The Jacksonville Jaguars took a much-needed break after the offseason program. They'll soon resume their preparation for the regular season when they show up for training camp. Aside from the position battles, there will be several intriguing storylines to keep an eye on.
On the other hand, there are a handful of subplots that should be put to rest. These three in particular come to mind.
The Jaguars had an unremarkable offseason
Underwhelming, uninspiring. However you want to call it, the Jaguars got poor reviews for their activity, or lack thereof, in the offseason. Mainly, they got flak because they lost key contributors such as Travis Etienne and linebacker Devin Lloyd and didn't make a splash to replace either one.
Then, the draft came, and general manager James Gladstone caught a lot of heat for steering clear of the consensus big board and instead targeting the players with traits Jacksonville values.
But contrary to what critics may say, Gladstone had a deliberate plan to replenish the roster. Sure, you will be hard-pressed to find someone who'll get hyped about a TE2 being the first pick in the draft, but the Jaguars didn't randomly pull a name from a hat when they drafted Nate Borkircher. The same is true for the rest of their picks.
Following the draft, the roster has no shortage of depth at virtually every position. And circling back to Etienne and Lloyd, Jacksonville let them walk because, as good as they were, Bhayshul Tuten and Devin Lloyd are ready to replace them.
Simply put, don't expect the Jaguars to regress next season even though they didn't make many jaw-dropping additions since the end of 2025.
Will the Jaguars trade Brian Thomas Jr.?
Brian Thomas Jr. had an electrifying rookie season. He then fell off the cliff, registering a measly 48 receptions for 707 yards with two touchdowns. Add his alarming number of drops in 2025 to the equation, and it's easy to see why the former LSU Tiger was suddenly the subject of trade chatter.
Then again, for the same reasons other teams would have loved to land BTJ, the Jags made it clear that they weren't moving him, with James Gladstone going as far as saying that any claims to the contrary were outright fraudulent.
Jacksonville wasn't bluffing, and Thomas is still around. He, in turn, repaid the team's brass by looking like a whole different player in training camp.
You could make the case that the Jags could still trade Thomas because they also have Jakobi Meyers and Parker Washington in the fold, but neither possesses the 2024 first-round pick's deep-threat capabilities.
You may still see analysts every now and then suggesting that Thomas could be available, but based on the praise he's been given, don't expect him to change teams before the regular season starts, or anytime soon for that matter.
Running back is question mark without Travis Etienne
Circling back to Travis Etienne, analysts gave the Jaguars poor reviews for letting him sign a four-year deal worth $54 million with the New Orleans Saints in free agency. On paper, the criticism makes sense. The former Clemson Tiger posted the third 1,000-yard season of his career and scored a career-best 13 touchdowns. However, a closer look shows that he wasn't nearly as productive as his stats suggest.
Etienne's big play rate of 9.6 percent was below the league's average, and he had trouble gaining the tough yards in short-yardage situations. So instead of paying him a premium to return to Duval, Jacksonville chose to sign Chris Rodriguez to an affordable two-year deal worth $10 million.
Rodriguez is the opposite of Etienne. His traditional stats don't pop off the stat sheet, but the advanced metrics reveal he was an efficient runner.
Couple that with the fact that the Jaguars have a breakout candidate in Bhayshul Tuten, and it's easy to see why they didn't make an aggressive effort to re-sign Travis Etienne.
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