Dan Skuta released by the Jacksonville Jaguars

Continuing the offseason trend of cutting dead weight, the Jacksonville Jaguars released another former free agent signing – linebacker Dan Skuta.

When Jacksonville Jaguars general manager David Caldwell is working on his highlight reel, he’s probably going to want to avoid looking at what he did during the 2015 offseason. At the time, it appeared Caldwell had upgraded the roster in a big way with some key signings. Tight end Julius Thomas, defensive lineman Jared Odrick, and offensive tackle Jermey Parnell all looked like immediate upgrades at starting positions, while cornerback Davon House, safety Sergio Brown, and linebacker Dan Skuta seemed like solid depth signings.

After two seasons, the only man left standing is Parnell following Dan Skuta’s release on Tuesday.

The Jaguars look ready to give former second round pick Myles Jack a more prominent role on the defense, so the odd man out in the linebacker rotation was Skuta. While he certainly wasn’t outrageously expensive, Skuta barely cracked the lineup without Jack’s presence, so it makes sense to cut bait with a guy who ultimately was a disappointment.

When Skuta was signed, many expected him to take over the third linebacker spot next to Paul Posluszny and Telvin Smith. While traditionally he would have just played strongside linebacker, people got more excited because Skuta could play the contrived (read: stupid) new “hybrid” position that Gus Bradley dubbed the OTTO.

We now know that Gus Bradley didn’t really know what he was doing, and that includes making up silly names for positions that didn’t really change much. Skuta in theory was supposed to pass rush more often than a traditional 4-3 linebacker, but Skuta more often than not was just “there.” He was solid in special teams, but he never really displayed any traits at linebacker that warranted more snaps and he was injured far too often to expect the team to invest more time and money into him.