Jaguars Raised Floor, Now Set to Invest in Ceiling

After adding 10 new free agents, the Jacksonville Jaguars made no secret what they were intending to use free agency for.

After years of the Jaguars using free agency to look for home runs to get them over the hump. This time around, the Jaguars instead opted to spread the money around and go for floor-raisers to improve the immediate depth of the roster.

That has been the Jaguars' consistent message all offseason. And with additions like Jourdan Lewis, Eric Murray, Patrick Mekari, Robert Hainsey, and a rebuilt tight end and quarterback room, it certainly appears the Jaguars have done exactly that.

But after a floor is installed, a team is bound to still look for ways to push their long-term success in the right direction. Improving the floor should help the Jaguars right away, but improving the ceiling is how the Jaguars can turn into a winner year in and year out.

Jaguars general manager James Gladstone sat down with Jaguars reporter John Oehser this week to discuss the dynamic between switching attention from the floor to the ceiling.

"You know our approach to free agency and the draft, you know, they're uniquely intentional. And I think with free agency, our goal was to elevate the floor the roster, and I think we struck a real positive balance between prioritizing players and people, right," Gladstone said.

"The type who by inviting them into our ecosystem, being nothing more than who they are, elevate those around them, elevate our culture. And I think as we turn towards the draft, it's going to be really fun to start addressing the ceiling."

The Jaguars and Gladstone are equipped with 10 picks to make a difference in this month's NFL Draft. The Jaguars hold the No. 5 pick, along with four picks in the top-100 overall.

“I think at the end of the day what we looked to do was try to continue to raise the floor of the organization. How do we continue to get better? Consistency, good, sound football players that love to play the game," Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said earlier this week.

"Really, that’s all we were trying to do, and I think that ultimately, they’ll come in and mesh really well with some of the players that we already have in our locker room. Guys want to get better. We’ve felt that. We’ve felt that throughout this offseason. Guys are eager to get in the building as we are as coaches. It’s happening fast. Really excited about the collaboration we’ve had with some of the Draft, some of the free agency and our current roster. Things are going well so far.”

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