JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The reshaping of the Jaguars is beginning to take shape as the franchise stares down a significant offseason with dwindling resources to address those with.
The Jaguars addressed their need for salary cap space this week when they released cornerback Darious Williams, safety Rayshawn Jenkins and defensive lineman Foley Fatukasi. They slapped the franchise tag on Josh Allen and didn’t get a deal done with receiver Calvin Ridley, a move that feels reminiscent of Jacksonville’s issue last year with right tackle Jawaan Taylor.
So, where do the Jaguars stand as the start of the league year creeps up on March 13 at 4 p.m.?
After their flurry of moves this week, Jacksonville has $24,598,300 in cap room, according to OverTheCap.com. That’s taking into account Allen’s franchise tag number of $24,007,000. That number will come down if and when the team comes to a contract extension with him.
But for now, the Jaguars rank No. 17 in the league in available room to maneuver. That’s not a lot of room to work with considering that the 16 teams ahead of them have between $37.1 million (the No. 16 Vikings) and $91.5 million (the No. 1 Commanders) available to spend. For Jaguars fans hoping to see a spending spree like the one in 2022, that’s not going to happen, not unless players elect to give the team a discount. That brings up a question that has popped up from time to time about Jacksonville’s perplexing situation involving Ridley.
Will Ridley feel loyalty to the Jaguars and want to continue to build something with Trevor Lawrence? Ask yourself that same question.
Would you give your employer a hefty discount if another one offered you a significant pay raise to do the same work? Ridley is going to want to maximize his earning potential in what likely will be his final big money deal. That’s not selfish. Hometown discounts sound great, but they’re fairytales in today’s market. That’s what the Jaguars faced in 2023 free agency with Taylor, their starting right tackle for four seasons. The Jaguars wanted to bring Taylor back but the Chiefs handed him a four-year, $80 million deal with half of that guaranteed. Ridley is going to draw far more interest on the open market than Taylor did. And like with Taylor, Jacksonville, no matter how much it likes Ridley, can’t afford to get into a bidding war with any team.
The Jaguars invested some decent draft capital (a 2023 fifth rounder and what is now a third-round pick) to acquire Ridley from the Falcons at the deadline in 2022. If he re-signs before free agency on March 13, that third-round pick elevates to a second rounder. If Jacksonville lets Ridley walk, they’ve given up what amounts to a higher third-round pick, according to the draft value chart for a one-year rental that didn’t end in the playoffs.
See why Jaguars fans were hoping the team would re-sign Allen and use the tag on Ridley? Jacksonville has a lot of holes to fill, and it could conceivably use that second-round selection to draft a potential starter.
Re-signing Ridley now doesn’t seem as likely as it did earlier in the offseason. There’s no doubt that Ridley and his representatives are eager to test the market, especially after Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans’ lucrative extension (two years, $52 million) reset the market. Ridley isn’t in Evans’ ballpark but he stands to make a lot more now than he did a week ago.
They have $17.7 million in dead cap charges. Only 10 teams have more.
As for the other moves this week, Jacksonville will need to address those between the draft and free agency.
Jenkins and Williams were legitimate factors as starters, playing 99% and 93%, respectively, of all defensive snaps last year. Fatukasi was a starter but came off the field on obvious passing downs. His playing time diminished from 2022 to last year. He logged 447 snaps his first season in Jacksonville to 415 in 2023, despite playing in two more games.
The Jaguars don’t have any obvious candidates on the roster as upgrades to those three, although second-year player Antonio Johnson will likely wind up as Jenkins’ immediate replacement. Some lower-cost options in free agency at corner (Sean Bunting of the Titans, Jeff Okudah of the Falcons, Baltimore’s Rock Ya-Sin) could be in the cards. At safety, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson (Detroit), the Jets’ Jordan Whitehead or Baltimore’s Geno Stone are names to know.