Jets give Ferguson 6-year, $60M contract extension

Freeport's D'Brickashaw Ferguson always has been the strong, silent type. Now the Jets' left tackle is the strong, silent and rich type after coming to terms Wednesday on a six-year contract extension worth $60 million, including $34.8 million guaranteed.

The message to some of the Jets' other high-profile core players is clear: Do your job well, don't negotiate in the media, and you will be fairly rewarded. While All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis and All-Pro center Nick Mangold have threatened holdouts, Ferguson reached a long-term agreement with two years remaining on his rookie deal. He's locked up through the 2017 season, a total of eight years valued at $73.6 million.

The Jets also reached a contract agreement with second-round draft pick Vladimir Ducasse, a league official confirmed to Newsday. Ducasse is expected to compete with second-year man Matt Slauson for the starting left guard spot next to Ferguson. According to a Fox Sports report, Ducasse received a four-year deal worth $3.25 million, including a signing bonus of slightly more than $1 million.

Ferguson's contract contains a variety of guarantees, but in essence, he is guaranteed $34.8 million over the first four years of the deal. That surpassed the previous record for an offensive lineman of $30 million for Miami tackle Jake Long.

"I am thankful for this opportunity and happy to continue playing for NY,'' Ferguson posted on his Twitter account.

Ferguson, whom the Jets drafted fourth overall in 2006, recently changed agents to Brad Blank, who succeeded in keeping the negotiations well under wraps.

"To me the guaranteed number is always the most important in any contract,'' Blank said. To the Jets' credit, they were able to structure it in a way that worked for them and to still give him a lot of security with all those guarantees.

"I also think - and they did talk about it once - that they appreciated that D'Brickashaw has never asked for anything. This was not a demand. We did not do this in the media, and he's always been sort of a good soldier.

"It may be the message that's being sent out is they would prefer people to behave that way rather than make a lot of noise. That's not directed at anybody in particular. That's just an observation. They're sending a message that a good team player gets rewarded, and he doesn't even have to wait to become a free agent.''

The six-year extension is a five-year deal with a team option for the sixth season. By structuring the deal so the Jets could spread the guarantee over four seasons, the 26-year-old Ferguson helped himself.

"For a guy who has been in the league four years, getting money immediately is not an issue,'' Blank said. "Getting the security over a certain period of time was most important to our side. We didn't ask for anything that didn't fit the Jets' structure. We kept asking for guarantees. There are half a dozen deals I'm aware of that ever had that length guaranteed.''