Veteran running back Fred Taylor thinks the three-year contract extension he signed that locks him to the team through 2010 means he'll retire as a Jaguar.

"As long as my health is good, I'll retire as a Jaguar, which is the best part about the deal," Taylor said.

What he doesn't seem to realize is that the contract probably means he won't retire as a Jaguar.

Taylor wanted an upgrade from his $2.55 million base to $5 million and the Jaguars gave it to him. He'll now get an $800,000 base this year with a $4.2 million roster.

The next three years, he'll get a $1 million roster bonus with base salaries of $4 million, $5 million and $6 million.

The reality is that Taylor turned 31 last month and players with big contracts over 30 are always vulnerable the minute they don't perform at a high level.

On top of that, Taylor's contract contains no up front money so the Jaguars can cut him at any time in the future without taking any hit against their salary cap.

They gave him a $4.2 million roster bonus instead of a signing bonus so they take all the hit against this year's cap. The Jaguars have cap space to use because they're not going to be big spenders in free agency. As a small market team in a league which has yet to get local revenue sharing, the Jaguars are cash strapped and watch their spending carefully.

That means what is likely to happen is that once Taylor starts to slow down, the Jaguars will want him to take a salary cut.

That's why tight end Kyle Brady is hitting the free agent market. He would have returned for the $2.1 million base he got last year, but the Jaguars wanted to cut him to $1.5 million.

So Taylor at some time in the future will likely have to decide whether to take the salary cut or move on or even retire.

But it's very unlikely he'll ever see the $23 million the contract is worth over the next four years.

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