3 Observations on Jaguars' Release of Carlos Hyde

The Jacksonville Jaguars made a necessary but under-the-radar offseason move on Friday, releasing veteran running back Carlos Hyde after one season with the franchise.

The move to release Hyde came 12 months after Hyde signed a two-year, $4.5 million deal with $1.4 million in guarantees last offseason. While Hyde was never expected to be a long-term fixture, he ended up lasting just half the duration of his deal and recording 318 yards from scrimmage on 84 touches (3.8 yards per touch).

What does the release of Hyde mean for the Jaguars' running back depth chart and for the rest of their offseason plans? We weigh in with three thoughts on the move below.

Trent Baalke and Urban Meyer's offensive free agent signings from 2021 continue to look woeful

If general manager Trent Baalke is going to fix arguably the NFL's worst offense from a year ago, he will have to do a much better job of finding playmakers in free agency. Hyde isn't the biggest contract the Jaguars gave out on offense last year, but he arguably played a bigger role all season than any player not named Marvin Jones. For Baalke to improve the Jaguars' dismal offense, he will have to hope he can avoid the woeful results he and Urban Meyer unearthed last offseason.

Hyde: 12 games, 318 yards from scrimmage and one touchdown.

Marvin Jones: 17 games, 832 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns.

Jamal Agnew: 10 games, 340 yards from scrimmage and two offensive touchdowns.

Chris Manhertz: 17 games, 71 yards from scrimmage and one touchdown.

Phillip Dorsett: one game, zero yards from scrimmage and zero touchdowns.

That is ... not an encouraging group. For the Jaguars to improve their offense next week, they will have to hope Baalke and head coach Doug Pederson enter with a different strategy and mindset than the Jaguars entered last offseason with. The Jaguars attempted to find value in free agency instead of finding playmakers, and that can't repeat in 2022.

Jaguars' roster is primed for a Day 3 addition at running back

With Hyde now off the roster, the Jaguars' running back depth chart is primed for an addition of some sort. The Jaguars could look to free agency, but the smarter bet would be to take advantage of the running back market and draft one with one of the team's eight Day 3 selections. As things stand today, the only running backs on the roster are James Robinson, Travis Etienne, Ryquell Armstead, Mekhi Sargent, and Nathan Cottrell.

It feels unlikely the Jaguars would be comfortable entering the season with Armstead as their top backup behind Robinson and Etienne. Perhaps this would be different if each wasn't coming off a season-ending injury, but the Jaguars would be smart to look to the draft to add to the running back room. Considering the beating the position takes, a RB3 could very well be a starter at some point in the year, and the Jaguars have enough picks on the last day of the draft to warrant a selection.

Jaguars likely optimistic about returns of James Robinson and Travis Etienne

The Jaguars have already expressed positivity and optimism about Etienne's recovery from his preseason Lisfranc injury and Robinson has expressed similar confidence in his recovery from his achilles injury. With the Jaguars releasing a veteran running back who they had under contract for cheap, it appears the Jaguars are putting their money where their mouth is.

While Hyde never would have made much of an impact in 2022, it is hard to imagine the Jaguars would be releasing veteran running backs with starting experience if they didn't have optimism about Robinson and Etienne. The Jaguars need each running back to bounce back to 100%, and the release of Hyde indicates that there have so far been no setbacks.