Reports: Jags RB Fournette challenges contract void

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette is challenging the team's decision to take away the guarantees in the final two years of his contract, according to multiple reports Thursday.

Fournette has filed an official challenge, meaning an arbitrator will meet with both sides to determine whether the Jaguars are within their rights to decline to pay the money.

He was scheduled to earn $2.93 million in 2019 and $4.17 million in 2020, but the Jaguars voided the guarantees after he was suspended for one game by the NFL. In the Jaguars' loss at Buffalo at Nov. 25, Fournette came off the bench to fight with Bills defensive lineman Shaq Lawson, triggering the suspension without pay.

After the game, Fournette apologized for his actions, but the Jaguars took away the remaining guaranteed money in his rookie contract. The team cited a contract clause that said it could do so if Fournette missed a game for anything other than a football-related injury.

Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone and Fournette, who turns 24 on Friday, met last week to discuss his commitment to the team going forward. Marrone said afterward that he was encouraged by the running back's attitude.

The 2018 season was a disappointment for Fournette, whom the Jaguars selected with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. After a rookie season that saw him rush for 1,040 yards and nine touchdowns, he finished 2018 having gained just 439 yards and scoring five rushing touchdowns.

He played in just eight games, missing seven of them with injuries. Tom Coughlin, the team's vice president of football operations, criticized Fournette and fellow running back T.J. Yeldon for sideline behavior during the final game of the season that he called disrespectful and selfish. Neither Fournette nor Yeldon played in the game, a 20-3 loss to Houston.

--Field Level Media

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