There weren’t many teams that signed more free agents this offseason than the Jacksonville Jaguars. Some notable franchises that made more moves than Jacksonville were the Houston Texans, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now that free agency has begun to slow down after the legal tampering period to start the frenzy, CBS Sports graded the new additions each team added.
Cody Benjamin’s largest criticism for Jacksonville was that it overpaid for nearly every single one of its free agents and mainly gave it a C+ because of it. Here’s his explanation before breaking it down further.
The toughest team to grade, the Jags have certainly improved the supporting cast for Trevor Lawrence. But it’s awfully hard not to think they could’ve allocated resources better. Kirk, Jones and Engram, for example, are all nice upside bets, but did they have to pay that much? Why not just go all in on an Allen Robinson reunion? On defense, it’s the same thing: Oluokun is a rangy building block, but did a LB really need $15M per year? Their best work has been up front, where Lawrence should have a better line.
The Jaguars’ free agency haul was one of the more difficult ones to grade due to the sheer size of how many they signed. For the most part, he’s right that Jacksonville overpaid for nearly all of its signings.
But the Jaguars have held the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft for the last two seasons and struggled to be a competitive franchise besides the magical 2017 season. Therefore, it’s tough to imagine general manager Trent Baalke and head coach Doug Pederson could’ve convinced these players to come to play for a rebuilding team without paying them some extra money to do so.
The additions on the defensive side of the ball have been excellent, and $15 million a year for former Falcons’ linebacker Foye Oluokun isn’t too much. He led the NFL in tackles last season at the young age of 26 and still has room to grow.
However, the Jags making wide receiver Christian Kirk one of the top-10 highest-paid players at the position is quite a gamble and difficult to see paying off considering he has never had 1,000 yards receiving in a season. Plus, the signing of guard Brandon Scherff is huge if he stays healthy because he brings much-needed help and protection for quarterback Trevor Lawrence.