2024 NFL Free Agency: Jaguars Edition
Although the 2023 NFL season has concluded, a new season begins shortly with one of the most exciting times of the year coming up, NFL Free Agency.
After an extremely disappointing end of the year for the Jacksonville Jaguars, the squad representing DUVAL county now has their eyes set on the future which starts March 13th.
Jacksonville has already started the process of bringing in new personnel for the new campaign, most importantly the hiring of defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen who served under Arthur Smith and the Atlanta Falcons last season.
If you watched Jaguars football last year, you know how frustrating it was to see the secondary almost implode at the end of the season. However, I believe Nielsen will have his eyes set on fixing that problem and turning it around the same way he did last year in Atlanta.
Coaching additions aside, there is one big name that Jacksonville needs to 100% re-sign and that’s Josh Allen; no not the quarterback, the edge rusher that now holds the franchise record for the most sacks in a single season as a Jaguar.
Allen has now officially proved his worth (I thought he already had) and now the Jaguars are gonna have to fork out a decent amount of their cap space to bring back one of the best at their position in the NFL.
Coming back to the much-needed secondary help, I know the Jaguars have limited money this offseason (assuming they sign Josh Allen). But one name I would love Jacksonville to bring in is Jaylon Johnson.
Johnson dubbed “Bears Defensive Player of The Year” in 2023 is an excellent outside corner which is exactly what the team needs to take some pressure off Tyson Campbell who had a pretty down year while dealing with injuries.
A fully healthy cornerback room that consists of Tyson Campbell, Darius Williams, and Jaylon Johnson could do some damage to opposing offenses, especially with a secondary mastermind like Coach Nielsen.
Now let’s move to the offensive side of the ball, Calvin Ridley who was a nice addition to the team last year leading Jacksonville in receiving yards will also hit the market this offseason.
There is a flip-side though if the Jaguars were to re-sign Ridley. Due to the trade agreements with the Falcons back in 2022, they will be forced to hand them their 2nd round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
This is where I come in and give my opinion on what the Jaguars should do in this situation.
Even though I was a huge Calvin Ridley supporter and still am, I believe you let him walk. Recent news of Trevor Lawrence “recruiting” his former WR1 at Clemson Tee Higgins has been a thought of mine dating back to last season.
Although Cincinnati are likely to tag Higgins, the possibility of a tag and trade would be the best-case scenario for the Bengals who still have to pay Ja’Marr Chase a mega contract.
This would allow Cincy to get some value back for Tee, maybe even that 2nd round pick the Jaguars would save from letting Ridley go.
Whichever way general manager Trent Baalke decides to build his team going forward he may be under a lot of pressure if they manage to miss the playoffs again, especially with the amount of talent and potential this current Jaguars roster holds.