Big Cat Country
Extension season is officially underway in Jacksonville. With the Jaguars locking up tight end Brenton Strange on a three-year contract extension this week, the spotlight has naturally shifted to the other players on the roster heading into contract years. And while wide receiver Parker Washington figures to be the name most frequently mentioned in those conversations, there is another player quietly making one of the strongest cases for a new deal on this entire roster, one who plays a position that rarely gets the attention it deserves: Ezra Cleveland.
Jacksonville acquired the left guard from the Minnesota Vikings during the 2023 season, sending a sixth-round pick back to Minnesota in exchange. The early returns were complicated, as injuries limited Cleveland through his first half-season in a Jaguars uniform, and questions followed him into 2024. But over the past two seasons, Cleveland has done something quietly valuable in an era where offensive line stability is increasingly hard to find: he has been exactly who Jacksonville needed him to be, making his 2024 three-year, $28.5 million contract extension seem like a bargain in 2025. His $8 million per year average salary is 28th of all guards and 10 spots behind 2025 free agent guard Patrick Mekari who’s average is $12.5M per year.
Among all 81 qualified guards, Pro Football Focus ranked 2025 Ezra Cleveland:
He logged 1,057 snaps on the season, the 15th most amongst left and right guards combined, while committing just three penalties all year. On 650 pass rush snaps, the 12th highest total at his position, Cleveland surrendered just 24 pressures, resulting in a pressure rate of 3.69 percent. For a player at a position that rarely earns headlines, those are the numbers of someone who has quietly been among the more reliable guards in the conference.
Cleveland also brings with him the benefit of having the versatility to also perform as an emergency swing tackle after playing admirably in his first career start at left tackle against Myles Garrett in 2023, when filling in for an injured Walker Little.
The Jaguars selected Wyatt Milum in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft and followed that investment up by taking Emmanuel Pregnon in the third round of 2026.
Both picks signal organizational belief in the future of the interior offensive line, and both create a cloud of uncertainty over Cleveland’s long-term place in Jacksonville. Whether intentional or not, the message the draft capital sends is difficult to ignore: the Jaguars are building toward something at the guard position, and Cleveland may be the bridge rather than the destination.
That may be unfair. In fact, by the numbers, it could be flat out wrong. Cleveland has performed as well as, and in some areas better than, what most teams receive from the guard...
