The Jacksonville Jaguars placed their franchise tag on outside linebacker Josh Allen on Tuesday, backing up general manager Trent Baalke’s declaration for the 2024 season: “Josh will be a Jaguar.”

Before becoming a two-time Pro Bowler and a unanimous All-American at Kentucky, Allen was an All-State wide receiver for Abbeville High School in 2013.

The designation means Allen will not become an unrestricted free agent on March 13 and gives the Jaguars until July 15 to work out a long-term contract extension with the pass-rusher.

NFL teams had until 3 p.m. CST Tuesday to use their franchise tag for the 2024 season.

“We were not able to reach an agreement on a contract extension with Josh before today’s deadline,” Baalke said in a statement accompanying Jacksonville’s announcement on Tuesday afternoon, “and thus, we have tagged him. We certainly value Josh’s leadership on the field, in the locker room and in the community. Our objective to keep Josh in Jacksonville in the coming years remains unchanged, and negotiations will continue.”

The franchise-tag designation also guarantees Allen a payday of $24.007 million for the 2024 season if that long-term extension doesn’t come through.

The franchise-tag value is basically the average of the top five salaries at a player’s position over the past five years.

The Jaguars used the non-exclusive franchise tag on Allen, which allows him to negotiate with other NFL teams. If he reaches an agreement that’s better than his franchise-tag value, Jacksonville will have the opportunity to match it. If the Jaguars don’t and Allen signs with another team, the outside linebacker’s new team will owe the Jaguars two first-round draft picks.

The chilling effect of that compensation makes the non-exclusive tag practically an exclusive one, leaving only the tagging team to negotiate with the player.

Allen joined Jacksonville as the seventh selection in the 2019 NFL Draft. He went to the Pro Bowl as a rookie, when he registered 10.5 sacks.

That remained his career high until 2023, when he finished tied for second in the NFL with 17.5 sacks.

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