4 massive unknowns heading into the Jacksonville Jaguars 2023 offseason

The Jacksonville Jaguars turned heads in the 2022 season. Not only did they make the playoffs but they managed to beat several good teams along the way. While they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round of the Playoffs, there’s no doubt last year was a resounding success.

Moving forward, the Jags can’t afford to take a step back and will need to clear several hurdles if they want to return to the playoffs in 2023. In particular, they need to address these four unknowns.

4. How will the Jacksonville Jaguars get under the salary cap in 2023?

The Jaguars are currently $22.3 million above the salary cap limit, per Over the Cap. That’s without accounting for wide receiver Calvin Ridley, who’s currently serving a suspension but has a strong chance of being reinstated in the upcoming weeks.

The question isn’t whether the Jags will get under the cap (they will) but how they’ll do it. One of the easiest moves is releasing Shaquill Griffin, which would free $13.14 million in cap space with $4 million in dead money. However, that won’t be enough and the front office will have to make tough choices.

Moving on from safety Rayshawn Jenkins, defensive end Roy Roberston-Harris and return specialist Jamal Angew would create a total of $19 million in cap space but all of them were key contributors for the Jags last season, so the team’s brass might be better off restructuring their deals and pushing some of their salary to next year.

Another potential cap casualty is Tyler Shatley, one of the longest-tenured players on the roster and the top backup on the interior offensive line. Releasing him would free up nearly $3 million with $500,00 in dead money. The downside of parting ways with Shatley is that Jacksonville will need to look for a potential replacement in the draft.

The Jaguars would surely love to bring back all their players that made last season’s success possible but given salary cap rules, that’s not feasible.