Jacksonville Jaguars: Arguments for targeting Rick Smith as GM

The Jacksonville Jaguars must look at all the options.

It’s true that Rick Smith was the general manager for the Texans, but does it really matter that he previously worked for an AFC South rival? The Jaguars need to look at the best-qualified candidate to fill their general manager vacancy regardless of where he was employed before.

Most general managers are fired for their lack of tangible results, but Smith’s situation was different. He asked for a leave of absence after the 2017 season to spend time with his wife, who was diagnosed with cancer at that time and later passed away.

He definitely had some misses such as defensive tackle Amobi Okoye and safety D.J. Swearinger, but no general manager has a perfect track record. This doesn’t mean the Jaguars should go out of their way and hire him. There’s still plenty of time to gather information about all the prospects follow the appropriate hiring process.

This Jacksonville team hired Caldwell with five weeks left in the season. That move gave them a favorable head start in their general manager search, so there’s no point in rushing the process. If anything, they have to be as meticulous as they can as this is one of the most important decisions they will have to make in 2021 and one that will mark the franchise in upcoming years. For that reason, Smith should be at the top of their list.