The biggest question on the minds of Jacksonville Jaguars fans this offseason has been finding out what the team would do about an executive vice president. Of course, this curiosity came when team owner Shad Khan said the organization filed to make the position potentially available within the organization during Doug Pederson’s first press conference.
However, since then, they’ve been mostly quiet (aside from interviewing Rick Spielman before Pederson’s addition) on the search, but with the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine starting today, we now have an update. That update came through NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, who says the search for an EVP has been put on hold due to Doug Pederson’s impressive presence.
#Jaguars owner Shad Khan is putting his search for an Executive VP on hold, sources say, after taking part in coaching and planning meetings under Doug Pederson for the last 3 weeks. Pederson has been impressive & Khan doesn’t want to impede significant progress with a new voice.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 1, 2022
As previously stated, the combine is now here, which means free agency is coming up soon, and the draft will follow in April. Simply put, that means it’s a little late in the process to add an EVP, and if it was going to get done, it should’ve been done with Pederson’s hiring or a few days afterward at the least.
Mark Long of the Associated Press added that he was told that Khan had been present at the Jags’ facility often as of late and has been impressed with the professionalism, culture, and chemistry that he’s witnessed with Pederson and Baalke working together. Long also said the Jags would continue to look for pieces under Baalke, which was also mentioned in Pederson’s first presser.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan has "basically been in there (the facility) every day" and believes the professionalism, culture and chemistry have done a 180 under Pederson/Baalke. That prompted him to call timeout on the EVP.
Jaguars still planning to add more pieces under Baalke
— Mark Long (@APMarkLong) March 1, 2022
A statement from owner Shad Khan: https://t.co/izdHYAypfx pic.twitter.com/mdzTiKrTkY
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 1, 2022
When considering what the Jags moved on from last year in Urban Meyer, it isn’t a shocker that the culture is headed in a different direction early in the process as Pederson is an experienced and accomplished NFL head coach. However, Pederson and Baalke have yet to make any free agent signings or draft selections together, which is when coach-to-general manager relationships get tested. They also have yet to go through a regular season together, which sometimes leads to finger-pointing in the end, too.
With Khan being a busy man, there will be times when he isn’t going to be able to monitor things in the building in person. That said, when he has to spend weeks or even months away, it will be worth monitoring how well things are going.
As for the EVP search and whether it will continue, only time will provide that answer. A hiring there could happen after the draft, but at this point, it wouldn’t be shocking if Khan held off the search for the rest of the year to see how well the duo of Baalke and Pederson mesh.