4 free agents the Jaguars could sign before the 2022 NFL Draft

No. 2 free agent the Jaguars can still sign – J.C. Tretter, C.

After spending eight years in the gridiron, all of them with the Jaguars, center Brandon Linder decided to call it quits. But do you blame him? Injuries were taking a toll on him and he wanted to spend more time with his family. Keep in mind that he hadn’t hung up his cleats, Jacksonville would have released him and it’s easy to see why. The 2014 third-round pick had a cap hit of $10 million in 2022 and had missed 28 games over the last four years. The fact that he had no guaranteed money left on his contract would have made it easy for the Jags to move on from him.

Before Linder announced his retirement, the Jaguars gave interior offensive lineman Tyler Shatley a two-year deal. He’s made 18 starts over the last two seasons and should be the first in line to take over the center position. While there’s a noticeable dropoff from Linder to Shatley, the latter has proven to be durable, and in a game in which availability is the best ability, that’s a plus.

Having said that, Shatley is not the long-term answer at center in Jacksonville and the Jaguars’ brass should explore any potential alternatives. While they could take a draft in the second or third round of this year’s draft, they could also target J.C. Tretter, who was a mainstay of the Cleveland Brown’s offensive line the past five years. In that span, the Cornell graduate started 80 games. Last season, he posted a Pro Football Focus overall grade of 78.7 and gave up just one sack.

While it may make sense for the Jags to wait until the draft to acquire a center, Tretter could come in and be a Week 1 starter.