5 moves that sent Jaguars into a tailspin after the 2017 season

2. The Jaguars had a leader in Calais Campbell and they traded him.

Defensive end Calais Campbell is a leader that had so many positive impacts on the franchise. He was one of the best signings of the Dave Caldwell era, one of the most respected players, and a fan favorite during his stint in Duval.

Campbell is someone that everyone gravitates to regardless of where he plays and Jacksonville wasn’t the exception. He’s the kind of player good teams don’t let him go and someone that opposing teams had to account for on every single play. Back with the Jaguars, his impact allowed his teammates to succeed in different ways.

The trade that sent Campbell to the Baltimore Ravens should have never happened but bad teams are always going to make bad decisions. He was a key cog during the Jaguars’ 2017 playoff run and provided stability for the organization on and off the field. Nevertheless, the Jaguars didn’t seem to value the kind of impact he had for them, as they traded him to the Ravens in 2019 instead of giving him a contract extension in the last year of the four-year, $60 million dollar deal he signed in 2016.

The Jaguars didn’t think Campbel was worth the investment and exchanged him for a 2020 fifth-round pick, which was a bargain for the Ravens when you think of how dominant the veteran defensive end is. Would you have kept Calais around for everything he brings to an organization?