Jacksonville Jaguars: FA landscape taking shape after franchise-tag deadline

The Jacksonville Jaguars announced that they applied the franchise tag on left tackle Cam Robinson. Although they could still reach a multi-year agreement, the tag will prevent Robinson from hitting the open market for at least one more year.

Now that the Jaguars have taken care of the left tackle position, they can turn their attention to other areas on the roster that require upgrades. However, they weren’t the only team that kept a key contributor from hitting the open market and the list of players that will be available in free agency has gotten considerably shorter.

This is not a one-year anomaly though. Every offseason, organizations tend to tag players they want to keep but couldn’t reach a long-term agreement with. Here’s the list of players besides Robinson that got slapped with the franchise tag:

• Safety Marcus Wiliams, New Orleans Saints
• Safety Justin Simmons, Denver Broncos
• Safety Marcus Maye, New York Jets
• Right tackle Taylor Moton, Carolina Panthers
• Defensive lineman Leonard Williams, New York Giants
• Wide receiver Chris Godwin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Wide receiver Allen Robinson, Chicago Bears
• Offensive guard Brandon Scherff, Washington Football Team

The Jacksonville Jaguars can now narrow down their free-agent list.

The Jaguars won’t have to worry about addressing the left tackle position in free agency after using the franchise tag on Robinson but if they want to sign a wide receiver this offseason, they will have to settle for JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kenny Golladay, or Curtis Samuel. Also, the list of top-tier safeties in the open market will be limited to Anthony Harris and John Johnson.

On the other hand, no cornerback or tight end received got tagged, so players such as William Jackson III, Jonnu Smith, and Hunter Henry will likely hit the open market. Keep in mind that teams can still sign their players before the start of free agency, so the list of players available will keep shrinking.

After using the franchise tag on Godwin, the Bucs signed Lavonte David to a two-year $25 million contract extension, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, and he won’t be the only player that won’t make it to the open market.

Even though the list of players available in the open market will be shorter, there will still be plenty of difference-makers this Jacksonville team can sign this offseason.