Urban Meyer Explains Why the Jaguars Traded Joe Schobert
The Jacksonville Jaguars haven't been shy to overturn their roster since Urban Meyer took the head coaching job in January.
The massive sea of change continued to churn strongly this week, too, as the Jaguars made a mildly surprising move by trading former starting inside linebacker Joe Schobert to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a 2022 sixth-round selection.
The move, which became official on Saturday, showed the Jaguars shedding Schobert's spot on the 90-man roster only 18 months after the team signed him to a five-year deal worth over $50 million in total money. As a result, Meyer had some questions to answer when it came to why he dealt the veteran linebacker before the preseason began, and just how much the Jaguars will pay him to play elsewhere.
"I believe we are," Meyer said when asked if the Jaguars would pay a portion of Schobert's 2021 salary after Saturday's 23-13 preseason loss to the Cleveland Browns.
"I don't—that's a Trent Baalke [question]—yeah, I just don't want to say something that's not true."
So, while there isn't much clarity on just how much of Schobert's deal the Jaguars are going to continue to pay this year, it is at least clear the Jaguars are paying part of it. In short, the Jaguars will pay Schobert to not be on the team.
But why did the Jaguars move on from Schobert after he started 16 games in 2020, was respected in the locker room and had split reps with the first-team defense throughout 13 training camp practices? As Meyer explained, it came down to the rest of the Jaguars' linebacker room and what they bring to special teams, and less to do with Schobert's fit.
"I wouldn't say he wasn't a good fit," Meyer said when asked why Schobert was perceived as a bad fit in the team's defensive scheme and future.
"We felt good about the depth we have right now at the linebacker position. And that was one of those things I just listened and learned a lot about the whole process with that. I get it, you've got special teams value, too, when you start taking [Shaquille] Quarterman and Quincy [Williams] and Dakota [Allen] and there's another one, Chapelle [Russell]."
None of those four linebackers are starters or will replace Schobert, but any player who isn't a starter must have special teams value to find a spot on the 53-man roster. To Meyer's credit, Schobert was unlikely to start due to Damien Wilson winning the inside linebacker job, and he wasn't going to provide to the special teams value that Quarterman and Allen, who each started on the Jaguars' kickoff team on Saturday, bring.
"So, we have four young cats that have some real special teams value to us right now. And Damien [Wilson], we felt, is really coming on."
The trade of Schobert was the latest in a long line of personnel decisions made by Meyer and general manager Trent Baalke that has seen the Jaguars give up investments made by the previous regime for little in return, a sign of them putting their own stamp on the roster.
And it is the latest in an even longer line of former defensive starters traded out of Jacksonville, with Schobert now joining the likes of Jalen Ramsey, A.J. Bouye, Yannick Ngakoue, and Calais Campbell.
But, as Jaguars' edge defender Josh Allen said after the game, the constant churning of NFL rosters is the nature of the buisness. Moves like the Schobert trade have happened before and will happen again, with the latest trade serving as a reminder to the fact.
"It's football. You know, it's the national football league. The more you play in this league, the more stuff you're going to see, as y'all probably know in your profession. You just can't take anything for granted," Allen said on Saturday.
"Luckily Joe [Schobert] went to a team that needed him most. That's a blessing. But for a lot of other people, it doesn't happen like that. You know, I hope Joe and his family transition well, and I wish him nothing but the best, and any other guy who's about to go -- these first cuts, I feel like we bust -- I feel like everybody on this team through training camp busts their butt to be on this team, but we can't have everybody on this team. But I think they keep working, somebody is going to pick them up.'
