After going 5-11, the Jacksonville Jaguars dismantled the roster in hopes of rebuiling. On paper, this didn't seem like a bad idea because quarterback Gardner Minshew displayed potential as a rookie. Moreover, pass rusherJosh Hines-Allen made the Pro Bowl in his rookie. On top of that, the Jags had an extra draft pick after trading cornerback Jalen Ramsey the year prior. Unfortunately, the strategy turned out to be ill-advised.
With their two picks in Round 1, Jacksonville chose cornerback CJ Henderson and K'Lavon Chaisson. Both flashed in their respective rookie campaigns, but neither became a franchise building block. In fact, Henderson ended up suiting up for 10 games before he was traded, while Chaisson was gone after four unremarkable seasons.
The difference is that Henderson has struggled to get his NFL career going, while Chaisson has gone on to enjoy a career rennaisance. And after a breakout season, Swiper is ready to cash in.
Former Jaguars pass rush will parlay a breakout season with the Patriots into a payday
It took K'Lavon Chaisson a while to hit his stride, bu he at last lived up to his draft billing with the New England Patriots in 2025, registering 7.5 sacks in the regular season and three more in the playoffs. He should have no trouble parlaying his breakout campaign into a massive payday.
Heading into free agency, Mike Reiss of ESPN reported that Chaisson could get an annual average of $8 million to $10 million after inking a modest one-year deal worth $3 milliion last year.
The Patriots won't reportedly go into a spending spree in free agency and will instead build for the future after making the Super Bowl last year. Thus, re-signing Chaisson and other players slated to hit the open market makes sense.
The Jaguars knew something when they drafted K'Lavon Chaisson
While Chaisson's production at LSU didn't pop off the stat sheet, the Jaguars took a flyer on him with the 20th overall pick in 2020 because of his athletic prowess. However, it was abundantly clear from the get-go that the former Tiger was going to need time to adjust to the NFL. Back in college, he mostly rushed the passer from a standup position but he played with his hand on the ground as a rookie. That most definitely hindered his development.
Then again, Chaisson didn't show much improvement once he switched back to strong linebacker. In fact, he progressively saw his playing time decreased, and the only reason he was the No. 3 pass rusher behind Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen in his last year with the Jags was that there was nobody else.
To nobody's surprise, Jacksonville let walk in 2024. He quickly signed with the Carolina Panthers but didn't even manage to make their 53-man roster that year. The Houston, Texans native then signed with the Las Vegas Raiders and began to showcase his pass-rush skills. After an encouraging end the season, he inked the Patriots.
And after one year in Foxboro, Chaisson has at last showed that he was the player the Jaguars envisoned. That it took him several years to hit his stride is whole different issue. However, former general manager Dave Caldwell — the man that drafted him — should most definitely feel vindicated.