The Jacksonville Jaguars are heading into a crucial offseason and one in which general manager Dave Caldwell knows he has to make the right moves. With Shad Khan being patient with both him and Doug Marrone through two losing seasons, the team will be in “win now” mode once again this offseason and will have to land several starters in free agency and the draft.
After a rough season, the Jags will have to put a lot of resources into building around Gardner Minshew II (or maybe even Nick Foles). Of course, that will include bolstering the offensive line and landing the best tight end possible. The one area that seems to get overlooked is the receivers corps, however, where the Jags could use a star to keep teams from keying in on DJ Chark Jr.
With a new offensive coordinator in Jay Gruden, he’ll likely have some input in declaring what’s needed, and if he feels receiver is worth addressing, it wouldn’t be a shocker for him to bang the table for his former player A.J. Green. As many are aware, Gruden was his coordinator during his first three years in Cincinnati and was very successful in the process, totaling three 1,000 yard seasons, three Pro Bowl nominations, and two second-team All-Pro nominations.
Green, 31, is scheduled to be a free agent this offseason if the Bengals don’t retain him. While he’s over the age of 30 and didn’t play last season, many feel he has several good years left in him and the Jags could honestly use a veteran of his caliber. The reason for that is because they are as young of a team as fans will find, which clearly showed in 2019 between the penalties they accumulated and struggles in general.
If the Jags were to add Green, there wouldn’t be much of a transition for him in terms of learning the scheme and he could help the Jags’ key players like Minshew and Chark pick it up, too. In fact, the situation would be identical to Foles’ addition to John DeFilippo’s scheme last March as the veteran already knew a great deal of the system’s verbiage and strengths.
Personally, I don’t think the Jags should try and add Green but it definitely will come up behind closed doors as the team begins to discuss free agency. However, the key thing to consider here is the fact that the Jags will have to be selective of the money they spend. In all probability, the position they may need to spend the most on is at tight end, the defensive line, or at linebacker, which are significantly more pressing needs.
Additionally, the wide receivers class for this year’s draft is great and deep. The Jags could find a pretty cheap option outside of the first-round, but if they value experience at the position, don’t be shocked to see them have interest in Green.