Breaking the Bank – Why the Jaguars are Right not to Spend Big

The Jaguars are not known to be as frugal as the Rooney’s in Pittsburgh, but the team is certainly not the Redskins.  Even with an owner change to the brilliant Shahid Khan, the Jaguars have continued the Weaver tradition of being wise with their money.

And by wise, I mean not really using it.

The Jaguar have rewarded players who have worked hard for them.  Sure, many of these players (David Garrard) didn’t really come to full fruition, but their play certainly warranted some green.

There have been some slipups of course.  Jerry Porter essentially robbed the Jags.  But the fleecing has been kept to a minimum.  Though Marcedes Lewis may just be pretending to be team oriented, we may never know.

Many teams focus on acquiring top-end talent during free agency.  Gene Smith and Co. have focused more on adding depth or re-signing starters.  We all know Dwight Lowery and Jeremy Mincey are worth the money they received.  As is Russell Allen and Aaron Ross (ok, maybe we don’t know about him nearly as much).

But the Jaguars won’t face many hurdles that teams like the 2011 Eagles faced.  They don’t need to force a bunch of newcomers (potentially all leaders at their position) to come together and gel.  They aren’t stealing leaders away from other teams and telling them that they have to listen to established team leaders already.  And to top it off, they know that the players they’re grabbing can play in their scheme rather than going after talent that could, potentially, transfer their game over.

The Jaguars aren’t forking up the cash too much this year, and that’s a good thing.

Small investments don’t always yield small rewards.  Sometimes the take-away is much greater than the simple investment in a backup linebacker.

Look for the Jaguars to continue building in the draft and being frugal in free agency.  This year, look for it to finally start to pay off.

– Luke N. Sims