The Jacksonville Jaguars are keeping an integral piece of their defense from leaving to start free agency. Just hours before the tampering period was set to start, they locked up cornerback Montaric Brown on a three-year deal worth $33 million. All things considered, this was a huge move.
Leaving aside that Brown was a homegrown talent, he developed into a legit CB1 under defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile. By giving him an extension, the team's brass no longer has to worry about finding his replacement. Moreover, the Jags now have plenty of flexibility to address other needs in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Re-signing Montaric Brown allows the Jaguars to address the D-Line
A seventh-round pick in 2022, Brown worked his way up the depth chart and became a full-time starter by 2024. However, he didn't truly hit his stride until Anthony Campanile became the defensive coordinator last year. Under Campanile, the former Arkansas Razorback registered a career-best two interceptions while allowing a completion rate of 54.4.
Brown gives the Jaguars a lockdown corner opposite two-way star Travis Hunter, who'll tentatively play defense full-time in 2026. With Jordan Lewis and Jarrian Jones in the mix, Jacksonville is set at cornerback next season.
Granted, the front office could add depth at the position late in the draft, but it no longer has to look for cornerback help in the early rounds. While the Jags don't have a first-round pick after trading up for Hunter last year, they have one in the second round (56th overall), and three in Round 3 (picks 81, 88, and 100).
Having locked Brown up, Jacksonville can turn its attention to the defensive line.
The Jaguars must focus on bolstering the D-Line after re-signing Montaric Brown
As important as re-signing Montaric Brown is, the Jaguars still have their work cut out for them. For starters, they'll need to keep freeing up cap space to keep making moves in free agency — they had $100,000 in space one day before the beginning of the tampering period. Then, the front office will need to continue to re-sign other pending free agents.
Once things take shape, though, the Jaguars will need to turn their attention to fortifying the pass rush and the defensive tackle position, arguably two of their biggest needs aside from corner.
Aside from Arik Armstead, the Jaguars don't truly have a game-changer at defensive tackle. While DaVon Hamilton excels against the run he isn't that much of a pass rusher. Perhaps Maason Smith could bounce back after an underwhelming 2025 campaign, but Jacksonville shouldn't hesitate to add reinforcements at the position.
Signing John Franklin-Myers or trading for Jalen Carter would make sense, but if the Jags don't want to allocate plenty of resources at defensive tackle, they could then wait until the draft to bring in reinforcements.
The pass rush, on the other hand, could also use a boost. The Jaguars have a pair of talented players on the edge in Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen but need a No. 3 behind him. Pursuing Trey Hendrickson seems like a long shot, but this is a good year to draft an edge rusher, and Jacksonville could easily come out of Rounds 2 or 3 with an intriguing talent.
The bottom line is that re-signing Montaric Brown just handed the Jaguars plenty of options to address the rest of the larger scale roster. How they do it remains to be seen, but most paths appear to be