Jags bring back OL Tyler Shatley on a 2-year deal

The Jacksonville Jaguars need to knock this offseason out of the park, which includes retaining some pending veteran free agents. They started that process today by retaining their most experience backup offensive lineman in Tyler Shatley, who signed a two-year deal worth up to $6.8 million with $2.3 million of it being guaranteed.

The #Jaguars are re-signing OL Tyler Shatley to a two-year deal worth up to $6.8 million with $2.35M guaranteed, source said. It was a priority to re-sign the versatile Shatley, who started 18 games over the past two seasons and is a team leader.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 28, 2022

While he’s a backup player, the signing of Shatley is huge, and it’s not just because he’s started in 33 games between the center and guard spots, but also because the Jags had five offensive linemen set to be a free agent. However, Shatley has decreased that number by one as Cam Robinson, Andrew Norwell, A.J. Cann, and Will Richardson now make up the list.

A majority of Shatley’s starts have been at the center position for Brandon Linder, who has missed over 40 career games, 22 of which have come in his last three seasons. For that reason, there will be some speculations on whether Shatley’s signing is to be a starter as there is one year left on Linder’s deal, which will pay him just over $9.5 million.

This past season, Shatley started in eight games as Linder was injured in the middle of October with an ankle and MCL injury. That resulted in him going on injured reserve, but he returned in late November to help the team wrap up the season.

At the very least, the Jags retained one of the league’s best backups in Shatley, who can play both center and guard. However, there is still a lot of work to be done by the Jags’ front office as they need more backups and starters for the offensive line.