Jacksonville Jaguars: Grading offensive free agency additions

Marvin Jones rounds out the Jacksonville Jaguars’ wide receiver corps.

This wasn’t a good year to sign a wide receiver if you were an NFL team. Allen Robinson and Chris Godwin got slapped with the franchise tag by the Chicago Bears and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, respectively. Kenny Golladay, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Curtis Samuel were the top options available and none of them sparked the Jaguars’ interest. Instead, Jacksonville opted to sign Gollaway’s teammate, Marvin Jones Jr.

A fifth-round selection in 2012, Jones spent the first four years of his NFL career with the Cincinnati Bengals before signing a five-year deal with the Detroit Lions. During his stint in Motor City, the California standout appeared in 69 games with 67 starts and hauled in 289 receptions for 4,296 yards and 36 touchdowns. Moreover, he averaged a superb 14.9 yard per reception.

Jones joins a talented wide receiver corps that includes Laviska Shenault Jr. and DJ Chark Jr., so he won’t be tasked with becoming the Jaguars’ number-one wideout. Instead, he will round out a unit that should be able to perform at a high level with better quarterback play.

When you take into account that the Jones’ deal with the Jags averages $7.25 million per year and Smith-Schuster got a one-year $8 million deal, this signing looks like one of the best in free agency. General manager Trent Baalke recently talked about finding the best possible value in the open market, and that’s precisely what the team got when they signed Jones.

Grade: A