loves to play, he loves the game. When you bring somebody in that hasn’t been a part of football for over a year and a half, you got to knock the rust off, and he did that, and, at times, he showed exactly who he was, who he can be.

“And the sky’s the limit. He’s only going to get better because of the way he works. When you love something as much as he loves football, you can’t help but get better. So we would love to have Calvin back. We’re going to work toward that. What that means is I don’t know right now.”

Even though Allen is a priority, Baalke said the team and the player remain “very far” apart on a contract – because they haven’t started working on it yet.

“I know Josh wants to be here,” Baalke said. “I know we want him here. Can we come to a number that works for everybody? That’s the key. And I respect that. It’s like I said last year with (tight end) Evan (Engram)’s situation: You got to respect these guys that put themselves in this position. They work hard. They deserve to make good money. What good means to them could be different from what it means to us, so we just got to come together, sit down at the table and work things out.”

Without contract extensions from Jacksonville, Allen and Ridley will become unrestricted free agents on March 13. The Jaguars could have longer to negotiate with Allen, if the team used its franchise tag.

Jacksonville would have to tag Allen between Feb. 20 and March 5, but that would extend the negotiating period into July. It also would guarantee Allen an estimated $21.922 million if he’s classified as a linebacker or $23.348 million if he’s classified as a defensive end for the 2024 season if a long-term contract deal isn’t reached.

The salary-cap hit imposed by a franchise-tag payout conceivably could make it harder to re-sign Ridley, too.

Allen cost Jacksonville $10.892 million and Ridley $11.116 million in 2023, which put them ninth and eighth, respectively, on the Jaguars’ pay chart this season.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.