Jacksonville Jaguars 2016 Offseason: Trade for Kam Chancellor?
By Daniel Lago
With the offseason inching away at a snails pace, it’s time to talk about some of the more improbable scenarios being discussed by analysts. Mock drafts are fun and projecting free agent landing spots is an interesting endeavor, but it takes some serious foresight to predict trades.
Bill Barnwell over at ESPN recently discussed a trade the Jaguars should make in his latest piece about the 5 moves each team in the AFC South should make. Barnwell suggests the Jaguars look into acquiring one of head coach Gus Bradley’s former players from Seattle – strong safety Kam Chancellor.
"Explore a trade for Kam Chancellor. Atlanta is a logical NFC landing point for Chancellor, while Jacksonville seems the natural destination if the Seahawks decide to trade their star safety out of the conference. It would be early for the Jaguars to give up on 2014 33rd pick Johnathan Cyprien after two years, but he has struggled mightily. The Jags could comfortably afford a new deal for Chancellor, and while their primary problems are in pass coverage, Chancellor would be a comfortable upgrade for Bradley, his old defensive coordinator, as an added box defender."
Barnwell does a good job for the most part keeping up with all 32 teams, something that can’t be said for most national analysts, but I don’t really agree with this move at all. The Jaguars have consistently talked about how the lack of development of Johnathan Cyprien is tied to the fact he is playing out of position for the most part. Without a true free safety, I don’t think it really matters who the Jaguars have as their box safety.
Chancellor is a great strong safety, but he lacks the coverage skills the Jaguars have coveted over the past 3 offseasons.
I wouldn’t completely rule out trading for Chancellor for the right price, but I’d be shocked if the Seahawks let him go for anything less than a 3rd round pick. I wouldn’t trade an early round pick for a guy who needs a great player next to him to truly shine. I’d rather let Cyprien and James Sample duke it out and let the guy who shines in camp take the starting safety spot.