The Jacksonville Jaguars are sorting out their roster just before the preseason opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Aside from adding reinforcements at cornerback, they're placing an underwhelming offensive lineman on the reserve/retire list.
The Jags announced that they're placing Dennis Daley on the reserve list. They didn't make a corresponding move, though.
The news came in light of the release of rookie cornerback Aydan White and the addition of Levi Wallace.
A sixth-round pick in 2019, Dennis Daley spent three seasons with the Carolina Panthers. He was traded to the Tennessee Titans in 2022 and signed with the Arizona Cardinals in 2023. The South Carolina product was waived just before the start of the 2024 season and landed in the Jaguars practice squad not long after.
Related: Trevor Lawrence and other winners from the Jaguars mock game
How does the Dennis Daley retirement affect the Jaguars?
It's unknown, at least from an outside perspective, what led Dennis Daley to hang up the cleats. Either way, his retirement won't have a negative impact. At best, he was going to be practice squad fodder. After landing in Jacksonville last year, he wasn't promoted a single time, and that probably was going to be the case again in 2025.
Either way, the Jaguars have depth on the offensive line, so they should be fine without Daley. Throughout his career, he appeared in 54 games with 17 starts. That's not a small feat for a Day 3. On the other hand, he wasn't very good.
Daley's most extensive playing time came with Tennessee in 2022. That year, he replaced Tyler Lewan at left tackle in Week 2 and ended up making 15 starts. He didn't fare well, though, giving up a whopping 12 sacks and 52 total pressures.
Related: The Micah Parsons chaos makes Jaguars fans realize how good they have it
Dennis Daley had an uphill battle to stick around with the Jaguars
Had Dennis Daley not landed on the retired list, he would have had a steep hill to climb to stick around with the Jaguars. Walker Little, Patrick Mekari, Ezra Cleveland, Wyatt Milum, Robert Hainsay, and Anton Harrison are virtually locks to make the 53-man roster. That's six spots. Fred Johnson, Cole Van Lanen, and Chuma Edoga are strong candidates to earn three more.
Jonah Monehim or Luke Fortner could seize the 10th roster spot, and whoever doesn't get the nod could land in the practice squad. The same is true for offensive lineman Ricky Lee, who just signed with the Jags ahead of the preseason.
Dennis Danley was likely going to be a victim of the numbers game. He might've seen that the writing was on the wall and chose to retire instead. Regardless of the reason, the Jaguars have the depth across the offensive trenches to overcome his departure.