The Jacksonville Jaguars are so far doing a good job of re-signing their own players to start the tampering period. Sure, they lost running back Travis Etienne to the New Orleans Saints, but cornerback Montaric Brown and linebacker Dennis Gardeck are staying put after getting new deals.
Having said that, the Jags have yet to bring in any new players. To make matters worse, they just watched their dream defensive tackle join the dreaded rival Tennessee Titans.
The Jaguars saw the Titans steal John Franklin-Myers in free agency
Tom Pelisser of NFL Media broke the news that the Titans are signing John Franklin-Myers to a three-year deal worth $63 million with $42 million guaranteed. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN also reported the move.
John Franklin-Myers plans to sign with the Titans for three years and $63M with $42M guaranteed, per source. pic.twitter.com/Kpbki2youX
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) March 9, 2026
A fourth-round pick in the 2018 draft, Franklin-Myers spent time with the Los Angeles Rams, the New York Jets, and the Denver Broncos before signing with the Titans. He's appeared in 114 games with 82 starts and registered 34 sacks, 14 of which came during his two-year stint at Mile High.
The Titans were one of the teams with the most cap space this offseason, which is why it wasn't particularly shocking to see them make a bid for Franklin-Myers that other teams couldn't match. Then again, you could make the case that Tennessee overpaid for his services.
After all, Franklin-Myers was projected to get a contract that paid him an average of $15 million but ended up getting substantially more than that. Make no mistake, though, a player is worth whatever a team is willing to pay him, and there's no doubt that the former Denver Bronco was the best defensive tackle available this year.
Precisely for that reason, it was a bit disappointing to see the Jaguars not make an agressive push to sign him, especially when you take into account that he had ties to general manager James Gladstone, who was part of the Rams front office when they drafted him in 2018.
Now, the Jaguars will have to worry about containing Franklin-Myers, who'll form a fearsome defensive -tackle duo alongside Jeffery Simmons.
The one silver lining of the Jaguars not signing John Franklin-Myers
There's no doubt that the Jaguars would've turbocharged their interior trenches if they had signed John Franklin-Myers. Sure, they had Arik Armstead, but he faded down the stretch last year. Similarly, DaVon Hamilton excels against the run but isn't much of a pass rusher.
With Franklin-Myers in the mix, the Jaguars' defensive tackle would've gone from solid to great. Now, the team's brass will need to look for other ways to bolster the position. The issue is that there aren't many enticing options in the open market now that Franklin-Myers and Sheldon Rankins, who re-signed with the Houston Texans, are off the market.
The best course of action moving forward is to either make an effort to get a deal done for Jalen Carter — the Jags reportedly showed interest — or turn to the draft. The downside is that this year's crop isn't particularly great. Then again, the team's brass may have no better options.
The Jaguars would've loved to land John Franklin-Myers, but they simply didn't have the cap to make him a competitive offer. While they must now worry about containing him twice next season, the front office still has options to fortify the defensive tackle position.