Urban Meyer stressed the importance of defensive line play last week and the Jacksonville Jaguars’ moves so far in free agency are proof they want to make significant strides in the defensive trenches. In the first two days of the tampering period, they re-signed Dawuane Smoot and added Tyson Alualu, Jihad Ward, and Roy Roberts-Harris as newcomers. However, even with four new veterans, the team didn’t want to stop there.
Source: The #Saints have traded DL Malcolm Brown to the #Jaguars.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 16, 2021
Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Jags will also be trading an undisclosed pick for New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Malcom Brown. With the team planning to release the veteran, the Jags decided to prance on the opportunity to acquire him and reunite him with his former college coach Charlie Strong.
Brown, 27, was a former first round pick for the New England Patriots out of Texas. After spending four seasons with them, he signed with the Saints in 2019 where he started in 29 games.
The massive 6-foot-2, 320-pounder will enter his Jags tenure with 80 career starts, 247 total tackles, and 12.5 sacks. During the 2020 season, he was also able to register a 72.9 overall grade on Pro Football Focus. He flourished in particular against the run with a 77.1 rush defense grade.
With the Jags finishing 30th against the rush last season, this move makes perfect sense. Just like the other aforementioned linemen, he’ll bring plenty of experience into the mix with all of the starts he’s registered and two Super Bowl titles he’s won. That could especially be huge for second-year players DaVon Hamilton and Doug Costin, who were a nice rookie duo in 2020, but needed a veteran around in the rotation.