The Jacksonville Jaguars won the AFC South title and made the playoffs last year. However, they face several challenges to defend the division crown. The biggest one is probably replenishing a roster that has clear needs.
While the Jags could use depth at several positions on offense, the Jags must prioritize making upgrades to the defense. If they don't, an NFL writer believes it could lead to a nightmare scenario.
The Jaguars would deal with a nightmare scenario if the defense takes a step
Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report put together a list of nightmare scenarios in 2026 for each NFL team. For the Jaguars, he believes it would be the defense taking a step back, noting that Jacksonville could have trouble replacing key mainstays who are scheduled to hit the open market.
"Defensive contributors like Devin Lloyd, Andrew Wingard, Montaric Brown, Christian Braswell, Dennis Gardeck, and Greg Newsome II are all scheduled to be free agents," Knox wrote. "Jacksonville is projected to be roughly $9.2 million over the salary cap."
"Getting receiver/corner Travis Hunter back and healthy should help the defense. However, general manager James Gladstone must find a way to clear cap space, retain a couple of key defenders, and add more impact players—without the benefit of a first-round pick. Otherwise, the Jags will be in real danger of a serious 2026 regression."
Out of the players Knox named, Devin Lloyd and Montaric Brown are the most invaluable ones, and it's hard to tell whether the Jags will be able to re-sign them because they're currently $13.9 million over the cap.
Both Lloyd and Brown are coming off breakout seasons, so bringing them back won't come cheap. Spotrac values the former at $20 million per year in free agency and the latter at $9 million per year.
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The Jaguars have issues beyond Devin Lloyd and Montaric Brown
Even if the Jaguars were able to give extensions to Montaric Brown and Devin Lloyd, there's still a chance that their defense could regress. Although they ranked eighth in points scored and 11th in yards allowed, their loss against the Buffalo Bills in the playoffs exposed their dearth of depth at corner and their inability to rattle quarterbacks. The team's brass will need to address both issues in the offseason. As noted before, though, Jacksonville is cap-strapped, so it won't be a walk in the park.
The Jaguars could free up space to re-sign either Devin Lloyd or Montaric Brown. They could use that extra space to target someone like John Franklin-Myers in free agency. However, general manager James Gladstone will most likely have to turn to the draft to replenish the defense.
Compounding the issue is that the Jags gave up their first-round pick in 2026 as part of the trade to move up for Travis Hunter last year. The highest pick is the 56th selection. The silver lining is that Jacksonville has three picks in round 3. That could be more than enough to add players who could develop into steady contributors down the road.
Nevertheless, there's a strong chance that the Jacksonville defense will take a step back simply because it's going to experience plenty of turnover. Heck, the Jags may have no choice but to give plenty of playing time to their rookies and several players from their 2025 draft class.
It will be up to defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile to work his magic once again and get the most out of players ready to step up, such as Ventrell Miller and whatever rookies he gets.