The Jacksonville Jaguars have begun to implement their offseason strategy. After several weeks of inactivity, they're starting to make changes to the roster. Just recently, the team's brass released veteran wide receiver Christian Kirk. Not long after, center Mitch Morse announced that he's stepping away from football. More dominoes should fall in the upcoming days.
While Morse's retirement will free up just a bit over $735,000 in space, releasing Kirk will give the Jaguars a much-needed $10.1 million. Add that to the $38 million they already had, and Jacksonville should be able to make a couple of big signings in free agency.
But regardless of the extra space the Jaguars got, they could continue to make moves to further increase their cap. With this in mind, here are five players who could follow Kirk.
Evan Engram, tight end
The Christian Kirk news didn't come as a surprise. After all, Matthew Berry of NBC Sports expected the Jags to pull the trigger. But apart from the veteran receiver, he also believes Evan Engram and Travis Etienne could get the boot.
Engram still has one year left on the contract he signed in 2023 but releasing him would create a tad over $6 million. There's no doubt that he could still help Jacksonville, but Brenton Strange proved to be a capable replacement during his absence last year, registering 40 receptions for 411 yards with three touchdowns.
If the Jags think Strange is ready for a bigger role, keeping Engram may not make much sense.
Travis Etienne, running back
You have probably seen a theme. The Jaguars will probably be undergoing a soft reboot this offseason. Like Evan Engram and Christian Kirk, Travis Etienne has been an integral piece on offense but he's dealt with injuries and Jacksonville has a potential in-house replacement in Tank Bigbsy.
Even though both of them had trouble running behind a porous offensive line, Bigsby outplayed Etienne last year. Add the fact that releasing him would free up $6 million with no dead money and the prospect of parting ways with the former Clemson Tiger may be too good to pass up.
Sure, it would be great to have a backfield tandem, but the Jags have the resources to find a cheaper and younger replacement for Etienne in the draft.
Josh Reynolds, wide receiver
It feels like a footnote in the 2024 season but it's easy to forget that the Jags picked Josh Reynolds off waivers. Unfortunately, he didn't do much of note, hauling in one receptions for 11 yards on five targets in four games with one start. At this point, nobody would bat an eye if Jacksonville moved on from him this offseason.
Releasing Reynolds would create $4.2 million in space. The one thing that could save him is that new general manager James Gladstone knows him from his Los Angeles Rams days, but he's without a doubt on shakey grounds.
Roland Darby, cornerback
The Jaguars signed Ronald Darby to replace Darious Williams opposite Tyson Campbell but didn't get much bang for their buck.
Darby's biggest red flag when he landed in Jacksonville was his inability to stay healthy. Surprisingly, he managed to stay relatively healthy in 2024. However, the former Florida State Seminole struggled so badly that he was phased out in favor of Montaric Brown as the season progressed and was a healthy scratch the last four games.
Releasing Darby makes too much sense when you take into account that he would free up $2.3 million in space with $2.7 million in dead money.
Devin Duvernay, return specialist
The Jaguars needed to give their return game a spark, and they thought they got it when they signed Devin Duvernay to a two-year deal last offseason. At the time, the move made sense because he made the Pro Bowl twice as a member of the Baltimore Ravens.
However, Duvernay was unremarkable with the Jags. To make matters worse, he was a non-factor in the passing game, an area where he was expected to contribute. Releasing him would create $2.7 million in space with $1.2 million in dead money. Sure, the team will need to look for another returner, but Parker Washington gives them an intriguing option if they think he can moonlight on special teams.