Jaguars' Defensive Attrition Continues With Aaron Lynch Set to Retire

For the second time in as many days, the Jacksonville Jaguars are set to have a defensive lineman retire.

ESPN's Adam Schefter first reported the news that Jaguars' defensive end/outside linebacker Aaron Lynch, who signed with the team in May, would be retiring. The Jaguars later confirmed that Lynch would be placed on the team's reserve/retired list on Tuesday.

Jaguars’ DE Aaron Lynch, who has compiled 20 sacks in the NFL since the 49ers drafted him in the fifth round in 2014, now is planning to retire, per sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 17, 2020

For the Jaguars, Lynch is the fourth defensive lineman and the fifth defender overall this year to make a decision to not play in 2020. Defensive tackle Al Woods, defensive end Lerentee McCray and cornerback Rashaan Melvin all opted out over the last several weeks, while defensive lineman Rodney Gunter announced on Sunday that he would be stepping away from football due to a heart condition.

Lynch, a seventh-year veteran, was drafted in the fifth-round (No. 150 overall) by the San Francisco 49ers in 2014. At the time, current Jaguars director of player personnel Trent Baalke was the 49ers' general manager.

Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone said before the Jaguars' Monday morning practice that Lynch would not be in attendance for the first day in pads but that he was excused.

"... Aaron Lynch, which I excused, he’s taking care of something personally. So he’s dealing with that and we’ll see where that is as we go forward, so we’re in communication with him so it’s not an issue," Marrone said Monday, nearly 12 hours before the news of Lynch's planned retirement was announced.

In 2019, Lynch played in all 16 games with the Chicago Bears and recorded six tackles, 2.0 sacks and two passes defensed. Before spending the last two seasons with the Bears, Lynch played four seasons for the 49ers from 2014-17. In 2015, he started 13 games and registered career highs in tackles (38), sacks (6.5) and tackles for loss (13). In his first two seasons, he recorded 12.5 sacks. He has recorded 7.5 sacks in the four seasons since.

Jacksonville has lost defensive lineman after defensive lineman over the course of the last several weeks, and Lynch is just the latest example. While Lynch may not have been a lock to play a lot of snaps for the Jaguars, he was one of the team's better edge defenders with K'Lavon Chaisson dealing with a hamstring injury and Yannick Ngakoue still away from the team.