The Jaguars Salary Cap Situation Can Be Navigated to Build a Better Team

The Jaguars Can Move On From Several Bad Contracts To Get Under The Cap

Trent Baalke and Doug Pederson will find themselves in a seemingly tough salary cap situation heading into the 2023 offseason. With several important players set to hit free agency and a budget deficit of $15.6M(changes to this once Calvin Ridley is reinstated) per Over The Cap, there's a lot of finagling that will need to be done. Thankfully, there are several players that offer sizable cap relief while not causing a huge detriment to the talent on the roster.

Two players that will almost undoubtedly be cut from the roster are Shaquill Griffin and Roy Robertson-Harris. Shaquill Griffin hasn't been much of a factor for the Jaguars this season with early struggles and a long ride on the IR while Roy Robertson-Harris hasn't been enough of a factor to be retained in 2023. Both players would amass $6.3M in dead cap but would clear up $21.3M in total cap space for the season.

The other players that could be released from Jacksonville include Rayshawn Jenkins and Jamal Agnew. Rayshawn Jenkins carries a large dead cap hit of $4M, but he would still clear up $6.25M in cap space. Essentially, the question that must be asked is whether he's worth $6.25M during the 2023 season. The Jaguars could also consider renegotiating his contract and/or extending him to clear up room this year.

In regards to Jamal Agnew, I doubt the Jaguars brass or the fan base would want to see him leave. However, Agnew hasn't been a large factor in the passing game outside of some good usage in the redzone and he hasn't returned a kickoff return for a touchdown this season(had one called back against Tennessee). With a dead cap hit of nearly $1.2M and cap savings of $4.75M, the Jaguars will need to consider whether his value is worth that much. I do believe he will stick around, but the Jaguars should renegotiate or at least find ways to get him more involved as a receiver. If Jacksonville decides to release all of these players, they would amass $11.5M in dead cap but clear up a total of $32.3M in cap space.

Draft Capital Can Be Acquired From Rostered Players And A Potential Tag And Trade

When I'm looking at the Jaguars roster for 2023, I only see two players that make any sense to trade. One of those is K'Lavon Chaisson who has undoubtedly become a bust for where his selection took place. Honestly, he was a player I was excited that Jacksonville selected at the time because this team needed players who wanted to be here, and seeing him training for the draft in Jaguars gear sold me on him. However, he hasn't worked out as a selection and could potentially not even make the 53-man roster if retained.

Being a former first round pick, the Jaguars could find a trade partner that could send them a late Day 3 pick to clear up some cap space. A trade would carry a dead cap hit of $1.8M but also clear up $2.4M in cap space. Although it's not a large amount, the Jaguars could do better using this money to pay one of their pending free agents.

The other option I could see the Jaguars exploring is tagging Jawaan Taylor so they can trade him for draft compensation. I don't believe the Jaguars would do better trying to get a compensatory pick for this loss, so why allow Taylor to leave the building without getting something in return. He's been one of the best right tackles across the league this year and with the value placed on the tackle position, I could see Jacksonville getting a late Day 2 or early Day 3 pick in return. Seeing that the Jaguars have landed players like Andre Cisco and Chad Muma from selections near that range, that would be valuable compensation. If they're unable to find a trading partner, then simply rescind the tag. No harm, no foul.

I personally have the conviction that the offensive line needs to be improved this offseason especially in the run blocking department. Jawaan Taylor has been a great pass blocker with the exception of a couple bad games, but he's heavily underperformed as a run blocker. I would invest a high pick into a balanced offensive tackle like Peter Skoronski or Paris Johnson Jr. who could start at RT. In the long run, this move would also place pressure on Cam Robinson to perform up to his contract since the Jaguars would have a replacement on the roster.

Baalke And Pederson Can Backload Contracts To Retain Important Free Agents

The Jaguars will have a sizable list of players that they'll want to retain for the 2023 season. The most notable departures include Jawaan Taylor, Evan Engram, Dawuane Smoot, and Andrew Wingard. Baalke and Pederson will need to leave around $8-10M available in cap space to sign their draft picks, but they'll have more than that available if they make several of the moves mentioned above. If they release or trade all of the players mentioned above with the exception of Jamal Agnew whom I believe should be retained, the Jaguars would have $14.3M available in cap space.

Christian Kirk's contract would be an enticing option to restructure this offseason. If the Jaguars wished to, they could move just over $10M to the 2024 and 2025 rosters which would give them much more room to work with. They could also offer Jamal Agnew a new two-year deal that would be backloaded and guarantee him more money than he has now. These moves wouldn't carry a huge impact on the following seasons and would give the Jaguars roughly $12.5M more in cap space to work with.

With a total of nearly $27M available in cap space, the Jaguars could offer contracts to their pending free agents that have low cap hits during the first year. Doing this allows Jacksonville to save enough money to even pursue one or two big-time free agents that they believe could transform one of the units on the team. With the Jaguars falling farther back in the draft order, and essentially from Jalen Carter, I think a name to watch out for is Javon Hargrave. Adding a dominant interior pass rusher like Hargrave could unlock this defense and usher in the return of Sacksonville. Mecole Hardman could also be someone the Jaguars could target if they're looking to add a speed threat to the passing game.

2020 Draft Mistakes Offer A Saving Grace To The Jaguars

Yes, the 2020 draft class will go down as a catastrophic failure for the Jaguars. They missed on crucial selections such as choosing CJ Henderson over Tristan Wirfs and K'Lavon Chaisson over Justin Jefferson. It's disgusting when you think about it. However, there's one good thing that will come of this. If you miss on nearly an entire draft class, you don't have many pending free agents you're going to retain. If the Jaguars released the players I mentioned in the previous section, they would have a whopping $87.6M(calculated from projected $256M total cap space) available in cap space for the 2024 season.

Calvin Ridley and Josh Allen will be up for new contracts in 2024, but their cap hits that season won't be enough to do significant damage since they'll likely be backloaded. Having this abundance of cap space and several players that could be released that offseason if deemed to have underperformed, the Jaguars won't face many consequences from backloading contracts this upcoming offseason. In my own simulation of offseason moves for Jacksonville, there was still $26.4M available the next season before resigning any players.

There's no doubt that the Jaguars could have done a better job in negotiating contracts the last two seasons, but they'll still be able to improve the talent here once again. Whether it's Trent Baalke or a new general manger making the decisions, don't spend too much time worrying about the cap space. Creativity can solve most of these problems and with the Jaguars emerging from the pits of despair thanks to Trevor Lawrence, the talent is only going to improve. Thanks for reading, feel free to give your thoughts in the comments and any suggestions for content you want to see. Make sure to be respectful towards other fans and represent the Jaguars fan base the way it deserves.