There were many reasons the Jacksonville Jaguars went 4-13. One of them was their inadequate coaching. Another one was their dearth of depth and talent across the roster. The Jags took care of both in the offseason.
Jacksonville cleaned house and hired Liam Coen and James Gladstone as their head coach and general manager, respectively. Then, the duo proceeded to revamp the roster, cutting ties with underachieving veterans and bringing in intangible-rich players. One of those ended up being an unnecessary luxury.
The Jaguars beefed up the offensive line
The Jaguars made several signings in free agency without breaking the bank. They locked up a handful of veterans to start, but also added much-needed depth at key positions. The offensive line was among the biggest beneficiaries, with the team's brass adding Robert Hainsey, Patrick Mekari, Chuma Edoga, and Fred Johnson.
Hainsay has turned out to be a stud at center, while Chuma Edoga quickly became one of Jacskonville's biggest bargains. On the other hand, Mekari and Johnson left a bit to be desired.
Mekari spent most of training camp nursing a back injury. Then again, nobody will remember that if he solidifies the right guard position. On the other hand, Johnson was unremarkable and ultimately became expendable.
Fred Johnson hasn't done much since joining the Jaguars
Fred Johnson got the spotlight when he filled in for left tackle Jordan Mailata in the Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl run in 2024. Sure, there was a bit of a dropoff, but Johnson still managed to hold his own. Still, it wasn't enough for him to become a hot commodity in the open market. And after sitting out the first wave of free agency, the former Florida Gator signed a one-year contract worth $1.3 million with the Jags.
At the time, it seemed like Jacksonville signed Johnson to push starting left tackle Walker Little, but that wasn't the case. Instead, he spent the offseason program mostly getting reps with the second team.
By the time training camp rolled around, Johnson hadn't done enough to make an impression. Even worse, fellow free-agent acquisition Chuma Edoga was more productive, filling in for Patrick Mekari at guard and taking turns with Anton Harrison at right tackle.
That said, the seventh-year tackle did get lots of playing time in the preseason. In the first two games, he gave up just two total pressures with no sacks in 78 offensive snaps. All things considered, that was a pretty solid statline and good enough to get a deal done to send him back to Philly in exchange for a seventh-round selection.
Given that the Jaguars got a draft pick in return for Johnson, you could argue that signing him was worth it. However, his addition felt unnecessary when you take into account that he took reps away from other players in training camp. On top of that, Edoga proved to be more valuable.
Sure, hindsight is 20/20, and you can never have too many offensive tackles, but Johnson would have had trouble seeing the field next season even if he had stayed. After all, Anton Harrison will switch to the left side if Walker Little gets hurt. And if Harrison has to miss time, either Edoga or Van Lanen will replace him.
This is a long way to say that Johnson is the third in line to play right tackle. And when you add it all up, signing him was low-key moot.