Did the Jacksonville Jaguars overpay for LB Joe Schobert?

One national NFL analyst believes the Jacksonville Jaguars made a mistake signing linebacker Joe Schobert to a five-year deal worth $53.8M.

While the Jacksonville Jaguars fan base has been pretty upbeat with the news of their recent free-agent signings this past week, leave it to one NFL analyst to give his opinion on the deal that brought linebacker Joe Schobert to North Florida.

While linebacker is a team need, Bill Barnwell of ESPN believes that money could’ve been spent somewhere else. Given the Jaguars have used contracts in the past on other players where they were able to spend more money, it is Barnwell who thought there were other areas of need that were greater.

The deal for Schobert is reported to be five-years and $53.8M.

More from Jacksonville Jaguars News

Barnwell, who has been critical of the Jaguars in past for their moves on and off the field, gave the team a “C+” for the addition of Schobert who should help the middle of the defense. The move to bring in the Browns star means Myles Jack is being moved back outside to his natural position.

"“As is often the case with Jacksonville’s free-agent deals, this is really a two-year contract with options. In the past, because the Jags had virtually unlimited cap space, general manager Dave Caldwell was able to give those deals out with small or nonexistent signing bonuses, which meant they were able to easily get out of their signings when overpays for guys such as Dan Skuta and Jared Odrick didn’t work out,” Barnwell writes."

Just so you guys are in the loop, the last time Skuta or Odrick played in Jacksonville was 2016. It’s not the same situation today as it was four years ago.

Prior to the start of free agency, the Jaguars had holes all over their roster. The defense once again took major hits with the trades of both A.J. Bouye and Calais Campbell and the release of Marcell Dareus. Jacksonville’s front office also added defensive lineman Rodney Gunter from Arizona and cornerback Darqueze Dennard from Cincinnati.

There are still questions about how the team will handle the Yannick Ngakoue situation, who was given the franchise tag prior to the start of free agency and is scheduled to make over $17M this coming season.

"“With the cap a much more pressing issue for the team these days, Schobert instead takes home a $12 million signing bonus as part of this deal, which means the Jags would owe $7.2 million in dead money if they move on from him after the season,” Barnwell adds."

Based on the contract Schobert signed, the cap hit for the 2020 season is $5.4M, which is a bargain given what the team will pay Jack this coming season after signing a contract extension and underperforming in 2019. Jack’s cap hit is $15.4M.

As of now, the Jaguars have $23.4M of salary cap space they can use this offseason.

FanSided 250

Fansided250 Logo

Where does your fandom rank?

See 2019 Rankings

Home/Jacksonville Jaguars News