JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — James Gladstone and Liam Coen are set to enter their first full offseason as the Jaguars’ general manager and head coach. Just due to the way the NFL offseason is set up, newly hired front office members and coaching staff don’t have that much time to study free agents and prospects.
That said, Gladstone and company did a pretty admirable job in their first offseason, bringing in Jourdan Lewis, Eric Murray, and Robert Hainsey last free agency. The Jaguars’ draft class sadly missed a lot of time due to injury. Only running backs Bhayshul Tuten and LeQuint Allen Jr saw meaningful snaps throughout the entirety of the season.
This year, the Jaguars will face some tough decisions as only 60% of defensive snaps are set to return, the fourth lowest mark in the NFL. There’s some pretty big names that come along with that, namely Devin Lloyd and Montaric Brown.
The Jaguars other 2026 defensive free agents include Emmanuel Ogbah, Andrew Wingard, Greg Newsome II, Dennis Gardeck, Dawuane Smoot, and Matt Dickerson.
For reference to the snaps counts lost, Wingard leads Jaguars’ defensive free agents playing 88% of defensive snaps, 67% for Montaric Brown, 64% for Lloyd, 42% for Newsome II, 41% for Smoot, 39% for Gardeck, and 29% for Ogbah.
Lloyd is obviously the big ticket item this offseason for the Jaguars and any other team looking for a playmaking linebacker. Over The Cap projects Lloyd to sign a three-year, $48 million contract, averaging $16 million per year.
Montaric Brown is the other player the Jaguars would hate to lose this offseason. He stepped up and showed out for the Jaguars, leading all NFL cornerbacks in zone coverage with an impressive 45.8 NFL Rating. Over The Cap projects Brown to sign a contract worth $4.5 million per year.
Truthfully, his play this season warrants a bigger contract.
For many of the other spots, the Jaguars have answers or at least options. Brown outplayed Newsome this season so it’s likely the Jaguars would look to keep Brown instead of Newsome.
Smoot and Ogbah’s play didn’t warrant a necessity to re-sign this season as the duo ranked 113th and 121st in Pass-Rush Win % per Pro Football Focus.
It’s a pretty deep pass-rushing free agent class and there are certainly some cheaper options at linebacker if the Jaguars are unable to retain Lloyd this offseason. The Jaguars seemingly have
their answers to fill the void left by WIngard at safety with Antonio Johnson blossoming and Caleb Ransaw returning from injury.
The Jaguars may be losing 40% of their defensive snaps from last season, but there will be plenty of options for Gladstone to add to fill those gaps and even improve upon last year’s roster. Don’t forget, the Jaguars also hold 10 draft selections, including four inside the Top-100.
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