Davon House released by the Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars are clearing even more cap space with the release of former free agent signing Davon House.

With the unusual tampering period for free agency starting on Tuesday, the Jacksonville Jaguars are readying themselves to spend quite a bit of cash. Their most recent move to clear space was reported on Monday by Michael DiRocco of ESPN.

House was a relatively big free agency signing in the summer of 2015, inking a four-year, $24.5 million contract ($10 million guaranteed) to become the Jaguars number 1 cornerback. Overall, House was a solid player in his first season, setting a franchise record with 23 passes defensed.

Despite a promising start to his time in Jacksonville, House quickly fell out of favor with the coaching staff and he tumbled down the depth chart behind rookie star Jalen Ramsey, other free agent signing Prince Amukamara, and Aaron Colvin. His time in Jacksonville comes to an odd close, one in which he was (unfairly) singled out by the normally protective former head coach Gus Bradley.

It was reported before that the Jaguars were looking for suitors to possibly trade House, but clearly that market never materialized. His release means the Jaguars are probably gearing up to make a run at one of the top 3 free agent cornerbacks (A.J. Bouye, Stephon Gilmore, and Logan Ryan). This is also allegedly a deep draft for defensive backs, so the Jaguars may be adding more than one new player to the secondary.

The release of House represents the continuing fizzling out of what turned out to be a comically ineffective free agent class from 2015. The Jaguars made waves by signing Julius Thomas to a huge deal, in addition to overpaying Jared Odrick, Davon House, and Jermey Parnell. With Thomas, Odrick, and House now all departed, Parnell is the last vestige of hope (and he certainly hasn’t been a success). Hopefully the Jaguars have a bit more success this year with free agents.