The Jacksonville Jaguars went 13-4 and won the AFC South last year. But instead of loading up on talent, they chose to take a deliberate approach to free agency. Couple that with the fact that the Jags lost playmakers such as running back Travis Etienne and Devin Lloyd, and his offseason strategy has come into question.
Lloyd's departure, in particular, left a massive void on defense, and an NFL analyst is asking if Jacksonville will be fine without him next season.
Will the Jaguars be fine without Devin Lloyd?
Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report drew up a list of the biggest questions each NFL team is facing ahead of the draft. He wonders whether the Jaguars defense can remain effective even after losing linebacker Devin Lloyd in free agency.
"The Jags generated an AFC-best 31 takeaways last season, but Devin Lloyd is gone after intercepting five passes and recovering a fumble," Gagnon wrote. "It was a quiet March overall for a team that made major strides on both sides of the ball in 2025, but it's fair to wonder if they need one more weapon in the front seven in order to keep that rolling in 2026. Like the Colts, though, they aren't slated to be on the clock until deep in Round 2."
The truth is that it was always going to be hard to re-sign Lloyd. Following his banner season, he was going to garner plenty of interest. He ended up inking a deal with the Carolina Panthers that pays him an average of $15 million per year. Jacksonville simply didn't have the cap to match his asking price.
Not long after Lloyd landed in Carolina, he stated that the Jags made him an offer, but didn't go into details. It's fair to assume that it wasn't enough to keep him from leaving. Now, the Jaguars will need to fill the void left by his departure. Targeting Jacob Rodriguez or someone like Pitts' Kyle Louis early in the draft makes sense. The issue is that Jacksonville has more pressing needs.
In particular, the team's brass needs to bolster the interior defensive line and the pass rush. That may make it challenging to find an heir apparent to Lloyd. On the other hand, Ventrell Miller is still around, and he'll get a crack at the starting job next to Foyesade Oluokun. In fact, general manager James Gladstone has expressed confidence in the state of the linebacker corps, so it wouldn't be shocking to see him focus on other positions early in the draft.
Replacing Devin Lloyd may not be the biggest question for the Jaguars
The Jaguars have yet to make any additions on defense, but that has been by design. They're carrying more than $50 million in dead money, so instead of adding to their debt, the team's brass chose to take a deliberate approach to free agency, waiting until the draft to bring in reinforcements.
And that's the thing, as much of a game-changer as Devin Lloyd was in 2025, replacing him may not be a top priority for the Jaguars because even without him, the defense might be able to stay afloat. This doesn't mean that they won't miss him but rather that they can still be dominant on defense if they fix the pass rush and the interior defensive line.
If Jacksonville can bring the heat from the interior, while Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen wreak havoc on the edges, the rest of the back seven will benefit. This, in turn, will lessen the hit of Lloyd's departure.
Moreover, Ventrell Miller has shown potential in the past. Heck, he even outplayed Lloyd in 2024. Who's to say he won't also enjoy a breakout season under Anthony Campanile?
The truth is that Devin Lloyd is a playmaker, but the defense should be able to stay afloat if the Jaguars take care of the defensive trenches in the draft.