Jacksonville signs 8 players to Reserve/Futures contracts

Four of the eight players signed saw playing time during the 2021 season.

With the Jacksonville Jaguars’ season in the books, the team will now focus on a crucial offseason in which it clearly needs to improve a lot after finishing with the league’s worst record for the second year in a row. While the focus from a roster management perspective will mostly be on adding new players through the draft and free agency, the team will also be keeping around a few developmental players from the practice squad.

On Monday, the Jaguars signed eight players to Reserve/Futures contracts heading into the 2022 season. Several of those players got to see action in the final weeks of the season as the team battled injuries and COVID-19 cases. Here are the eight players.

  • WR Jeff Cotton Jr.
  • RB Nathan Cottrell
  • OL Coy Cronk
  • WR Josh Hammond
  • OL Jared Hocker
  • WR Tim Jones
  • DL Jeremiah Ledbetter
  • OL Badara Traore

Cotton, Cottrell, Hammond and Traore all saw some playing time this season despite spending most of the year on the practice squad, and they will look to make the final roster next preseason.

For a refresher on how Reserve/Futures contracts work, teams are permitted to sign players to futures contracts if they were not a part of the team’s active roster following the season. These deals don’t count against the salary cap or toward the 53-man roster, rather counting against the 90-man roster allowed during camp.

These players can no longer be signed by another team like they could if they remained on the practice squad, and they will have a chance to earn their spots during camp this offseason.