2023 Free Agency: 3 Observations on the Jaguars After First Day of Legal Tampering

With the Jaguars making little waves on the first day of free agency, here are our thoughts on where things stand today.

The first day of free agency has come and gone, and the Jacksonville Jaguars did exactly what they were expected to: nothing. 

Jacksonville has stated for months now that they were going to take a different approach to free agency this offseason after spending the last two offseasons. In fact, the Jaguars laid their plans out for this offseason in the days following their 2022 spending spree.

"But we're trying to fix this thing long term and have a vision for the future as we build this thing out," Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke said in March 2022 after signing Christian Kirk, Foye Oluokun, Brandon Scherff, Foley Fatukasi, Evan Engram, Zay Jones, and Darious Williams. 

"And, you know, right now, it's a combination of free agency and the draft, we hope to get this organization to a point where it's, we're not relying on free agency as much and we're relying on our drafts in second contracts and those guys."

So with the Jaguars standing pat on the first day of legal tampering, what can we make of where the dust has settled? We break it down below. 

Jaguars should continue to monitor the cornerback market

If there is one position the Jaguars should continue to poke around and try to gauge interest in, it is clearly the cornerback position. The state of the Jaguars' cornerback room has them with two quality starters and then a number of unproven young players or veteran journeymen. After shedding Shaquill Griffin and Tre Herndon from the roster, the Jaguars need to find replacements. 

Cornerbacks currently on the Jaguars roster

- Tyson Campbell
- Darious Williams
- Chris Claybrooks
- Tevaughn Campbell
- Montaric Brown
- Gregory Junior

— John Shipley (@_John_Shipley) March 14, 2023

Luckily for the Jaguars, the cornerback market wasn't overly active on Monday. Jemel Dean and Cam Sutton earned big deals while Jonathan Jones went back to New England, but otherwise it was a quiet day for one of free agency's better position groups. There are young, potentially expensive options like Sean Murphy-Bunting, who the Buccaneers let walk for Dean, and then there are cheaper ones like Emmanuel Moseley and Tavierre Thomas.

The smart play for the Jaguars would be to add a veteran cornerback this week and then draft one early in April. The Jaguars wanted to add multiple cornerbacks this offseason, and there is still a clear path to doing so after a quiet Day 1.

Arden Key not agreeing to a deal on Day 1 is good news for the Jaguars

The best thing to happen to the Jaguars on Monday was seeing Arden Key not make a move. Key was one of the Jaguars' best defenders a year ago despite never being an every-down player, producing as a sub-package pass-rusher and filling in both inside and outside in nickel formations. Key has always been expected to draw a strong market, but other interior pass-rushers like Demarcus Walker, Dre'Mont Jones, and Zach Allen all flew off the board on Monday, erasing potential landing spots for Key.

Key is still expected to draw interest from other teams, but sources close to the situation indicate the Jaguars do not think they are out on Key. If Key's best offer is somewhat close to the money the Jaguars have offered him, there should be optimism that he stays in Jacksonville. The longer he is a free-agent, the better for the Jaguars. The most likely scenario of him leaving was him obtaining a massive deal on the first day of free agency, and this didn't happen on Monday.

Jaguars made the smart play with Jawaan Taylor, Chris Manhertz

It is obviously not ideal for the Jaguars to lose a young, durable, talented right tackle after he was fresh off a career season, but the Jaguars shouldn't view the Jawaan Taylor deal with the Chiefs as a crippling loss. The Jaguars made attempts to retain Taylor -- attempts that didn't come close to the deal he signed with the Chiefs -- because they valued him as a talent and person. But the Jaguars have a ready-made replacement in Walker Little, two top-60 picks to potentially replace Taylor, and now can at least point to Taylor's big-money deal and say hey, we tried.

As for Chris Manhertz, it was never the expectation for him to return to Jacksonville. According to sources close to the situation, the Jaguars did not make any serious attempts to retain Manhertz, instead opting to let him walk because they believe they can get more from the position. Manhertz is a solid blocker, but the Jaguars need a tight end who can offer value as both a blocker and receiver, not just a one-dimensional player like Manhertz.