Update:
Jaguars owner Shad Khan offered support for GM Dave Caldwell’s decision to publicly announce that they will allow RB Maurice Jones-Drew to test the free agent market this March, via the Florida Times Union.
Jacksonville has shown at least some interest in the idea of retaining Jones-Drew in the past, but it appears as though it won’t be a market-value contract. While Jones-Drew has been a good player over the course of his career, veteran running backs have not fared well in free agency, which means he may have to accept a similar contract to that of Steven Jackson who received a three-year, $12 million contract with $4 million guaranteed from Atlanta last year.
Jones-Drew, 28, is coming off of a disappointing season for the Jaguars in which he totaled 803 yards (3.4 YPC) and five touchdowns. In 2013, he surpassed 100 yards in a game just once. However, it’s worth mentioning that the Jaguars offense has a whole was pretty bad and a combination of Blaine Gabbert and Chad Henne at quarterback wasn’t exactly doing him any favors by keeping defenders out of the box.
It’s worth noting that Pro Football Focus actually had him rated as an above average running back this season, but his rating was propped up by his blocking ability.
We have Jones-Drew listed as the No. 63 player in our Top 100 Free Agents list.
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On Wednesday, Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew mentioned during an interview with the NFL Network that he hasn’t had any contract negotiations with the team up to this point.
“We haven’t really talked up to this point yet,” MJD said, via Jaguars.com. “They want to let me go out and test the market a little bit, which I appreciate. We’ll just go from there.”
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