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.
Best: C Brandon Linder
Jaguars center Brandon Linder has quietly become one of the best centers in the entire NFL.
Drafted with the No. 93 overall pick in 2014, Linder has turned into a huge asset on a Jaguars’ offensive line that has been consistently under fire. After giving up five sacks in his rookie year, Linder would only allow five sacks in the span of five seasons.
Linder also recorded a Pro Football Focus grade of 75.7 in 2019, which was good for No. 5 in the NFL and also the highest grade on the Jaguars’ offensive line. His lowest grade since he has been drafted was 69.9 in 2015 which still graded him as a viable starter. Linder’s biggest weakness was penalties, as he exited 2019 with 10 infractions which ranked as the second-worst worst on the Jags’ offensive line.
The greatest caveat in all of this is the fact that Linder will have a cap hit of only $8 million, which ranks as No. 10 at his position meaning that the Jaguars have incredible financial value in the interior.
Great linemen are extremely hard to find especially at a great value, but it would appear that the Jaguars may have a guy that could be right up there with the production of franchise greats in Brad Meester and Vince Manuwai and Tony Boselli.
Worst: WR Marqise Lee
The University of South California product has had a tumultuous career, to say the least with the Jags.
When available, Marqise Lee has been a capable receiver enjoying consecutive seasons in 2016 and 2017 where he finished second on the team in receiving yards with 851 and 702, respectively. However, the problem is that Lee has not been a very healthy asset to the team.
A brutal run of injuries caused Lee to miss a total of 37 games in his five-year career, including missing the entire 2018 season due to a knee injury suffered in the preseason.
The financial side of it is that Lee has the fifth-highest cap hit on the team at $8.2 million. The problem is that there are continuous lingering questions about his health and future availability. Additionally, Lee’s 2019 campaign would be much of the same as he only appeared in six games.
Lee signed a four-year, $34 million contract in the 2018 offseason. The contract was signed around the time that former Jaguars receiver Allen Robinson was also due to renegotiate with the team but instead left to sign with the Chicago Bears on a three-year, $42 million deal.
If the Jaguars are looking to move on from Lee, the cap hit is manageable at only $3.5 million. It may be a simple fact of Lee just not being able to overcome the injuries that he has succumbed to in his career, so the Jaguars may have to go in a different direction at receiver in 2019.
Best: LB Joe Schobert
The former Cleveland Browns linebacker will be looking for a fresh start with the Jaguars after signing a massive five-year, $52 million deal in the offseason.
Schobert fixes a deep hole at middle linebacker as Myles Jack struggled heavily at the position and the team experimented with many options such as Donald Payne and Malcolm Smith (who would not play a snap for the team) due to mounting injuries.
The Jaguars struggled in coverage at the linebacker position as D.J. Alexander was their best coverage linebacker with a 70.1 coverage grade according to PFF but played only a total of 33 total snaps. Schobert provides a proven commodity in coverage as he had four interceptions last season and 553 snaps in coverage.
Schobert’s 2020 cap hit of $5.2 million is only ranked at No. 18 at his position. Even as his contract value increases to $9.9 million in 2021, his cap hit still ranks only No. 11 at his position.
This was a smart, team-friendly deal that fulfilled a major need that the Jaguars had for a great player that was a recent Pro Bowl selection in 2017.
