4 Jacksonville Jaguars players who won’t be missed in 2023

No. 2 player the Jacksonville Jaguars won’t miss in 2023: Shaquill Griffin

Cornerback Shaquill Griffin was one of the Jaguars’ biggest signings in 2021. But two years later, there’s a strong chance he will become a cap casualty. While the former UCF Knight was solid in his first season in Jacksonville, he suffered a back injury last year that hindered his performance and eventually forced the team to shut him down.

Griffin has one year left on his contract and has previously stated that he would like to return in 2023. However, the Jaguars are in need of cap relief, and moving on from him would create $13 million of cap space with $4 million in dead money. Restructuring his current deal is an option but it’s hard to see him coming back when you take into account that he struggled and wasn’t 100 percent whenever he took the field last season.

Moreover, the Jaguars gave Darious Williams a three-year deal worth $30 million last offseason and he played well once he replaced Griffin lined up in the perimeter. So even if Griffin were fully healthy, there may not be room for him in the starting lineup and it wouldn’t make sense to bring him back as a backup. The fact that he doesn’t have much experience lining up the slot doesn’t help matters.

Furthermore, the 2023 cornerback class is one of the deepest ones in recent years and the Jaguars are in a prime position to take a good one with the 24th overall pick in the draft. While Griffin was an important contributor in 2021, last season didn’t go the way the Jags envisioned, which is why parting ways with him seems like a realistic outcome.