March 25, 2026, 1:17 p.m. ET
ESPN’s Ben Solak recently ranked how every NFL team fared during the free agency period. Although it has been a quiet few weeks for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Solak was a big fan of their approach.
Out of the 32 teams, Solak had the Jaguars at No. 9 in his rankings.
The only outside addition made by the Jaguars was the signing of running back Chris Rodriguez. The team also re-signed Dennis Gardeck and Montaric Brown. But those were the only moves made since March 9th.
As GM James Gladstone explained, being mindful of the 2027 compensatory draft picks the Jaguars are projected to land was a big reason for this approach, which Solak very much appreciated.
“(I loved) The compensatory pick approach,” Solak wrote. “OverTheCap projects Jacksonville to receive fourth-, fifth- and sixth-round selections for the departures of Devin Lloyd, Travis Etienne Jr. and Greg Newsome II. Don’t be surprised if GM James Gladstone is active at next year’s trade deadline in anticipation of the picks the Jaguars will receive.”
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Solak added that there’s little to complain about when it comes to the Jaguars’ free agency approach. After all, the Jaguars’ plan from the start was to do very little. But Solak does note that there are still some roster holes that have to be addressed.
“The team clearly needs pass-rush help and doesn’t have an obvious in-house heir to Devin Lloyd’s role at linebacker, but I’d expect the Jags to continue watching for releases and trade opportunities to fill those spots before September,” wrote Solak.
To this point, just because the initial free agency waves have passed doesn’t mean that the Jaguars are done making additions. Any released players, non-compensatory free agents, and even the trade market are all ways for the Jaguars to add to this roster.
Jacksonville also holds 11 picks in this year’s draft, including four in the top 100, giving them the ability to find immediate help while also continuing to raise the floor of this roster.
As Solak’s rankings suggest, a lack of moves doesn’t mean that a team is going backwards. In the Jaguars’ case, they have a plan and are executing on it.