Jackson Extension Reaction and Tidbits

JACKSON BREAKS FIRST-ROUND DROUGHT

One of the Dolphins' three selections in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft, Jackson became the first first-round pick to get a second contract with the Dolphins since DeVante Parker.

After being taken 14th overall in 2015, Parker was scheduled to play on his fifth-year option in 2019 before the Dolphins replaced it with a two-year extension that was replaced by a four-year extension in December 2019 before he was traded to New England in 2022.

Since then, 2016 pick Laremy Tunsil was traded to Houston in September 2019; 2017 pick Charles Harris was traded to Atlanta after the Dolphins declined his fifth-year option; 2018 pick Minkah Fitzpatrick was traded to Pittsburgh early in his second season; and 2019 pick Christian Wilkins is playing this season on his fifth-year option.

The Dolphins picked up the fifth-year option on fellow 2020 first-round pick Tua Tagovailoa for 2024, but there's always the possibility they'll sign him to a contract extension instead.

Finally, the Dolphins traded their third 2020 first-round pick Noah Igbinoghene to the Dallas Cowboys this summer.

TERRON AND THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING

Mike McDaniel said Thursday he told Jackson he believed in him when he took over as head coach in February of 2022, but what really made an impact was getting the same kind of feedback from veteran tackle Terron Armstead.

Armstead joined the Dolphins as an unrestricted free agent in March and made his comments to Armstead during the offseason program.

“I remember I sat down with Terron, Frank Smith and Mike McDaniel the day Terron got here," Jackson said. "Terron was just really adamant about who I could be in this league. Everybody was. We all talked about the stuff that needs to get done, the type of program we wanted and expectations. It was a great conversation between all of us because I really felt like I had a good opportunity to handle everything on my end, which is all I wanted for me to be able to do everything I needed to do to benefit and help the team. That definitely was a great talk for us. We’ve had a lot of interactions since then for sure.”

TUA'S TAKE ON JACKSON AND HIS NEW CONTRACT

In his weekly media session, Tua seemed to get emotional when talking about Jackson and at one point asked for people — he clarified he didn't mean the media but rather the folks watching to give his right tackle a round of applause.

Tua then pointed out that Jackson's career has resembled his own in some way, starting with some doubters even internally but an eventual breakthrough in performance.

In the process, Tua pretty clearly referred to former head coach Brian Flores without mentioning his name.

"The media, everyone wants to say whatever they want to say about Austin Jackson, but it’s almost a heroic story or something for how he’s turned his career around within last year up to this year, and all the things that have been said about him," Tua said. "I’m very proud of him. I know he’s very happy. But out there at practice, you wouldn’t see it because of the person that he is. I’m sure his family is very happy for him, but this dude just loves ball. He wants to do anything and everything he can do to help the team. We’re all happy for him. That was awesome.

"There’s a lot of things that have been said about him in front of team meetings, in the media and things like that. So, I’m just happy. I don’t want to get choked up about it. What he’s done is tremendous. What he’s done is tremendous. I’m very proud of him. Very happy. ... Truly remarkable to sit in those meetings and have things told about you that you know aren’t true but get planted in your head. And you have the media on you as well. Then you have someone like Mike (McDaniel) and his coaching staff come in and basically just build you back up. And it’s not just Austin, it’s really everyone that’s been here for some time and kind of give you that renewed confidence in yourself to go out there and be yourself and play the way you’ve played. That’s why the organization chose you. You see the fruits of his labor. I’m very happy for him. I think we’ll probably have a couple other guys as well, hopefully, within the near future. I’m excited about them.”