Media personality shares theory about Jaguars GM Trent Baalke

The Jacksonville Jaguars have kept general manager Trent Ballke throughout their head-coaching search even though his presence might be chasing away those that have applied for the job. At this point, it’s uncertain if Baalke will remain with the team but a media personality recently shared an interesting theory about the Jags’ decision to keep him around.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk recently appeared in The Rich Eisen Podcast and said he’s doesn’t know what’s happening in Jacksonville but he’s trying to piece together what the Jaguars are trying to do based on everything that’s been reported. He theorizes that owner Shad Khan is giving Baalke the chance to find someone who is better than Byron Leftwich — at one point a favorite to fill the opening — and if he can’t, he will be out, and both Leftwich and Adrian Wilson will be in.

"At one point, Mike Jurecki, who’s covered the Cardinals for years, reported that Adrian Wilson, who’s now an executive with the Cardinals and had played for them for a long period of time, was going to be the next GM and Byron Leftwich is going to be the next head coach. And the Jaguars have done nothing to really message or push back on any of this stuff. I get the impression that Shad Khan, the owner of the Jaguars, is giving Trent Valkyrie an opportunity to find someone who would be better than Byron Leftwich in Shad Khan’s eyes. And if he can’t, it’s going to be Baalke out, and it’s going to be Adrian Wilson and Byron Leftwich in."

Florio later adds that former Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman is in the mix as well but notes that he could be the team president, not the general manager. Here’s the clip, the theory about Baalke starts at the 1:30 mark.

The Jaguars may be indeed preparing to move on from Trent Baalke.

As Florio pointed out, Mike Jurecki of the Arizona Cardinals official website reported that Cardinals director of pro scouting Adrian Wilson would become the Jaguars’ next general manager and Leftwich the head coach. While Jacksonville didn’t confirm the report, they didn’t deny it either, so maybe Leftwich and Wilson are on standby and Shad Khan is giving indeed Baalke a legitimate chance to show he can put together a good coaching staff and not just a group of yes-men. Keep in mind that this is just a theory but it’s one that makes sense nonetheless.

Of course, having some clarity would go a long way toward giving the Jaguars the benefit of the doubt but it’s been more than a month since they started their head coaching search and it doesn’t look like the process is close to an end. Just a couple days ago, Jacksonville interviewed former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Rich Bisaccia and met with former Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson for the second time one month after they first talked to him.

While Byron Leftwich seemed like the favorite to land the job, especially after Jurecki’s report, it’s unclear who’ll get it and your guess is as good as anyone’s. On the bright side, the Jaguars can’t keep putting off the process for long and will need to hire a coach at some point