Jaguars Officially Sign Rashaan Melvin and Cassius Marsh, Re-Sign Carl Davis
Two of the Jacksonville Jaguars' latest free agency signings have officially signed their deals with the Jacksonville Jaguars, with seventh-year cornerback Rashaan Melvin and seventh-year defensive end and outside linebacker Cassius Marsh putting ink to paper and joining the franchise, the team announced on Monday.
The Jaguars also announced Monday that they re-signed fifth-year defensive tackle Carl Davis, who joined the team mid-season in 2019.
Melvin, who played for the Detroit Lions in 2019, joins the Jaguars as outside cornerback depth and provides the team with a veteran option behind Tre Herndon and D.J. Hayden.
Melvin, 30, has appeared in 64 career games with 40 starts. He has played for Baltimore (2014-15), New England (2015), Indianapolis (2016-17), Oakland (2018) and Detroit (2019) and has totaled 242 career tackles, 41 passes defensed, four INTs and three forced fumbles. Melvin played in 13 games (12 starts) for the Lions in 2019 and recorded a career-high 68 tackles and 11 passes defensed.
“We’re really excited to add Rashaan to our secondary as he’ll compete at the outside cornerback position,” head coach Doug Marrone said in March when the team agreed to terms with Melvin.
“He’s an experienced player and has produced at a high level in this league. He has good size and speed and does a great job of competing play-in and play-out and challenging the receiver at the catch. We’re excited to add him to our roster.”
Marsh, 27, will join the team as depth at strongside linebacker and defensive end. He has experience at defensive end in 4-3 fronts and outside linebacker in 3-4 schemes, and it is clear the Jaguars are high on him as a backup option along the edge of the front seven. Marsh signed a one-year contract with Jacksonville.
“Cassius has demonstrated versatility and athleticism throughout his NFL career, and we’re looking forward to what he can bring to our football team,” Marrone said when the Jaguars agreed to terms with Marsh in March. “His ability to stop the run, play in coverage and get after the quarterback will add valuable flexibility to our defense.”
Marsh was originally drafted by Seattle in the fourth round (108th overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft. He has appeared in 84 career games (eight starts) and totaled 139 tackles (81 solo), 14.0 sacks and four forced fumbles. He recorded 2.5 sacks with the Arizona Cardinals in 2019.
"With Cassius [Marsh], I think you see someone that can push for the SAM linebacker position, he can play up [at the line of scrimmage], which he’s done throughout his career, and we just recently re-signed Lerentee McCray, who can help us with pass-rush, but Cassius can help us also," Marrone said when asked about Marsh last week.
Davis, who was originally a third-round selection by the Baltimore Ravens in 2015, signed with the Jaguars during the season last year after the Jaguars sustained injuries at the defensive tackle position. Davis appeared in two games for the Jaguars in 2019, totaling one tackle.
Davis has appeared in 36 games with 12 starts in his five-year NFL career. Prior to signing with Jacksonville, Davis spent time with Baltimore (2015-17) and Cleveland (2018). He has 32 career tackles, three passes defensed and two tackles for loss.
It was announced in February that Davis would be suspended for the first four games of the 2020 season. The suspension is a result of a violation of the league’s performance-enhancing substance policy.
