Jacksonville Jaguars 2014 Free Agency – Guys to Target
By Daniel Lago
Feb 2, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Denver Broncos cornerback Tony Carter (32) is called for pass interference on Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate (81) during the first half in Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
The Jacksonville Jaguars are only in the second year of an exhaustive rebuild under general manager David Caldwell and head coach Gus Bradley. While Caldwell has preached building the foundation of the team through the draft, he showed last offseason that he is willing to take chances on cheap, young free agents. He hit a home run in 2013 with Sen’Derrick Marks, and this year he has an embarrassing amount of cap room to pursue more prominent free agents.
The Jaguars are probably another year away from seriously competing, and thus should continue to focus on young players who need to prove their worth. Here are some of the guys on offense who should be available for cheap on “prove it” contracts.
- Andre Roberts – WR (Age 26)
- Golden Tate – WR (Age 26)
- Jon Asamoah – G (Age 26)
- Vladimir Ducasse – G (Age 26)
- Rich Ohrnberger – C (Age 28)
- Roger Saffold – T/G (Age 26)
These players should be available for very reasonable contracts that won’t hold up the salary cap if the Jaguars do want to spend big. Sidney Rice is another possibility because he’s coming off an injury, but I think he’ll still get a fairly sizable offer from a team. In addition to a few cheaper players, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Jaguars went ahead and signed one of the top guys. Alex Mack probably isn’t going to be franchise tagged in Cleveland, and the Jaguars could certainly go ahead and just nip that need in the bud. He’s going to command a hefty contract however, and the Jaguars may want to focus that money and effort into a pass rusher.
-Daniel Lago
Yell at me on Twitter @dlago89