The Jacksonville Jaguars must find a starting cornerback opposite Tyson Campbell this offseason. In fact, you could make that should be their top priority. The good news is that this is a great year to find a corner in free agency, and an NFL insider reveals they've already set their sights on one.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reveals that the Jags will gauge the market for Detroit Lions cornerback Carlton Davis, who'll be entering free agency for the third time in his career.
"The Vikings are hoping to re-sign corner Byron Murphy Jr., one of several third-contract corners in line for strong deals. And the Jaguars will gauge the market of veteran corner Carlton Davis III, another third-contract guy."
A second-round pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2018, Carlton signed with the Lions last offseason. He went on to register two interceptions, two forced fumbles, and 11 passes defensed. On top of that, the former Auburn Tiger gave up a completion rate of 55.3 percent.
Given that Carlton lines up in the boundaries, he would play opposite Campbell in Jacksonville. This would in turn allow sophomore Jarrian Jones to stay in the slot, where he showed promise last year.
Spotrac projects Carlton to sign a contract that pays him an annual salary of $13.8 million. That's not precisely cheap, but that amount seems relatively low compared to the top market rates at cornerback. This is why it would make sense for Jacksonville to kick the tires on him.
Of course, that's just an estimate, but the Jags would most definitely be getting bang for their buck if they can get Carlton at that price, or somehwere close to it.
Why signing Carlton Davis makes sense for the Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars have around $38 million in space, which is more than enough to make a couple acquisitions in free agency. Given that they have several needs, they could address one and wait until the draft to take care of the rest. Beefing up the offensive line is probably the team's biggest priority right now, but the truth is that they can check off that box in the middle rounds of the draft. Ditto the safety position.
That leaves the defensive line, wide receiver, a No. 3 pass rusher, and cornerback as their remaining needs. Of the bunch, corner is arguably the biggest one. Dealing with it in free agency would allow the Jags to focus on the rest of their to-do list in the draft. In fact, Jacksonville could go with the best player available at No. 5, whether it's Travis Hunter, Mason Graham, or Tetairoa McMillan.
Circling back to Carlton Davis, he may not be a ballhawk but gets the job done. Of course, D.J. Reed and Byron Murphy would be great additions to the Jacksonville secondary but both of them will probably be considerably more expensive. Sure, they'll be worth it, but the Jags are not in the position to invest a good chunk of cap space in just one player.
As Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated points out, this year's free agent class will have no shortage of top-notch talent, but teams will find better value in the second tier of players available. That's probably where Davis is.
It's also worth considering that the Jags will be gauging his market, meaning that if he exceeds their projected budget, they'll probably pass on him.
This is to say that signing Carlton Davis would be a great move for the Jags. Sure, he's far from their only option, but he may be the best of the bunch when you take into account that he may not be nearly as expensive.