JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Cornerback Darqueze Dennard remains a free agent after he and the Jacksonville Jaguars reached an impasse on the details of a contract.
“… The two sides could not come to an agreement on the final contract terms,” the Jaguars said in a statement Thursday. “He remains an unrestricted free agent.”
A league source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on March 17 that Dennard and the team agreed on a three-year, $13.5 million deal that included $6 million guaranteed. Dennard was expected to compete for a starting spot at outside corner despite playing mainly in the slot with the Bengals.
The Jaguars traded cornerback A.J. Bouye to Denver for a fourth-round pick last week and had traded Jalen Ramsey to the Los Angeles Rams last October, leaving third-year player Tre Herndon and nine-year veteran D.J. Hayden as the Jaguars’ most experienced corners. Hadyen played in the slot.
The Bengals used Dennard primarily as their fifth cornerback last season and matched him against inside wide receivers. The former first-round pick out of Michigan State appeared in nine games in 2019 after he started the season on the physically unable to perform list following offseason arthroscopic knee surgery. He didn’t make his first regular-season appearance until a Week 7 loss to Jacksonville.
Dennard, 28, re-signed with the Bengals last offseason on a one-year, $4.5 million deal. Before last season, Dennard never quite lived up to expectations after he was selected 24th overall by the Bengals in the 2014 draft. He was part of a deep position group early in his career, and that, combined with injuries, limited him to only four starts in the first three seasons of his career.
He emerged as a solid nickel cornerback during the past two seasons and was the primary slot corner in 2018, appearing in 13 games and missing three games midseason due to a shoulder injury. He has 3 interceptions, 22 passes defensed, 2 forced fumbles, 3 sacks and 274 tackles in 77 career games.
ESPN’s Ben Baby contributed to this report.