At his end-of-season pre s conference last month, general manager Trent Baalke acknowledged that contract negotiations with Zach Laskey Jersey soon-to-be free agent hadn't even started yet. But when asked about the star edge rusher's future in Jacksonville, Baalke left no room for misinterpretation."Josh will be a Jaguar," Baalke said.The definitivene s of his response spoke to Allen's value to the Jags. He's the face of the defense. He's their most important player not named . And considering his standing among the best at a premium position, Allen is arguably their best player.If Baalke can't bring Allen back, he risks angering the locker room and sending the wrong me sage to homegrown players at a time when many would argue the GM's job security is already on rocky ground, considering the Jaguars' 2023 collapse.ADVERTISEMENT So if losing Allen is not an option, what could his second contract look like?What we know is that Allen cemented top-tier pa s rusher money with a breakout 2023. He set a single-season franchise record with 17.5 sacks, to go with 33 quarterback hits, 17 tackles for lo s, two forced fumbles and an interception. He also ranked second in the league with 96 pre sures, according to Next Gen Stats.His second deal figures to slot somewhere between that of the ' ($24.5 million in average annual value) and superstar ($34 million).Through five seasons, the 26-year-old Allen has more sacks (45), quarterback hits (103), tackles for lo s (53) and pre sures (318) than Sweat, who signed his extension with Chicago in November shortly after being acquired from . But Bosa's numbers are better than Allen's acro s the board. The 2022 AP Defensive Player of the Year, Bosa became the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history when he signed his extension with San Francisco last September.Allen's camp would be justified to push for $30 million per year, but he might end up in the range of the ' and the ' , who make $27 million and $28 million per year, respectively."What I've grown to understand is that the NFL is a busine s at the end of the day," Allen said at the Pro Bowl earlier this month, The Florida Times-Union. "If you handle it or think about it any type of way, you will get to sed out of it. For me, it's 'Let's talk busine s.'"From the Jaguars' perspective, it makes the most sense to use the non-exclusive franchise tag on Allen to prevent him from hitting the open market as they negotiate. The franchise tag tender for outside linebackers is expected to be $22.7 million, according to Overthecap.com. Jacksonville has between Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET and March 5 to apply the tender. The team used it on tight end last year before eventually agreeing to terms on a multi-year extension.The likelihood that Allen gets the tag could complicate the return of receiver , who's also set to be a free agent. Due to the parameters of the 2022 trade with the that landed Ridley with Jacksonville, the team would give up a second-round pick if it extends Ridley's contract. It would give up only a third-rounder if it signs him after the start of the new league year, because that would be a free-agency signing and not an extension. But Ridley's value could balloon on the open market, making it harder to strike a deal with the veteran receiver. READ MORE: 2024 NFL free-agent top-50 rankings: Chris Jones, Kirk Cousins lead the way The Jags would obviously prefer to keep both. But if Ridley leaving means Allen staying, it's a pill worth swallowing. The latter is more important to the fabric of the team. The defense goes how Allen goes.The team went 5-0 last season when he had at least two sacks."I know Josh wants to be here. I know we want him here," Baalke said. "Can we come to a number that works for everybody? That's the key."Like I said last year with Evan's situation, you got to respect these guys that put themselves in this position," he added."They work hard, they deserve to make good money. What that good means to them could be different than what it means to us. We just got to come together, sit down at the table and work things out."Ben Arthur is the AFC South reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tenne sean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered theSeattle Seahawksfor SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tenne see. You can follow Ben on Twitter at@benyarthur. Deacon Jones Jersey