The Jacksonville Jaguars have re-signed sixth-year WR Arrelious Benn, the club announced today.
"Through the highs and lows of this league, I have never lost sight of my vision and am honored to be back with the Jaguars," said Benn. "This is a special day for my family and me and I'm grateful for the organization for giving me another opportunity to play the game that I love. This is an important offseason for our team and specifically the wide receivers, so now the focus turns to doing everything that we can to put ourselves in position to win this season."
Benn, 6-2, 228, has appeared in 52 career games with 25 starts since originally being drafted by Tampa Bay in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft. After being traded to Philadelphia on Mach 15, 2013, Benn eventually signed with Jacksonville as a free agent on Jan. 5, 2015. Benn spent the 2015 season on injured reserve, but returned in 2016 to appear in 15 games.
In the Jaguars' Week 6 victory over Chicago, Benn caught the game-winning 51-yard TD with 2:58 remaining in the fourth quarter. It marked Benn's first TD since Dec. 24, 2011 (1,819 days), when he was a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 1,819 days between TD catches is the longest span between TDs for a WR since Kassim Osgood went 2,100 days between TD grabs from Dec. 12, 2004 to Sept. 12, 2010.
In his 52-game NFL career, Benn has caught 64 passes for 978 yards (15.3 avg.) and six TDs. Benn's 15 games played in 2016 tied his previous career-high from 2010.
"Arrelious is a player that exemplifies perseverance and brings his best effort to the building every single day," said Jaguars General Manager Dave Caldwell. "Arrelious has battled injuries during his career, but has never let is affect his work ethic or his passion for the game of football and that is something that is admired by everyone in the Jaguars organization. Arrelious takes pride in his ability as a wide receiver, and also his play on special teams and we're excited to have him back in Jacksonville for the 2017 season."
A native of Washington, D.C., Benn attended Illinois where he was a three-year letterman and finished his collegiate career ranked fourth in school history with 3,613 all-purpose yards. Benn can be mentioned on Twitter using the handle, @ArreliousBenn.
