Ranking the 5 Most Important Offseason Moves the Jaguars Made

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars will hold the first day of training camp in just under two weeks, which means for all intents and purposes, the 2026 offseason has been settled.

While the Jaguars were prone to making moves during training camp and the regular-season last season, most of the moves that will help define the 2026 season have already been made to this point.

So, what are the most important offseason moves the Jaguars made this season and how will they leave their stamp on the season? We break it down below.

1) Drafting Nate Boerkircher at No. 56

The most important move the Jaguars made this offseason is a relatively easy answer. It was an easy answer last year, too, but for different reasons. The Jaguars took several swings on veteran pieces last offseason, but the magnitude of the Travis Hunter trade defined the start of the Liam Coen/James Gladstone/Tony Boselli regime. This year, the Jaguars went at a different pace.

Most of the Jaguars' most expensive moves this offseason were contract extensions for franchise cornerstones like defensive end Travon Walker and tight end Brenton Strange, among others. The Jaguars kept most of their own talent and leaned on playing the compensatory draft pick game this offseason. Add in a lack of a first-round pick due to the Hunter trade, and the Jaguars' top asset this offseason was the No. 56 pick in April.

Jacksonville nabbed Texas A&M tight end Nate Boerkircher with the selection, drawing plenty of attention due to where many had Boerkircher slotted in mock drafts and consensus boards ahead of the draft. But the Jaguars anticipated a tight end run and it appears unlikely Boerkircher would have ever been at their next pick at No. 81, which meant the Jaguars made tight end depth their top focus with the selection.

The return of CFB means the return of my Texas A&M A-22 film series 🧵:

Kicking off the season is a nice throw by Marcel Reed to TE Nate Boerkircher.

Reed goes through his progressions, rips it down the seam in front of 3 defenders, & 87 comes up with a great tough grab: pic.twitter.com/5iWWjTRSBy
— Tony Catalina (@Tony_Catalina) August 31, 2025

It remains to be seen what kind of role Boerkircher could have in the passing game from a volume perspective, partly due to his lack of passing game production in college but largely because the Jaguars have four difference-makers at wide receiver and one of the highest-paid tight ends in the NFL on the depth chart ahead of him.

But Boerkircher's passing game numbers from college could be the result of several factors, and the Jaguars clearly like his upside. Where he will likely make his mark early on in his career will be as a blocker, both in the run and pass game. The Jaguars used Strange as a heavy hitter in that role last year, and the suggestion from the Jaguars has been that adding Boerkircher will free up Strange to do even more.

2) Letting Travis Etienne and Devin Lloyd Walk

No offseason moves from Jacksonville have drawn more attention than letting two of their most high-profile and high-impact veterans from last year's playoff team walk in free agency. The Jaguars are projected to get fourth- and fifth-round selections for the loss of running back Travis Etienne and linebacker Devin Lloyd, but the Jaguars' response to the voids left by each could define the season.

Etienne was a fan-favorite, a former first-round pick, a lifetime teammate of franchise quarterback Trevor Lawrence, and just had one of the best seasons of his career. Etienne was the offensive MVP of the Jaguars' 4-3 start last season while the passing game still worked out its issues early in the transition to Liam Coen's scheme, but he ended up signing a significant deal with the New Orleans Saints at the start of free agency.

To replace Etienne, the Jaguars are going with a running back room that has the upside to be more efficient than a year ago, but that is a best-case scenario. The Jaguars' room currently pales in comparison to Etienne in terms of proven production, however, creating a looming question mark in the unit until it proves itself.

	Travis Etienne	Chris Rodriguez + Bhayshul Tuten + LeQuint Allen
Games Played	66	67
Starts	60	8
Carries	897	304
Rushing Touchdowns	25	15
Receptions	168	26
Receiving TDs	7	2

Lloyd, meanwhile, was a former first-round pick who had been hit-or-miss for his first three seasons. His fourth season proved to be his best, as he thrived under new defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile and was one of the most important pieces of a massively improved unit. Lloyd tied for the team lead with five interceptions and had some of the most defining moments of the season.

Lloyd, however, was not always an every-down player even in his career-year, and the Jaguars' regime has a past history of not spending big at linebacker. The Jaguars only added one linebacker all offseason though, and that was seventh-round linebacker Parker Hughes. Ventrell Miller and/or Branson Combs will have to quickly be ready to fill the void left by Lloyd.

3) Signing Chris Rodriguez Jr.

We touched on the lack of proven production in the Jaguars' running back room after the departure of Etienne, but it is clear the Jaguars are all-in on new running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. The Jaguars made Rodriguez their only significant free agent addition after he spent the first three years with the Washington Commanders, signing him to a two-year, $10 million deal with $6.2 million guranteed. That is solid money for a player who has been mostly a career backup.

The Jaguars clearly felt good about adding Rodriguez for a few reasons. Perhaps the biggest one is the fact that he has a history with Jaguars head coach Liam Coen, with the two crossing paths when Coen was offensive coordinator at Kentucky. Rodriguez had the most productive year his college career that season, and the Jaguars clearly had some valuable insight into Rodriguez's game entering free agency.

Then there is the fact that where the Jaguars really struggled last year was consistently rushing between the tackles. The Jaguars were able to hit runs to the outside fairly consistently, but the rushing attack was so inefficient over the second-half of the season that Coen has described it as "the stink" that winning games covered up. Rodriguez will be asked to fill that interior rushing role early and often as the Jaguars lean on him and Tuten to improve the rushing attack.

4) Retooling Liam Coen's Staff

mathieu arauj — Jacksonville Jaguars defensive pass game coordinator Mathieu Araujo coaches near cornerback Preston Hodge (26) during the first day of minicamp at the Miller Electric Center, Tuesday, June 9, 2026, in Jacksonville, Fla. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Jaguars kept their most high-profile coaches this offseason, retaining both offensive coordinator Grant Udinski and defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile after they got head coach interviews. It remains to be seen just how much longer the Jaguars can keep their two rising coaches on their sideline, so they have taken plenty of the focus.

As a result, the Jaguars' other staff moves have perhaps flown under the radar. The Jaguars had a few departures from Coen's 2025 staff, and they were filled by the hirings of offensive run game coordinator Brian Piccuci and defensive pass game coordinator Mathieu Araujo. Considering the two areas the Jaguars need to improve the most this year are the running game and the secondary, these are two fairly significant additions.

Piccuci is a long-time lieutenant of Coen and has known him as long as any coach on the staff after actually coaching him when he was a UMass quarterback. Piccuci was blocked by the Buccaneers from joining Coen's staff last year, and it is clear that he will now have a massive hand in what the Jaguars do with their rushing attack.

Araujo, meanwhile, has been a longtime peer of Campanile and has learned from the same top minds as defensive coaches. He will be tasked with developing Travis Hunter and the cornerback room, and his upside as a coach could be as high as anyone's on the staff outside of Udinski and Campanile.

5) The Ruke Orhorhoro Trade

ruke orhoro — Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro (99) runs a blocking drill with Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Arik Armstead (91) during the Jaguars final Organized Team Activity on Monday, June 15, 2026 at the Miller Electric Center in Jacksonville, Fla. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union] | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Jaguars' interior pass-rush outside of Arik Armstead last season was ... not great. Add in injuries to Armstead and defensive end Travon Walker and the pass-rush was left pretty much solely to Josh Hines-Allen down the stretch, which made pass-rush depth a major focus entering the offseason. While the Jaguars did draft two defensive ends since then, those picks were in the fourth- and seventh-round, and the biggest investment instead came in a pre-draft trade.

After a disappointing first two seasons of Maason Smith's career, the Jaguars traded the former second-round pick to the Atlanta Falcons for a fellow 2024 second-rounder in Ruke Orhorhoro. The Falcons have gone on record to say they made the trade because Smith fits the traits they are looking for in their new defensive scheme, and fact is the Jaguars could probably say the same about Orhorhoro.

Orhorhoro has not been massively productive, but he does have favorable pass-rush metrics in his favor and should provide, if anything, a boost to the unit compared to what they got out of Smith a year ago. How big of a boost it is could determine if the pass-rush actually improves by a significant degree.

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