While things have cooled down for general manager Trent Baalke, he was undoubtedly under increased scrutiny when the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offseason started. As was the case with former head coach Urban Meyer, the Jags’ fanbase was vocal in their desire to get Baalke out of the organization, but ownership retained him and gave him another opportunity.
Now, with nine days left before training camp, many remain skeptical of Baalke as he’s struggled to find success since his early days as a general manager.
NBC Sports’ Patrick Daugherty is among those skeptics as he ranked Baalke at the No. 28 spot in his general manager rankings, which looked at the top leadership executives (or groups) around the league.
27. Trent Baalke, Jaguars
Promoted to be Urban Meyer’s caretaker last year, Trent Baalke couldn’t keep the clown car from swerving off the road. The Jags fired Meyer but opted to let Baalke consolidate his power. It is quite the vote of confidence in a general manager whose best post- Jim Harbaugh idea in San Francisco was hiring Jim Tomsula. Tasked with rebuilding a roster that has won more than six games one time since 2010, Baalke at least got to push the easy button on his first decision of consequence. Trevor Lawrence had a nightmare rookie year amidst Meyer’s buffoonery, but he remains an enviable building block. Another No. 32 finish has allowed Baalke to pair Lawrence with EDGE rusher Travon Walker, a gifted if curiously unproductive SEC sackmaster. He also made a “safe” head-coaching hire in Doug Pederson, a Super Bowl winner who wore out his welcome surprisingly quickly in Philadelphia. With coach and quarterback set, Baalke threw money at his other problems, lavishing eye-popping deals on Christian Kirk, Zay Jones, CB Darious Williams, LB Foyesade Oluokun and DT Foley Fatukasi, amongst others. That’s not the way you would typically do it, but most teams aren’t typically coming off a 3-14 campaign with quarterback set. Nothing in Baalke or Jacksonville’s recent history suggests this will be a successful partnership, but Baalke’s stabilizing spring has at least given this arranged marriage the opportunity to see if there is some love alongside the dowry.
The Jags’ front office may best be described as “varied,” with owner Shad Khan describing their approach as “collaborative” this offseason. While this seems to indicate that Baalke and Doug Pederson are working together on front office decisions, given his tenure with the team, Baalke’s involvement in those decisions and his history as a general manager deserve a detailed look.
Baalke is entering his eighth season as a general manager, and the majority of his time as general manager hasn’t been productive. In fact, half of his tenures have led to six wins or less, including the 3-14 record the Jags accumulated last season.
When Baalke did have success as a general manager, it was with the San Francisco 49ers and Jim Harbaugh. From 2011-13, the 49ers were pretty impressive, making it to two conference championship games and a Super Bowl. And while they all ended with losses, their team was considered elite with notable names like Colin Kaepernick, Aldon Smith, Patrick Willis, and NaVorro Bowman leading the way.
However, a power struggle between Harbaugh and Baalke caused things to fall apart, and Baalke hasn’t been able to find or be paired with the right coach since. Of course, that concerned Jags fans coming into the season as Khan kept Baalke despite the poor reputation he had amongst his peers.
After years of finding opportunities as a general manager, Baalke may be on his last opportunity when it comes to leading a front office. That’s exactly why he needs to be able to coexist with Pederson.
Similar to his time in San Francisco with Harbaugh, Baalke now has a good coach who excels at coaching the offensive side of the ball and quarterbacks. Pair that with the fact that Baalke was lucky enough to draft one of the most highly-graded quarterback prospects ever, and the veteran general manager has the key components to a franchise’s success. He can add to that and make the Jags roster an elite one like the 2011-13 49ers, but the key will be making better talent evaluations than he did in the past, as well as finding a way to work with Pederson.