The Jacksonville Jaguars were the most aggressive team in free agency this offseason. They addressed multiple needs and signed nine new players over two weeks.
For those reasons, ESPN’s NFL insider Dan Graziano believes that the Jaguars are the most improved team in the league after their free agency haul.
Jaguars. You can argue with some (if not all) of the contracts, but you can’t say the Jaguars aren’t working to get better in free agency. They landed a top guard in Brandon Scherff, a starting cornerback in Darious Williams, and two key defenders who drew interest from other teams in LB Foyesade Oluokun and DT Folorunso Fatukasi. I don’t know exactly how the pass-catcher situation shakes out with new guys Christian Kirk, Zay Jones and Evan Engram in the mix, but the receivers they had last year weren’t lighting the world on fire. Plus, factor in a dramatic upgrade at head coach. I don’t think the Jags are ready to compete with all of those AFC heavyweights, but after a 3-14 mess, I expect them to be at least a lot better than they were.
There wasn’t anywhere to go but up for Jacksonville after they earned the No. 1 overall pick in back-to-back NFL drafts. The franchise also hit rock bottom last season after Urban Meyer’s tumultuous tenure as head coach.
The league and Graziano can argue with the contracts they gave to several of their free agents. But because of the Jaguars’ recent struggles, it was hard to convince free agents to sign with the team without overpaying some of them.
Jacksonville needed to supplement second-year quarterback Trevor Lawrence this offseason with weapons and more talented offensive linemen to keep his development on track. He failed to complete 60% of his passes and threw only 12 touchdowns to go with 17 interceptions. They accomplished that feat in free agency while improving the defense and grabbing a former Super Bowl-winning head coach in Doug Pederson.
Graziano is right that the Jaguars are still nowhere near ready to compete with the AFC heavyweights, but they are now in position to challenge them in 2023 or 2024.
The only other franchise that could potentially rival Jacksonville’s improvement is the Miami Dolphins. They gave their quarterback Tua Tagovailoa an army of weapons in his make-or-break season with Miami.