Jaguars hire James Gladstone to lead front office after extensive search

It probably took longer than it should have, but the Jacksonville Jaguars search for a new general manager is over. After putting together an intriguing list of candidates, the organization has settled on James Gladstone to lead their front office.

The Jaguars announced that they've hired Gladstone as their new GM just hours after interviewing with him.

Here's owner Shad Khan's reason for the decision to hire Gladstone.

"James emerged as my choice, and our choice, following a painstaking but energizing interview process that left nothing to doubt. Every candidate delivered, and I am grateful to them all for their preparation and time spent with us this week in Jacksonville. In the end, we found James to be a class ahead and exceptional in every regard – vision, new ideas, communication, chemistry and a keen understanding of the league and our team, to name a few of many virtues he will bring immediately to the Jaguars. It's going to be fun watching James work with our football leadership team of Liam Coen, Tony Boselli and Tony Khan, but most of all it will be rewarding. I am confident of that."

Gladstone was the Los Angeles Rams director of scouting and was the last to interview for the job. The Jags got a general manager just in time for the NFL Scouting Combine.

The other finalists for the job were interim Ethan Waugh, Green Bay Packers director of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan, San Francisco 49ers director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams, and Chicago Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham.

Other candidates for the job who didn't get to the finalist round were former Las Vegas Raiders assistant general manager Champ Kelly. and former Tennessee Titans general manager Jon Robinson.

Early in the process, Waugh and Cunningham appeared to have a leg up, but it looks like the Jags were intrigued by Gladstone's work with the Los Angeles front office.

Even though Gladstone doesn't have experience at the position, he's put together an intriguing resume. Plenty of players in the Rams organization have routinely vouched for him, whether it's former All-Pro left tackle Andrew Whitworth or head coach Sean McVay.

What's next for the Jaguars and Jamers Gladstone?

James Gladstone will have his work cut out and will probably have to wait to celebrate that he got the job. First, he'll need to travel to the NFL scouting combine in a couple days. Then, he'll need to make several roster decisions.

The Jaguars aren't in a cap crunch. They're set to have around $38 million in space after an unexpected bump from the NFL. Having said that, Gladstone will need to choose which players will return next season.

Wide receiver Christian Kirk, tight end Evan Engram, and running back Travis Etienne will be either on the chopping block or will be trade candidates. The new general manager has to decide what to do with them and later turn his attention to safety Andre Cisco, and right guard Brandon Scherff, the team's most prominent players scheduled to hit the open market.

Then, Gladstone will need to fortify the roster in free agency and the draft. Working in his favor is that he won't be lacking the resources. The interior offensive line needs to be a priority regardless of what the team's brass decide to do with Scherff. The secondary could also use some help.

Jacksonville has a lockdown corner in Tyson Campbell and an ascending nickel in Jarrian Jones, but they need to find another starter on the opposite side of the field to round out their starting trio. There's also the pass-rush rotation, and depth at wide receiver.

This is to say that it's great to see the Jaguars hire James Gladstone as their next general manager, but this is just the beginning. He'll now need to work with head coach Liam Coen to put together the est

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