Jaguars better off not pursuing WR Davante Adams in free agency

It seems like the consensus agrees that the Jacksonville Jaguars must get quarterback Lawrence more weapons this offseason. However, if they want to acquire a wide receiver in free agency, they should refrain from pursuing Davante Adams because signing him would limit their ability to sign other players and address other needs.

Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network reports the Denver Broncos, the Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers, and the Jaguars are expected to make a run at Adams if he becomes a free agent. All of those teams have more than enough cap space to make a run for the First-Team All-Pro wide receiver, but should they do it?

Pauline says the Green Bay Packers are clearing as much cap space as possible to apply the franchise tag on Adams but he’s already made it be known that he’s looking for a contract that pays him around $30 million per year. That’s simply too much money allocated to just one player and just because the Jags have enough cap space to meet his salary demands doesn’t mean they should.

The Jags are more than a wide receiver away from qualifying to the playoffs and they would be better off signing someone else in free agency and addressing other needs. Allen Robinson, Mike Williams, and Amari Cooper if released will be available and while they might not be as talented as Adams, they are no slouches either and could still give the Jaguars’ offense a boost.

The Jaguars should sit the Davante Adams sweepstakes out.

There’s no doubt Adams deserves to be the highest-paid receiver in the league and nobody should blame him for trying to maximize his value while he can but how much better would the Jaguars be with him? He alone isn’t going to propel them into the playoffs. The Arizona Cardinals gave DeAndre Hopkins a two-year contract extension worth $54.5 million in 2020 and they have little to show for it.

The year the Cards gave Hopkins the extension they finished 8-8 and they made the playoffs last season but they were knocked out in the first round. Sure, the wide receiver wasn’t available for their postseason game against the Los Angeles Rams but how much of a difference would he have made?

The Jaguars would have to ask themselves a similar question, how much of an impact would Adams have for them, and should they pay a premium to upgrade their wide receiver corps? They could structure his contract in a way in which his cap hit isn’t as high the first couple of years but the bill would eventually come due. That would make sense if their window for contention was wide open but that’s not the case right now.

Adams is one of the top receivers in the NFL right now and he would definitely make the Jaguars better but at his asking price, they should sit this one out.