The Jacksonville Jaguars have continued to make some strong free agency moves this off-season as they continue to move towards the 2020 NFL Draft.
As far as finances go, they have about $14 million in cap space remaining, per Over the Cap, and will likely wait until after the draft to make any more pivotal roster decisions.
The Jags have been instrumental in trying to re-tool the team with seven players on the roster making their way from different organizations. As the signings have started to slow down a bit, here is a look at the best and the worst contracts that the Jaguars currently have signed to their roster:
Worst: OG Andrew Norwell
It has been a lackluster start to Andrew Norwell’s Jags career.
Norwell joined the Jaguars on a five-year, $66.5 million deal from the Carolina Panthers with hopes that he would help bolster a struggling Jags offensive line.
While Norwell hasn’t been a massive bust, his production has not matched up to the expectations of the deal he signed. Norwell debuted with the Jags in 2018 with a 69.3 PFF rating but finished 2019 with a disappointing 65.5 total blocking grade. Those grades are a far cry from his seasons with the Panthers where his grade never fell below 73.0.
Just like Linder, penalties would be Norwell’s main problem as he would amass six infractions on the year. One redeeming fact about Norwell’s game is the fact that his pass blocking has fared well with the Jaguars earning a spectacular 82.1 and a 74.2 pass-blocking grade, respectively.
Norwell has a $14.5 million cap hit which is the fourth-highest at the guard spot in the NFL. If the Jaguars attempt to move on they would have to suffer a $9 million dead money hit. That’s important because the Jags are already taking on dead money in the form of $18 million from the trade of former quarterback Nick Foles. Jacksonville may be in a financial position where they will have to keep Norwell for another year regardless of performance as they already rank No. 2 in the league in dead money.
While his career years with the Panthers may be behind him, Norwell simply has to get to the point where he can truly be a healthy anchor on the Jaguars offensive line especially if they wish to recoup the value of his contract.