Jacksonville Jaguars

Projected Cap Space: -$15.7 million

Draft Picks: 10

• 2nd (No. 56)
• 3rd (No. 81, DET)
• 3rd (No. 88)
• 3rd (No. 100, DET, comp)
• 4th (No. 124)
• 5th (No. 162)
• 5th (No. 164, SF)
• 6th (No. 201, PHI)
• 7th (No. 233, DET)
• 7th (No. 245, LAR)

Notable Free Agents: 

• LB Devin Lloyd
• RB Travis Etienne
• CB Greg Newsome
• CB Montaric Brown
• S Andrew Wingard
• DE Dawuane Smoot
• DE Dennis Gardeck
• DE Emmanuel Ogbah
• WR Dyami Brown
• WR Tim Patrick
• TE Quintin Morris
• DT Austin Johnson

Top Three Needs

1 – Cornerback

Jaguars decision-makers have already indicated they’re concerned enough about cornerback to shift their plans with 2025 No. 2 pick Travis Hunter. The dual-position player could operate as a starter on defense while being mixed in on offense, as opposed to this past year when he was primarily an offensive player mixed in on defense. 

Jacksonville’s concern is rooted in a mix of expiring contracts and inconsistent performance. Brown led the room in snaps as one starting outside cornerback and Newsome generally operated across from him after arriving via midseason trade. He was the most inconsistent of the group, although having to catch up on the playbook midyear didn’t help. The Jaguars could probably bring Brown back and have him compete with Jarrian Jones, but this would be a good spot to add depth as well. 

2 – Linebacker

Another area where pending free agents could leave a hole, the Jaguars are set to lose Lloyd after a breakout season in which he earned second-team All-Pro honors after Jacksonville declined his fifth-year option in the offseason. It would be prohibitively expensive for the team to franchise him, so there’s nothing the team can do to prevent him from testing his value on the open market. He should have plenty of suitors. 

It’s also not clear how highly the Jaguars value linebacker play, at least relative to other positions. The team has heavy roots in the Rams’ front office philosophy and Los Angeles has put minimal investment into the position until this year. Even if they do pony up for Lloyd, they might seek to cut costs elsewhere in the room, with veteran LB Foyesade Oluokun standing out as a potential cut, purely for salary reasons. He was a productive starter this past season. 

3 – Defensive Tackle

Veteran DTs Arik Armstead and DaVon Hamilton helped the Jaguars rank No. 1 in run defense last year, and Armstead chipped in 5.5 sacks, which is a quality number for an interior rusher. It might not be likely, but both are also potential cap cuts, as they’re each getting older and have non-guaranteed salaries. The Jaguars have work to do to get under the cap. 

Even if both are back, however, Jacksonville doesn’t have a whole lot in the pipe behind them. Former second-rounder Maason Smith hasn’t found his stride yet and his playing time decreased under the new regime in 2025. In addition to needing more depth and long-term replacements for Armstead and Hamilton, the Jaguars could also elevate the play of their defensive line as a whole by reinforcing defensive tackle, as the edge room is in solid shape. 

One Big Question

What’s the plan for Travis Hunter in Year 2? 

Jaguars HC Liam Coen and GM James Gladstone will be working to follow up on an impressive debut season that saw them make the playoffs. Coen was also praised for helping QB Trevor Lawrence finish the season strong and the duo could take another step forward in 2026. But the biggest star in Jacksonville is Hunter, and that’s what will drive the conversation around the Jaguars this upcoming season. 

Coen and Gladstone don’t have any room to complain about all the attention Hunter gets, as they’ve fed into the hype themselves. Gladstone said after drafting Hunter that they thought he was a player who could change the math of the sport, and the heavy price he paid to move up from No. 5 to No. 2 confirms that. So it’s small wonder that every step of the Jaguars’ plans to help Hunter become the first true two-way player in modern NFL history has been scrutinized. 

In college, Hunter was a full-time cornerback who spent his practice and meeting times during the week predominantly on defense. During the games when he was on offense, Hunter would get his specific assignment signaled in from the sideline. For a variety of reasons, that approach would be difficult in the NFL. Rather than start him out on defense and give him a small menu of plays to learn on offense, the Jaguars elected to put him primarily on offense and play him situationally on defense, reasoning he could have a bigger impact that way. 

Hunter finished the season with 28 catches, 298 yards and one touchdown in 324 snaps on offense, and 15 tackles and three pass breakups in 162 snaps on defense. In total, he played 486 snaps in seven games. It’s not a great return on investment for the Jaguars so far, though to be fair Hunter was hurt in practice just when it seemed like he was about to become a significantly larger piece of the offense. 

Now the early word from the Jaguars is that they’ll switch to a model that’s more similar to what Hunter did in college — starting him primarily at cornerback with a smaller role on offense. Jacksonville figured things out at receiver down the stretch last year, trading for veteran Jakobi Meyers and signing him to an extension. They also got a breakout from third-year WR Parker Washington, and are leaving the light on for former first-round WR Brian Thomas Jr.  That’s a crowded room for Hunter to try and break into. 

Still, given the investment the Jaguars made in Hunter, it’s fair to have questions when the high expectations painted by the team aren’t necessarily borne out. It’s far too early for declarative statements one way or another about Hunter’s career but there are a lot of people watching closely to see how this plays out.