The Jacksonville Jaguars have a tough call to make at offensive tackle this offseason and it begins with right tackle Jawaan Taylor.
The 2019 second-round pick had a breakout year, allowing only five sacks during the 2022 regular season over 1,097 snaps. But now the relatively cash-strapped Jaguars will have to pay up if they hope to keep Taylor from reaching free agency this March.
Taylor, 25, could be a sought-after tackle on the open market and was ranked by ESPN as the 15th best impending free agent and third best offensive lineman. But Taylor is hopeful that Jacksonville will be his home for the foreseeable future.
“Most definitely,” Taylor said Tuesday when asked if he’d like to stay with the Jaguars, via the Florida Times-Union. “That’s the team that took the chance on me in the draft, and I’ve been there playing for four seasons now and I’m close to home, I’m two hours away from home, so being able to come back and play for Duval will be a lot of fun, so hopefully that will work out for me.”
The Jaguars already committed big money at the position when they signed left tackle Cam Robinson to a three-year, $54 million contract last offseason. The team also has 2021 second-round pick Walker Little, who took over at left tackle when Robinson suffered a season-ending meniscus injury.
Keeping Taylor, Robinson, and Little all on the roster looks like the ideal solution for the Jaguars, but the price to do so may be unrealistic.
But Taylor — like seemingly every other impending Jaguars free agent — would prefer to stay in Jacksonville.