Jaguars Sign OL Rashaad Coward, Put OL Brandon Linder On IR

The Jacksonville Jaguars announced they signed OL Rashaad Coward to a deal, and put OL Brandon Linder on injured reserve.

The @Jaguars have signed OL Rashaad Coward, the club announced today. In addition, the team placed OL Brandon Linder on injured reserve.

— JaguarsPR (@JaguarsPR) October 12, 2021

Coward, 26, signed with the Bears as an undrafted free agent out of Old Dominion back in 2017. He was waived coming out of the preseason but was later re-signed to the Bears’ practice squad.

Chicago elected to promote Coward to their active roster towards the end of the 2017 season and he managed to make the 53-man roster each of the next two years. The Bears re-signed him as an exclusive rights free agent in 2020. 

Coward signed a one-year deal with the Steelers in March, but the team released him last week.

In 2020, Coward appeared in all 16 games for the Bears and made five starts for them.

Linder, 29, is a former third-round pick of the Jaguars back in 2014. He was entering the final year of his rookie contract when he agreed to a six-year, $52.4 million contract that included $24 million guaranteed with the Jaguars in 2017. 

Linder stands to make a base salary of $8 million for the 2021 season. 

In 2021, Linder has appeared in five games for the Jaguars, making five starts. Pro Football Focus has given Linder an overall grade of 57.9 this season.