Grading the Jaguars first big signings of free agency this year

Jacksonville was busy, early on.
Jacksonville Jaguars, Gabe Davis
Jacksonville Jaguars, Gabe Davis / Ryan Kang/GettyImages
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The Jacksonville Jaguars have been a busy team this week, already. Of course, Sunday morning after the news broke about the Mac Jones trade, they had our attention a day early.

Monday, though, the NFL's legal tampering period began. Free agency kicked off to a wild start around the league, and the Jaguars continued to be a busy team, making a good amount of signings.

Early on, there were three notable signings for Jacksonville: Wide receiver Gabe Davis, safety Darnell Savage, and center Mitch Morse. Each of the signings filled a specific need for Jacksonville, but just how valuable was each move?

How did the Jaguars do early on Day 1 of the NFL's legal tampering period?

Let's dive into each signing real quick and give the Jaguars a grade.

Gabe Davis, WR (3 years, $39 million)

The former Buffalo Bills wide receiver comes to Jacksonville as a guy with excellent size at 6-foot-2, 225 pounds. He also brings tremendous speed to the wide receiver room. Davis was the deep threat in Buffalo, always ready and capable of beating the defense on a long ball.

Davis has often been a hit-or-miss type and has seemingly vanished at times some weeks, and he also doesn't give the Jaguars a true number one wide receiver. Christian Kirk will likely lead the way, still, but Davis isn't that alpha the team needed. He's talented, but he is not going to give Trevor Lawrence the legitimate WR1 this team needed.

Grade: B-

Darnell Savage, S (3 years, $21.5 million)

Coming over from Green Bay, Darnell Savage got a fairly cheap contract to become a starting safety in Jacksonville. He is more of a run-stopping safety who excels closer to the line of scrimmage rather than in coverage, so we'll see what the plan is with Savage and whether he's going to be used more as a box safety. But, for the money, this was a pretty strong move.

Grade: B

Mitch Morse, C (2 years, $10.5 million)

Luke Fortner hadn't been cutting it at center and, at the very least, needed some competition. Getting an established veteran for only an average of $5.25 milliion per season looks like an absolute steal for Jacksonville. More is a better pass blocker than he is a run blocker, but he's not going to be a detriment in either area. And again, for the money, this signing was excellent.

Grade: A

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