Jaguars’ CB Shaquill Griffin: ‘Jacksonville Was Just a Clear Choice’

Shaquill Griffin knows he is entering a new realm. After spending four seasons in the shadow of the 'Legion of Boom' in Seattle, Griffin is turning his focus to creating his own story in Jacksonville -- and making sure the Jaguars have a story to tell of their own.

"I think that’s the most exciting thing – writing my own journey, my own story with an organization that truly believes in me, the same way I believe in them," Griffin told Jacksonville media on Thursday.

Griffin was the prized addition of the Jaguars' free agency class, a group that includes 12 new players who signed deals with the Jaguars in Urban Meyer's first season. The Jaguars made Griffin their highest-paid free agent with a three-year, $44.5 million deal with $29 million guaranteed as part of the deal.

For Griffin, the contract meant a fresh start after four years of trying to live up to something special in Seattle. Now is his chance to create his own special environment and get in on the ground floor of a rebuilding franchise.

"And Jacksonville was just a clear choice, after knowing that I just needed a fresh start, and everything is just new here. Coming back to Florida, being able to have the opportunity to be a part of something new and something great and something special, I feel like that’s the part that I was looking forward to," Griffin said. "And don’t get me wrong, I’ve built a life and some great friends and some great relationships in Seattle. But I also learned so much and knowing that there is a business aspect behind it, everything that I have learned, that’s something that I hold dear to my heart.

"But now, it’s starting my own journey. You know, I’m behind a group that was called the ‘Legion of Boom’ at the time. It’s always something that they had going on already and now I’ve got a chance to be a part of something great, something new, something different that we can call our own. So, I’m excited about that."

Griffin appeared in 57 regular season games (starting 53) for the Seahawks since they drafted him No. 90 overall in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Add on four playoff starts in that span, and Griffin has more than enough experience to bring with him from Seattle to Jacksonville.

During that span, Griffin earned one Pro Bowl nod, recorded six interceptions, 48 pass deflections, and 249 tackles. He played at least 80% of Seattle's defensive snaps in his first three seasons and 71% last year, making him the type of seasoned veteran that a young Jaguars secondary badly needed.

Griffin will now be asked to pair with CJ Henderson and form a dominant starting cornerback duo. There will be ups and downs, but the Jaguars made Griffin their highest-priced addition this season for a reason: they believe in him like he believes in their eventual turnaround.

"I don’t have to do anything outrageous. I just feel like if I come and be completely who I am and completely who I am to this game and give the same to my peers, to my teammates, these coaches, I feel like that’s all we need to do," Griffin said. "I’m just going to give them everything that I have to give as a player and as a man, on and off the field. And I’m hoping [that] me doing that and being the leader that I am, it trickles down. It becomes so contagious that everybody is doing it."

After years of playing in the shadow of legends, Griffin is set to be one of the most important members of the Jaguars' rebuild in the early stages of the Urban Meyer regime. It is time to create his own legacy and lead his own secondary. And he will do it the same way he has done everything else: by just being Shaquill Griffin.

"And that’s how you turn your program around, when everybody is buying in and believing the same thing. My job here is to get everybody to believe the same way I do. Even if they don’t see it yet, my job is to get them to see it, because getting this program, this organization back to where we need to be, first before it even starts. So, that’s why I’m here."