Ranking Jacksonville Jaguars top 5 free-agent targets in 2022
Once Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson finishes putting together his staff, the team’s brass will be able to turn its attention to evaluating their roster and this year’s free-agent class.
The Jags will have around $60 million in cap space at their disposal this offseason. That’s more than enough to bring back some of their own free agents and ink a couple of big-name players in the open market. Sure, teams must build through the draft but free agency is a way to quickly fill roster needs and Jacksonville has several of them, so it would be a good idea to dip their toes in this year’s free-agency period.
Without further ado, here’s a ranking of the top five free agents the Jaguars should target.
No. 5 free agent the Jaguars must target in 2022 – Brandon Scherff, OG.
Jaguars starting offensive linemen A.J. Cann and Andrew Norwell are set to hit the open market. While it makes sense to re-sign the former, the Jaguars may want to let the latter walk away and sign Brandon Scherff to take his place in the lineup.
Scherff has been one of the best guards in the league since being drafted fifth overall by the Washington Commanders in 2015. Since then, he’s earned five Pro Bowl selections and one All-Pro designation.
The Iowa product is so valuable to the Commanders that he’s been slapped with the franchise tag twice but it’s unlikely that he will get a third. If he becomes a free agent, he will be one of the most coveted players in the open market. Pro Football Focus expects the guard to get a three-year, $50 million deal with $30 million guaranteed this offseason.
The Jaguars have cap space to secure Scherff’s services but will have to take two things into consideration before handing him a deal. First, the veteran guard hasn’t played a full season since 2016 and has missed 25 games over the last five years. Second, the front office must feel comfortable allocating so much money to the guard position. If they do, they should then make a run for him.