AFC Notes: Jaguars, Jets, Patriots

Jaguars

• Mike Florio points out that Jaguars RB Leonard Fournette is the only draft pick taken in the top 10 to sign his rookie contract and not have offset language included in the agreement.
• This means that if the Jaguars cut Fournette by the end of his contract, he would get the opportunity to double-dip and be paid by Jacksonville and another team.

Jets

• Rich Cimini doesn’t consider second-year QB Christian Hackenberg to be a great fit in new OC John Morton’s West Coast-style system, given that it’s predicated on timing and accuracy.
• Cimini points out that Hackenberg’s adjusted completion rate at Penn State during his rookie season was 64 percent, good enough for No. 120 in the country.
• To complicate matters further, Cimini notes that this will be Hackenberg’s fourth offensive system in five years.
• While Jets HC Todd Bowles has said that it’s an open competition, Cimini believes it would be an upset if Josh McCown doesn’t win the job.
• In regards to S Calvin Pryor, Cimini thinks it would make sense for the Jets to keep him as an insurance policy, given that he has a reasonable cap figure and they could be starting two rookies from Day 1.

Patriots

• Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald wonders if this could be WR Julian Edelman’s final season with the Patriots.
• Edelman is in the final year of his contract and will be 31 years old this season. The Patriots have added several new weapons to their offense, so it’s possible that they could allow him to depart in free agency, as opposed to paying him a market-value contract.
• Guregian mentions that some have speculated that Brandin Cooks could be Edelman’s successor as the Patriots’ slot receiver.
• Even so, there are no guarantees that Cooks will be able to fill Edelman’s role in their offense, and Edelman has clearly been an impact player for New England for some time now and has been a go-to option for Tom Brady.