During the months ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft, Travis Hunter made it clear that he would quit football if a team wanted him to play only one position rather than two ways as he did at Colorado. He ended up going to the Jacksonville Jaguars, a club that was more than willing to comply with his unwavering request.
Once the Jags trade up to select Hunter, they put together an onboarding plan to ensure that he could play corner and receiver full-time at the NFL level. The 2024 Heisman Trophy winner ended up getting significant playing time on both sides of the ball, but a knee injury brougth his rookie campaign to a screeching halt.
Fast forward to 2026, and the Jags still expect Hunter to play two ways. However, the salary cap may force them to stick him to just one side.
The salary cap could push the Jaguars to limit Travis Hunter at cornerback
General manager James Gladstone held his exit interview ahead of the offseason. He made it clear that Travis Hunter will continue to play two-way full-time. But in the same breath,
"We still expect him to play on both sides of the ball," Gladstone told reporters (4:26 mark). "Obviously, you can take a peek at expiring contracts on our roster and which side of the ball has more, at this point, walking into the offseason. Corner is a position that we have a few guys who are on expiring contracts, so by default, you can expect there to be a higher emphasis on his placement."
Gladstone continued, "I think from Liam's perspective, he can share it, but the steps that he was taken by the midpoint of the season really made us feel good about what the back half of the year was going to be on both sides of the ball, and what that impact was going to look like, being a feature point on offense and an impact player on defense. It was just disappointing timing, but nonetheless, feel good about where we are heading into this offseason and what next year should hold."
This isn't necessarily surprising, as the Jags drafted Hunter with the intention of maximizing his playmaking skills on offense and defense. Had he not sustained the knee injury, he would've surely kept playing two ways the rest of the year. But out of necessity, Jacksonville may need to keep Hunter exclusively at corner.
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Travis Hunter may need to play corner full-time for the Jaguars in Year 2
With Brian Thomas Jr., Parker Washington, and Jakobi Meyers in the fold, the Jaguars have a logjam at receiver. They could still give him snaps on offense, but they can afford not to. Meanwhile, cornerback is shaping up to be a need, with Greg Newsome and Montaric Brown slated to hit the open market.
The Jags are curently $13 million over the cap, so they may have trouble bringing back either Newsome and Brown. The other corners on the Jacksonville roster are Jourdan Lewis, Jarrian Jones, and Christian Braswell. Lewis and Jones are better suited for the slot, while Braswell is not much more than a depth piece at this stage of his career.
Even if the team's brass brings in a bargain starter or uses an early-round pick on a cornerback prospect, Hunter may be the best option to start at one cornerback spot, especially if Brown leaves. Of course, the West Palm Beach, Florida native could still get some playing time at receiver, but at this moment, it looks like he'll play defense full-time out of necessity, even if it doesn't sit well with the competitor in him.
Things could change as the offseason progresses, but the Jaguars may need to keep Travis Hunter. That's not necessarily a bad thing, even if that means not using his skillset at receiver.