Leonard Fournette: Will the Jaguars trade their star running back?

The Jacksonville Jaguars may look to trade running back Leonard Fournette prior to the NFL Draft.

It looks as though Jacksonville Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette may be on the move. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, the team has had trade discussions with teams prior to the NFL Draft about potentially moving the fourth overall pick in 2017.

The move would also make sense if the Jaguars’ front office did not want to either pick up Fournette’s fifth-year option or work out a long-term deal. Fournette, who ran for 1,152 yards last season and caught 76 passes in 2019, is in the final year of his rookie contract that will pay him a base salary of $4.167M this season with a salary bonus of more than $4.4M.

The Jaguars have spent this offseason purging the roster of veteran players who were part of the 2017 AFC South Title team. Jalen Ramsey was sent to the Los Angeles Rams last year for two first-round draft picks. Calais Campbell and A.J. Bouye were traded this offseason. Marcell Dareus was released for cap reasons.

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The team also traded Nick Foles to the Chicago Bears for a fourth-round draft pick next week. The team is 14th in the league according to Spotrac with more than $14M available in cap space. That figure includes the $17.788M for Yannick Ngakoue, who was tendered the franchise tag but has yet to sign it. Ngakoue, who made just over $2M last season, is seeking a trade out of Jacksonville.

Now, the focus is on how a deal for Fournette could happen and what team would offer draft compensation for him – which is what the team wants to continue to accrue.

Fournette was the team’s most consistent threat on offense in 2019, gaining 1,674 yards from scrimmage in 15 games last season. He played in 15 games, the most of his career and showed he could be a dual-threat type of running back. The Jaguars offense leaned on him heavily with rookie Gardner Minshew under center in place of Foles.

The relationship between Leonard Fournette and the Jaguars has been rocky at times as they have not always seen eye-to-eye. Fournette played in only 13 games as a rookie but ran for 1,040 yards and 10 touchdowns in helping the team get to the AFC title game. He then missed eight games in his season due to injuries and a suspension for getting into a fight in a loss to the Buffalo Bills.

A disgruntled Fournette had the incentives of his guaranteed contract taken away after the 2018 season by the front office. He responded last season by coming to camp in the best shape of his career and remained healthy, missing the final game of the year because of illness. He also became a more vocal leader on the field and sideline and in the locker room.