Alex Mack A Potential Free Agent Target For The Jaguars?

Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times Union writes that finding a starting caliber center should be among the Jaguars top priorities this offseason.

O’Halloran points to the fact that the Jaguars current group of centers —  Jacques McClendon, Mike Brewster and Patrick Lewis — do not have a single career start among them and believes impending Browns free agent Alex Mack would make a lot of sense for them.

O’Halloran does caution that Mack’s asking price could be a bit of an issue given that he could be in line for a top-five contract at the center position.

It seems unlikely that the Browns would even consider franchising Mack given that it would run the a staggering $11 million fully guaranteed, but many expect Mack to have a number of suitors on the open market which could ultimately push could lead to some aggressive bidding.

However, Jaguars GM Dave Caldwell recently stressed the importance of building a solid core before adding high-priced free agents.

“Considering where we are right now as an organization, as a team, we’ve got a lot of building to do,” Caldwell said, via ESPN.com. “We’re not just one piece away where we can go get a high-priced player and then feel like we’re just … You’re never going to be one player away, but a lot of teams are really close and feel like, ‘If we just get this one guy at this one position that’s a glaring weakness we can go get them.”

There are other free agents options at center including Evan Dietrich-Smith, Brian De La Puente, and Jonathan Goodwin who could have come at a much lower price than Mack.

We have him listed as the No. 15 player in our Top 50 Free Agents list.