Jacksonville Jaguars
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The Jaguars made their first addition of free agency
T
he NFL offseason is heating up. Now that the big wave of free agency is over, all 32 teams are shifting their focus onto the NFL Draft, where they hope they can find that missing piece that will bring them perennial future success. But as important as the draft is, it is hard to build a true contender without taking free agency seriously.
For the Jacksonville Jaguars, a promising 13-4 ’25 season came to a crashing halt in the AFC divisional playoffs, squashing any hopes for the franchise to make a return to the conference title game. Entering 2026, the Jaguars are hungrier than ever and are eager to build off of a strong year. But in free agency, the Jaguars remained relatively quiet, adding minimal talent while letting some key stars walk. Luckily, the Jaguars proved that they have a short list of roster holes and even with a quiet free agency, they still received a favorable post-free agency power ranking.
Jaguars Still Ranked in the Top Half of League
At the end of the 2025 season, the Jaguars were ranked at No. 9 and while they fell a few spots in the latest rankings, NFL.com’s Eric Edholm still views the Jaguars in a favorable light, ranking them at No. 12– taking into the account the departures of players such as Travis Etienne and Devin Lloyd.
“The Jags’ list of extremely-pressing needs isn’t long, but they did allow some notable players to walk in free agency, including Lloyd and Greg Newsome II on defense and Etienne on offense,” Edholm wrote. “Can Jacksonville remain among the contenders? Too early to definitively say yes or no.”
So far, the Jaguars have only signed one new player in running back Chris Rodriguez, but the team went into this offseason knowing it would be relatively quiet on the free agent front. General manager James Gladstone explained the reasons for that, including the addition of multiple compensatory picks in 2027 after letting Lloyd, Etienne and Newsome II walk while also having a very tight salary cap to work with.
Can the Jaguars Repeat their Success from ’25?
While the Jaguars’ added minimally to their roster and will most likely build through the draft this year, Gladstone expressed confidence in where the team is at heading into the new campaign. Experiencing a lot of turnover last offseason, with a largely new-look team in 2025, the Jaguars enter 2026 with a much more solid foundation in place– having young stars such as Travis Hunter, Bhayshul Tuten, Brian Thomas Jr. and others to build around. And entering the draft, this gives the Jaguars the ability to take the best players available instead of needing to address one specific need.
“The draft should be able to provide some help, as Jacksonville holds 11 total picks, including three third-rounders,” Edholm said.
The Jaguars face a tough schedule next season but proving that they have what it takes to compete among the best in the league, expect the Jaguars to be another team to watch in 2026.