Jaguars Poll OTW: How would you grade the Jags’ moves in the first week of free agency?

In this week’s poll, we want to know how you would grade the moves made by Trent Baalke and the Jacksonville Jaguars during the first week of free agency.

Welcome, Jaguars pollsters!

Last week, we asked you what you all thought about the Jags’ moves before the franchise tag deadline, and the responses were pretty unanimous. In short: not good. A plurality of you assigned the Jaguars a grade of F (28%), with C and D earning the second and third most votes with 27% and 26%, respectively.

This last week was even more hectic for the Jaguars and arguably the busiest week of the year. The Jacksonville Jaguars were active players in free agency, signing six new players, trading for another, and releasing numerous starters.

Notable FA signings included C Mitch Morse (Buffalo Bills), DT Arik Armstead (San Francisco 49ers), CB Ronald Darby (Baltimore Ravens), S Darnell Savage (Green Bay Packers), KR/WR Devin Duvernay (Baltimore Ravens), and WR Gabe Davis (Buffalo Bills). They also traded for Mac Jones, a Jacksonville native, from the New England Patriots to presumably replace CJ Beathard as the Jags’ backup quarterback.

From last year’s roster, notable releases included S Rayshawn Jenkins, CB Darious Williams, and DT Foley Fatukasi. As of now, the Jaguars also opted not to retain WR/KR Jamal Agnew, K Brandon McManus, CB Tre Herndon, K’Lavon Chaisson (signed by the Carolina Panthers) DT Angelo Blackson, DE Dawuane Smoot, LB Shaq Quarterman, OL Tyler Shatley, and QB Matt Barkley. Meanwhile, they re-signed OG Ezra Cleveland, RB D’Ernest Johnson, OL Blake Hance, LB Caleb Johnson, DT Jeremiah Ledbetter, and S Daniel Thomas. They also re-worked OG Brandon Scherff’s contract to free up some cap space.

Of course, the biggest controversy of the week surrounded WR Calvin Ridley. While it originally appeared that Ridley was waiting until after the official start of free agency to re-sign with the Jaguars, ensuring they retained their 2nd-round pick, the Tennessee Titans swooped in and signed Ridley on a hefty 4-year deal worth $92 million with $50 million fully guaranteed, which the Jaguars were unwilling to match.

There was also chatter about a potential trade for San Francisco All-Pro WR Brandon Aiyuk, but nothing came to fruition.

With the first week of free agency complete, we want to know: what would you grade the Jaguars’ moves of the past week?

In my eyes, Baalke and the Jags earned somewhere between a B and a C. Ultimately, the point of free agency is to maximize your roster as much as your cap allows. For a team like the Jaguars with middle-of-the-pack cap space, this often means re-signing key starters while finding affordable quality replacements for other unrestricted FAs who are just too expensive to keep. It often also entails cutting other players currently under contract whose current level of play fails to justify their cap hit for the following year.

The Jaguars made quite a few upgrades to fill gaping holes in their roster, and they mostly did so at a reasonable price. Let’s take a closer look at each move individually.

The Jags’ best “A” moves of the week were undoubtedly the signings of Morse and Armstead. Morse is set to replace Luke Fortner, who struggled mightily last season and ranked among the worst at his position in nearly every metric. Armstead should help fill the gaping hole in the interior DL and provide additional pressure on the quarterback to complement Josh Allen and Travon Walker on the outside. While Armstead is coming off an injury, he was one of the most dominant players at his position last year (even while playing through his injury in the Super Bowl), and if he can maintain even close to last year’s level of play, he certainly merits his $17 million/year price tag. Both of these moves are enormous upgrades for a reasonable price at key positions of need.

Other solid “B” moves included signing Duvernay to replace Agnew and signing Darby to replace Williams. Duvernay is not quite as fast as Agnew, but he is a bit shiftier with better hands, offering similar capabilities in the return game and an upgrade in any offensive role. While Williams was excellent for the Jaguars last season, the typical system of new defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen employs much more press coverage, an area in which Darby has historically excelled and Williams has historically struggled. Moreover, Darby’s cap hit is less than half as much as Williams was set to make. Both of these moves are solid improvements for a good price.

Signing Savage was a “C” move; a passing grade, but nothing exceptional. While Rayshawn Jenkins was certainly a fan-favorite and gave Jags fans some of the most memorable plays over the past couple of years, his coverage and tackling were less than ideal. Contrastingly, Savage has earned better coverage grades over the last few years and made similar big plays for the Packers, including a pick-six in last year’s playoff game. However, he similarly struggles with tackling, and the Jaguars signed him to a 3-year, $7 million/year contract, which was higher than his projected cost of $4-5 million/year for 1-2 years. In this sense, the Jaguars made a lateral move (or arguably a marginal improvement) for an elevated price tag. A passable move, but nothing to ride home about.

Signing Gabe Davis is a difficult move to grade. On the one hand, if the Jaguars signed him as an upgrade over WR Zay Jones in the WR3 slot for an additional $5 million/year cap hit, this would be a solid “B”. However, if the Jaguars expect him to fill the role of Calvin Ridley, leaving the Jags without anyone resembling a true WR1, this is an “F” move. With the uncertainty surrounding the Jags’ WR room, we still have to wait to see how this one plays out.

The Ridley saga is also tricky to grade. If the Jags had re-signed Calvin Ridley to the previously-rumored deal of $17/million per year over two years, this would’ve been a solid “B” or even “A” move. If they had instead signed Ridley to a 4-year deal worth $92 million with $50 million guaranteed, as the Titans did, this would’ve earned a “D” grade from me due to an extremely poor value without much room for error. In this sense, letting him walk seems reasonable. However, it also leaves the Jags without a true WR1 and a receiver room that currently ranks in the bottom half of the league. While this may seem like a no-win situation, the optimal approach would’ve been to negotiate and come to terms with Josh Allen (you know, the best player on the team last year) many weeks earlier, freeing up the franchise tag to apply to Ridley. This would’ve allowed the Jags to retain their second-round pick while precluding other teams from negotiating with Ridley, likely allowing the Jags to sign him to a more reasonable deal. The overall bungling of the situation earns a “D” from me. On the other hand, if the Jags end up trading for Brandon Aiyuk for a reasonable price (a 2nd round pick would absolutely be worth it), this would be an “A” move and Ridley’s departure would be entirely justified.

Overall, I give the Jags a “B-” for free agency, though this could certainly improve depending on the outcome of the Jags’ WR room. They made some nice upgrades in positions of need for a reasonable price, while other moves were fairly lateral, making the roster neither better nor worse. The greatest detriment to their grade is the recent handling of the WR room, which is currently mediocre at best despite a high cap hit. However, it is hard to assign a final grade without knowing their future plans for the position.

Jags fans, what do you think? Let us know in the comments below!