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Touchdown Jaguars!
Touchdown Jaguars!
Episode 111: Breaking Down Jags' First Free Agency Class Under James Gladstone
The tide is turning in Jacksonville as James Johnson breaks down the Jaguars' strategic approach to free agency under new GM James Gladstone. After years of splashy signings and mixed results, the organization appears to be charting a new course—one built on draft capital, calculated additions, and long-term sustainability.
Diving deep into all ten free agent acquisitions, James analyzes how each player fits into the larger vision. Dyami Brown brings much-needed vertical speed to stretch defenses, while Patrick Mekari offers versatility across all five offensive line positions. Jourdan Lewis stands out as a technically sound cornerback, which makes him a much needed addition in the secondary.
What makes this free agency period truly fascinating isn't who the Jaguars signed, but what their approach reveals about Gladstone's blueprint. With the most draft picks of any NFL team over the next three years, Jacksonville is clearly positioning itself to build through young talent rather than expensive veterans. This marks a significant philosophical shift from previous regimes—a shift that could finally deliver sustainable success.
The Jaguars aren't far from contention in a winnable AFC South. With these calculated additions and the upcoming draft, Jacksonville may surprise everyone in 2025. Whether you're frustrated by the lack of headline-grabbing moves or encouraged by this methodical approach, one thing is clear: the James Gladstone era has officially begun.
James Johnson and Phil Smith bring you the best and most up to date Jacksonville Jaguars news. "Touchdown Jaguars!" is a tribute to the prospective ownership group "Touchdown Jacksonville!" In 1991, the NFL announced plans to add two expansion teams and "Touchdown Jacksonville!" announced its bid for a team, and Jacksonville was ultimately chosen as one of five finalists. In November 1993, the NFL owners voted 26–2 in favor of awarding the 30th franchise to Jacksonville. James and Phil have been fans of the franchise ever since and have had the honor (and sometimes dishonor) of covering the team professionally since 2017. The rest as they say, is history.
Welcome to the New York City City of the New York City City of the Still running and go. That's it and go. Touchdown Jacksonville 109 yards Incredible Play action. Upstairs, wide open, tommy Bohannon. Touchstairs, wide open, tommy Bohannon. Touchdown Jacksonville. Looking for Jimmy in the end zone. Touchdown Jaguars. Touchdown Jaguars. Touchdown Jaguars.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Touchdown Jaguars podcast. Here are your hosts, james Johnson and Phil Smith. All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to episode 111 of Touchdown Jaguars. I am your host for tonight, james Johnson writing his solo for a solo episode, as Phil will join me on the next episode. He's been rather busy these last few weeks. I know you all have been seeing his content on Instagram, on Twitter, facebook, you name it. I recently had a con that he and Eric both attended in Jacksonville, if I'm not mistaken, and they got a lot of great content out of it for the Wait For it podcast project. So, real quick, I'll plug that forum. Feel free to follow Phil and both Eric, who is a friend of the show and has been on the show. Feel free to go ahead and follow the both of them, especially on Instagram. They got a lot of good stuff, a lot of pop culture related stuff, um, a lot of anime related stuff. They had a few interviews with voice actors, actual actors, you name it. It was, um, they did it all pretty much, uh, I think it was this past weekend. Time is moving so fast and it's been a lot going on these last few weeks, but, um, this past weekend they posted a lot of that content and, um, they will be posting more of it down the road as well. So shout outs to my guys phil smith, eric serna um, good work that you all did over there, uh, at the con this past weekend.
Speaker 1:But, as I was saying, I am am, james Johnson, one half of the hosting of your hosting panel for the Touchdown Jaguars podcast. It has been a while since we've last recorded an episode, but you know, life is life. But nonetheless we are here and here with an exciting episode, as a lot has transpired recently for the Jacksonville Jaguars, as we mentioned. You know, it's an exciting time to be a fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars. With the regime change. You know, we got a new GM, we got Trent Baalke out of here, we got James Gladstone in here and he has begun to put his stamp on this team, albeit it's early in his career, and you know a lot more roster construction needs to be done.
Speaker 1:But the free agency period arrived here a few weeks ago, on March the 10th. That's when, you know, the news really started to flow in and you could really project who would be signing you know where, even though you know it was a few days later, that Wednesday, that these actual players could put pen to paper. Um, the tampering on Monday, uh, where it was at a high. And then, you know, a lot of news broke of who would sign and where and who would end up where. So, of that said, the Jaguars ended up signing what I believe was 10 free agents, and it was a process in which was a little different than how we kind of done things in the past. In terms of the names we signed. You know it wasn't a necessarily a star studded free agency signing class, which kind of isn't shocking. And also, too, they, you know, know they're the only team this year I saw this on pro football talk that they were the only team who didn't sign any of their pending free agents that were previously on the roster last year. So there is that.
Speaker 1:So we're going to talk about this free agency class of 10 pickups that the Jacksonville Jaguars picked up. You know some of them I'll go in depth, some of them I'll be brief with. I hope and I say this all the time, I hope to make this a shorter episode, just for editing purposes. I'm already behind a little bit, but at the same time I also at least wanted to watch film on most of these free agent pickups and through the NFL Network app I just watched them all, twenty two of a lot of these guys and I have, except for one, I think, that I have not seen. But we'll still talk about this group as a whole and we'll talk about the additions that were made by James Gladstone and Liam Cohen as we enter this new regime with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Speaker 1:All right, so before we get into all of that, of course you know we got to plug the handles and let you know where you can find all our content. You can find me at sports grind, underscore done on Twitter. That's the platform I'm probably most active on, even though I'm not as active as I used to be on there. We'll get back to that eventually. You can follow Phil at Phil the Filipino and my bad earlier buddy, I Phil Smith. It is Phil Barrera, I'm so used to saying Phil Smith, so forgive me, my guy, but it's Phil Barrera now and you can follow him at Phil the Filipino. As I said, on Twitter, you can follow our touchdown Jaguars podcast handle at tdjaguarspod, and we have an official site where you can find content. We haven't written anything on there in a while, but we'll get around to that, especially with draft season coming up and you know draft conference calls coming up, which you know we typically like to participate in all that good stuff. So, yeah, we'll have some content on there.
Speaker 1:Touchdownjadwarscom For all our new listeners and old listeners. Um, you all know where you can find us. We are on pretty much every major platform and if we are not on that major platform, let us know so we could get there, so we could keep you in the loop with your weekly and monthly jacksonville jaguars news. But of course you can. You can most notably find us on iTunes and Spotify. We're on plenty other outlets, of course. Amazon, for all of the Echo users and all of those who use Amazon on the side as well. Stitcher TuneIn all of that. We should be on all of those platforms and again. Stitcher TuneIn all of that. We should be on all of those platforms and, again, if we aren't, let us know and we'll get there, all right.
Speaker 1:So, before we get into the 10 free agency signings, what we will do, or what I want to do, is just kind of give a breakdown of my thoughts of how James Gladstone went about things. As we mentioned, it was one of those free agency classes that we kind of haven't had in a while in the regard to they didn't blow a lot of money, they didn't go crazy, they didn't go looking for high-priced guys to fix the offensive line and to fix the secondary, like a lot of people wanted. And it was a lot of people who understood why they didn't go that route. But again, there was a lot of people wanted and it was a lot of people understood, you know why they didn't go that route. But again, there was a lot of people who were kind of upset and scratching their heads as to like why they didn't go for it, for your bigger names, like your Hollins of the world Right and some of the other big fish that you know were able to land elsewhere in free agency. And my answer simply to that well, it is a variety of things, right?
Speaker 1:First, I didn't expect James Gladstone to go crazy in free agency, right, and the reason was because, first and foremost, in my eyes, he's always kind of been and this is not his fault in any way, shape or form, and this is not saying that he's not prepared because he wowed them in the interview and showed them like, hey, while I am young and while this is, you know, getting off to a late start in terms of getting bulky out of here and getting me in here, I'm still capable of handling things. So he's more than capable of handling things, but still, nonetheless, they got a late start with bringing him into the mix and for me, that always made me feel like he wasn't going to go into free agency guns, a blazing signing folks to a bunch of big contracts. And you know, I think he, you know, if that were to be a thing, it would come later in his career. Like you know, he's kind of doing things on the go, if you will, and still trying to get acclimated. So that kind of to me, you know, always felt to me. Just, you know, the whole aspect of them getting Trent out of here so late made me have reservations about them spending a lot of money in free agency. Now, had they gotten Trent out of here a little, you know, earlier, like most teams got their GMs out of their you know offices earlier, and you know things would have got rolling in January like a normal team would. Then maybe I could see where you know they would spend a little bit more money in free agency and you know, therefore, gladstone would have had a little bit more time with the scouts and what have you and you know he would have had a little bit more time with the coaches and the assistants. That ball would have got rolling a little bit earlier. Then maybe I could have seen where you know they would have spent a little bit money, uh, more money.
Speaker 1:But also, to you know, keep in mind, like the top half of the jacksonville jaguars roster is not that bad right, and that's what made the job kind of intriguing is, you know, the starters for the most part which we said many times on this podcast are um set. Now again, you know, offensive line starters need to be settled and fixed. That's a big concern. Secondary needs to be fixed and settled that's a big concern. But this roster isn't one where the cupboard is like bare or anything right, and not only that. But when you look at the division, we're not that far off from the Texans, while our record might say differently. A few tweets here, there, and we're on the Texans level, if not surpassing them, this year. I wouldn't be shocked if we win the AFC South this year, to be honest with you. But again, going back to what I was saying, the roster isn't one in terms of from a starter standpoint, that's bad right. So it was never a roster where I could see a GM coming in and making a bunch of signings.
Speaker 1:And then, third, to add on to that also and we've heardames, gladstone mentioned this many, many times is this team has them what first? Or that, yeah, they're first. They have the most draft picks of any team within the next three years. And again, gladstone has said that and that was the sign right there. That said it all. Right, there is. Hey, this young man wants to build through the draft and that is more than okay, because that's how the good teams do it right. Is they build through the draft? And that is more than okay, because that's how the good teams do it right. Is they build through the draft anyway? So, when you factor all of those things in there, the fact that you know Gladstone has kind of indicated that he wants to utilize those picks as best as possible and want to build through the draft. And the other comment he made about you know them wanting to build competition at the edge, rusher position out of the draft too, that was another one, even though that came after free agency had started. But that just kind of added fuel to the fire of like, yeah, this kid really wants to build to the draft.
Speaker 1:When you add that into the mix, the fact that the jaguars roster from a starter perspective is, you know, in better shape than a lot of other rosters. It's not like these teams that GMs typically inherit, where things you know the cupboard is bare. And you know these teams on the bottom of the totem pole in the NFL have a lot of money and they can get off to a fast start by spending a lot of money. And you know they can build a team up quicker than you know you normally would in years past. It's not a situation like that with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Their team is pretty decent when you look at it from a starter perspective.
Speaker 1:And then, of course, the first thing that I mentioned was just the Jaguars getting off to a late start of hiring James Gladstone in the first place. Factoring those three things into the mix always made me feel like they would not approach free agency guns a blazing and signing people to a bunch of big contracts, and I'm not upset with it, quite frankly. So, all of that said, we will get into the actual signings here, and the first one we'll go to here I'll pull up the old trustee list here on JaguarsWirecom, if you all give me a second here. The first one that they have listed of the 10 was Deami Brown, Washington receiver, who we are bringing in from the Washington Commanders. Drafted out of North Carolina back in 2021. Drafted out of North Carolina back in 2021, signed him to a one-year deal for $10 million. That could be upwards of $12 million.
Speaker 1:So it's a proven contract and a guy that I like to sign in actually is one that excites me from the standpoint of the speed that he'll bring to the mix for the Jacksonville Jaguars. We all have seen the clips of him being a downfield threat, beating people one-on-one from the outside, and the speed that he brings there. That's huge, especially when you mix that in with what speed that Brian Thomas brings to this offense as well. So you got two speed guys that can stretch the field and who are dynamic in that regard, and just their movement skills. And when you look at his productivity, you know last year was pretty much his most productive year. So that's a good thing too is you know he's coming off his most productive year, so he showed some potential there and you know the Jaguars may feel like he has potential to give them even more. You know in terms of where he can be from a productive standpoint.
Speaker 1:But in 2024, he registered 56 targets for 537 yards and had a catch average of 12.2 yards, had two touchdowns. He really made a name for himself. Yards had two touchdowns. He really made a name for himself and this probably was it's where he made his money in general in terms of any teams looking for a potential wide receiver going into the offseason. But in the playoffs he made a name for himself, especially in the postseason, this past postseason, um, in 2024, as he um, I know in the first two games he had at least 80 yards or more. I think that was against the lions and I'll have to pull up that other game. Give me one second here. Y'all, I can pull them up here. Uh, tampa bay, uh, so against the bucks. So liam cohen witnessed that one firsthand and there he registered five catches for 89 um yards. The game after that, in the detroit game that I was just mentioning, registered six catches for 98 yards. So brought some explosive playmaking ability to the commander's offense and really hate, uh, really helped jade and daniels in that regard, averaging 17.8 and 16.3 yards. In both of those games, and the first one against tampa, he had a touchdown, pass, reception, um and total in terms of the postseason he had 229 yards total on the postseason.
Speaker 1:Now look, also in the process of the postseason we saw him have some ball security issues too. So you know that kind of in that regard that gives you flashbacks at least me, because I've mentioned this a lot. I don't know if a lot of people really have noticed this with Parker Washington, but you know you kind of see shades of Parker Washington in that regard in terms of ball security. But you know, obviously you know this is something that Jaguars believe they could clear up. You know that's a mechanical thing that could be worked on, but you know, when you talk about the cons, that is the one is, you know, ball security, like here. You have all of this explosive playmaking ability, but can we trust you to secure the ball? You know that's been the story of a lot of players in the NFL and you know it's lost a lot of players, some money right that had all of the potential of the in the world but just could never secure the ball. So that'll be something to watch, especially in training camp. That's when you get mechanical stuff like that fixed up and patched up and worked on right. So you know, definitely when we're going to training camp we'll be watching not just him but the team in general, but especially watching him in terms of you know how he's working on the ball security aspect of his game.
Speaker 1:And the guy you know this is a the reason I like it is a signing with a lot of potential. Right, the jacksonville jaguars could be getting, uh, somebody who, liam Liam Cohen, can make a star in this offense on a one-year deal. Of course, then they would have to sign him to a bigger contract if he goes off, but they got him on a prove-it deal for now and he's a guy that I'm excited to seeidot with Trevor Lawrence and Brian Thomas Jr in this passing game. So, as we continue on to the next edition, I have Robert Hainsey here. I watched him in one game in which he started last year. He is a guy who has familiarity with Liam Cohen, obviously coming from the Tampa Bay Bucks, has mostly played center in his career, right. So you know, here you have a guy who is potentially your starting center on the team.
Speaker 1:And you know, here you have a guy who you know if the Jaguars did their homework and I do know that Liam Cohen coached Luke Fortner in college but, you know, if they did their homework beforehand, they probably saw a situation where they don't want Luke Fortner starting Right, because that was a catastrophe. And also, too, of course, I forgot to mention this this was part of the news that has happened since our last recording, of the news that has happened since our last recording. But, um, mitch morse retired. So, uh, there is that which is not shocking at all um, that he's not a part of the team heading forward. But, um, you know, congrats on the retirement.
Speaker 1:But yeah, going back to what I was saying is, you know they probably looked at fortner, who is what the only guy with starting experience on the roster right now. I might be wrong on that. But you know you're probably like, uh, don't want to go that route. You know we definitely got to at the very least get a free agent in here and they went to a guy with familiarity with Liam Cohen's offense. So he'll help in that regard a lot, um, in terms of getting Trevor Lawrence acclimated with the offense, getting the other offensive line and acclimated with the offense, and getting the running backs, wide receivers all that you know well, probably more so the running backs than the wide receivers um acclimated, the tight ends acclimated, all of that good stuff. And I think the game I watched him was, um the New Orleans game in which he started um last year.
Speaker 1:And to me, you know, I saw a guy who you know there's potential there, don't get me wrong, um, but what I would say is he wouldn't necessarily stop me from drafting a center in a draft high right if the opportunity presented itself. Now also too, you don't want to force yourself to draft a center, because here you do have a guy at the very least who's familiar, familiar with the offense and can um very, very much have a veteran presence in terms of um helping others learn this offense, um, you know, with with everybody being new to it, aside from a few people, but he's a guy that you know. At times you can see him getting overpowered. You can see um. You know I don't want to say a lack of power, but you know one thing that we have come into this off season one is definitely more power in that front, but at the same time he was solid and pass pro, so that's a good thing. And again, he gives you an option that is better than Luke Fortner. So you know, time will tell in terms of this April. You know what he'll be looking at in terms of competition Because obviously if he's facing Fortner, you know he's probably going to be the starter. They do have him on a three year deal worth 21 million with 13 million guaranteed Um, so I'll have to look at the structure of it and everything, but that's probably a deal in which, um, you know he'll be here for at the very least two years of that. And he's a guy you know.
Speaker 1:I remember in college at least, putting him in some of my mock drafts. I liked him, him as a like a late round addition. I thought maybe I might have something written down on him, um, in terms of, uh, something I might have written in my notebook, but I know I put him in at least two of my mock drafts back in the day. I had to go back and look at that to see. You know how I felt about him as a college prospect. But you know, overall he was a third round pick. So you know, obviously he didn't end up going as late as I thought he would and the Bucks thought he had, you know, a great deal of potential, the potential to be the starter or a starter. You know when you're drafting somebody that high. And he played in a total of 94 snaps last year. He had to take over for Graham Barton in a few games, so probably you know an injury that was going on there. Um, he had to take over for Graham Barton in a few games. So, uh, probably you know an injury that was going on there that he had to take over. And I would think of most of those snaps were in the New Orleans game that I watched. So, um, you know he's a guy who I'll be watching during training camp for sure. Um, not just just performance wise, but just kind of how he is helping everybody understand the offense and the veteran presence. He has um number four.
Speaker 1:Here we have Jordan Lewis, formerly a cornerback with the Dallas Cowboys. I really love the film that I saw on him. I think he was maybe the first sign in that was announced for the Jaguars on that Monday before free agency frenzy or to start free agency frenzy. But he is a guy that I like watching on film. From the standpoint of he is technically sound, right.
Speaker 1:All of these years we've spent frustrated with people like Tyson Campbell, right, and frustrated with these others in the secondary who you know the tackling mechanics haven't been there. But especially when you look at a guy like the most notable one that comes to mind is Tyson Campbell. Mechanically because of you know the whole thing and not about him not getting his head around and locating the ball, especially early in his career. That was a thing and of course you know him being injured often hasn't helped either. All the more reason to bring in a cornerback too. Um, of course Tyson Campbell isn't going anywhere anytime soon because Trent signed him to a new deal and while you know the new GM and James Gladstone and company don't have necessarily ties to any of the guys on the roster, you know some of these guys are harder to move on from others.
Speaker 1:If that's what they want to do, maybe you know who knows maybe they like Tyson Campbell and they see the potential in him too, and that's more than fine, because you know that's one less position you have to worry about fixing that the last regime couldn't. So maybe Tyson Campbell puts it all together next year in terms of being able to stay on the field and getting some of the mechanical things that we've seen flare up at times, because I mean, the potential is there. We've seen Tyson Campbell play phenomenal at times, right, and it's like, yeah, man, this is a guy who's a top 10 corner in the league when he's, you know, healthy and playing to his best and the technical things aren't showing up. But I don't want to digress from a point here. They went ahead and drafted Jordan Lewis, who is a guy who's very technically sound, who does those things that we get frustrated with Tyson Campbell about. Right is locating the ball right and all of that other stuff in terms of when the ball is in the air and just, you know, being able to dislodge the ball from a receiver. So I think that's one of the things that stood out to me with him is just the technique and um being able to locate the ball and and just, you know, the pass breakup aspect of his game.
Speaker 1:Um, the deal, at least here, um Jags wire is saying it makes him the highest paid nickel corner in the NFL. And who knows, he might not play nickel. You know like one thing we've seen is the Jacksonville Jaguars have signed a lot of people who are versatile, so you know that makes you wonder, you know, if he'll play on the outside. Many people tend to think he'll play on the inside, he'll play nickel and many people think that his signing is a sign that the Jacksonville Jaguars want to put Jerrion Jones on the outside, which that's an interesting story in itself. But Jerrion Jones played well last year. He was one of Trent Baalke's hits right. He's one of the people that know the last the new regime probably identified and said like, hey, you know there's something to build there and that you know his performance gives us an opportunity to see what we have in him. And you know, maybe not go as crazy at the cornerback position. As you know, others were thinking like the fans were thinking they should go at that position and you know, if he proves them right again. That's one less thing you have to worry about as the present regime that the past regime didn't fix. So I think that'll be interesting.
Speaker 1:I like how Jerry and Jones played last year and I like him as a competitor. I like what he brings in terms of locker room leadership and you know what he brought when he was with FSU as well too. You know a guy who was vocal and obviously well-respected and you know can't help but root for the guy, especially after we saw the video when he was drafted and how excited he was. And you know him saying that he loved the Jacksonville Jaguars growing up and how he was a fan of MJD. So you know we've always been rooting for the young man in Jerrion Jones.
Speaker 1:But in terms of Jordan Lewis man, excited about that pickup from the standpoint of you, he helps the Jaguars from a technique standpoint and that's something like that I've really emphasized is man like just fundamentally, this team has just been terrible fundamentally and seeing a guy who you know helps them in that regard kind of excites me because you know he can lay some knowledge down to the rest of the group who have struggled with. You know technique aspects of their game and the fundamental aspects of their game. That's what this game is about really. The NFL and football, I mean you. It can look complicated but when you get down to it it's the basic stuff right, it's tackling, and when you get the little things right then the rest of it just falls into place and that's just how football has always been. But I don't want to go on too much on that part of um, just veering into or going into the issues with this team last year. It's a new year and uh, we we're moving forward and we're progressing forward and I think Jordan Lewis is a guy who um will be a part of that for progress heading forward.
Speaker 1:All right, so moving along here with um, we'll go next to patrick mccurry here, um, a very versatile piece. The jacksonville jaguars, uh, put onto the offensive line. Um, I think this was the most hefty contract the jaguars signed a player to. Uh, it was three, a three-year deal worth 37.5 million with 20 million guaranteed. It can max out at about 39 million. Of course, normally we don't see players reach the max of their contracts, but you know for what it's worth there's that, and you have a guy here who's played all five positions on the offensive line.
Speaker 1:So that's huge and that's kind of been a trend of what the Jacksonville Jaguars have added to the offensive line is versatility, and you know that's a good way to build on the offensive line Even. You know, if you're not picking up a lot of starters, which they haven't, at least get some guys that are versatile, because we've seen a lot of offensive line issues in terms of injuries and you know when one guy goes down it just kind of throws off the whole unit. You know what I'm saying. So to have people that can pretty much play at any position or play at least at two positions of the five offensive line positions, is huge and you know it's guaranteed to happen. You know it's bound to happen where you're not going to always have your starting five offensive linemen, but it gives them flexibility when that happens, um, to get some better options in there than they previously had under the past regime and Trent Baalke.
Speaker 1:So when I watched Macari in terms of the film, one thing I will say that impressed me was the strength, and I mean this has always kind of been something that you can always see clearly with the Ravens offensive line, right Is they're always, for the most part, when you look at them in the trenches, they're always stronger than the people in front of them for the most part. When you look at them in the trenches, they're always stronger than the people in front of them for the most part. If you were to put the Ravens offensive line and defensive line in a weightlifting competition right against their opponents, whoever they're playing, I feel like putting your money on the Ravens, most times than not, would earn you a lot of money. So, that being said, like the strength was obviously there and that's huge because, again, like we have lacked you know, I've said this before We've lacked that country boy strength that's what we call it in the South is country boy strength. We've lacked that for a very long time, especially in the run game, and that's something that Makari brings to the table and I think that something that the jacksonville jaguars, when they watch film, they they saw that stood out to them. You know, in terms of what he would bring. He probably would play guard, so what he would bring to the guard position, and again, they also, you know, saw the versatility which you know that was definitely huge for them.
Speaker 1:You know, you have a guy who, if something happens to you. You start in center like Hainsey, that it looks like it'll be Hainsey. You know you don't necessarily have to put Luke Fortner there, right, you could put McCurry there if you think he's a better option. He could play the other guard position. I think he'll probably play right guard with us. So you know, something happens to I'm blanking on, uh, ezra cleveland, who has been injury prone. By the way, you can stick him over there at left guard, right, um, he can also play tackle as well, so you know he can help you at your tackle positions as well too. If you know something happens to anton harrison or walker, you know we saw the tackle that was a little thin when the Jaguars traded Cam Robinson last year. Speaking of Cam Robinson, he is going to the Texans, who picked up a lot of our you know players that were previously on the team. Last year I think they also picked up Ronald Darby and of course we traded him. Christian Kirk. So I found that interesting, interesting, but that's neither here and neither there.
Speaker 1:Going on to the next person on the list, we got Nick Mullins here, former backup for the Vikings, and I think before that he was with the San Francisco 49ers. Of course it makes so much sense that they were bringing in Mullins because he worked with Grant Udinski, you know, the last few years or so. So he's been in that quarterback room and in that offensive room with Grant Udinski, the new Jaguars offensive coordinator. And also, too, he comes from the Kevin O'Connell offense which you know that's tied to the Liam Cohen Sean Mayvee tree. So you know there are probably some coaching, some scheme similarities and coaching similarities there. That helps.
Speaker 1:But yeah, mullins is a guy who you know he was an undrafted pickup, started his career, as I said, in San Francisco. He also played in Cleveland I forgot about that as well as I'm reading up on him and he's a guy I watched him in the I think it was a twenty twenty three, one, all eleven, all twenty two that I watched of him against the Bengals, where you know he had OK game. He's a guy who I think the big thing with with Nick Mullins is, you know, obviously you know when you got your backup quarterback in, in general, um, you would hope to have a good run game and that's. You know the Jaguars have emphasized that they want to improve there. Um, so if you know if Liam Cohen gets this run game where he wants it to be. And you know, basically they fall through on what they've said on improving that aspect of the roster. And we, you know, we saw it firsthand what he did with Tampa Bay they were like 28th in running in terms of the rush and then they became a top five team when Cohen came there. So if he can work his magic like he did there, that'll be very helpful for not just mullins but of course trevor lawrence and the whole offense in general.
Speaker 1:But you know, in those games where you do have to trot your backup quarterback out there, ideally you would like to have a good running game and that's what's kind of hurt the jacksonville jaguars is. They've had to, you know, send their backup quarterbacks out there when Trevor Lawrence has been injured and try them out there and basically have them throw a little bit more than you would like to see a backup quarterback throw. But he's a guy. I think that when you look at his arm talent and what he can bring to the passing game, I think where we could see him if we ever see him on the field, and we don't want to see Nick Mullins on the field. No disrespect to Nick Mullins, but that means Trevor Lawrence was injured.
Speaker 1:You don't want to be in that situation, but I do think I saw a guy who did utilize his number one guy when he was on the field in terms of the passing game a lot and of course that was Justin Jefferson, who you would say is probably a very friendly, quarterback-friendly receiver regardless I think there are some similarities to BTJ in that regard who is a very friendly, quarterback-friendly type of option that Nick Mullins would really thrive with in terms of when he had to resort or when he would have to resort to the passing game, got a long, lanky, fast target, also a guy that you'll probably see in the screen game a little bit more. Those are easy catch opportunities as well, with Liam Cohen being here and him you know liking the screen game, so you can see that aspect in that regard of his game. But I think Nick Mullins you know if we ever do see him, he's a guy that I wouldn't be shocked if he's going to Bryant Thomas Jr often in the passing game again. Now, ideally you would want to have a run game to help him out, because you know Nick Mullins has not won a lot of games in terms of when he has started, and I think, like, what could help in that regard is, you know, having a run game, which you know, the Vikings had a decent run game, by the way. But when you're talking about a quarterback who hasn't won a lot of games in terms of record wise, a backup quarterback, you definitely the conversation needs to be had of having a strong run game to help them. And I can't pull up the record right now, um, actually, bear with me here. I had it written down and I can't find it in my notes, uh, but let me see if I could pull this up. So, yeah, he's 5 and 15 according to pro football reference. So definitely, uh, we, we don't want to see Nick on the field, but when we do, you know, hopefully the run game will be much improved. And you know we can see him rack up more wins. If we have to see him on the field, we can see him rack up more wins in his quarterback record column.
Speaker 1:And then also, too, you know, the part of it that I didn't mention is, you know he can obviously help Trevor Lawrence learn the offense under Grant Udinski and company and Liam Cohen. So there's that as well. You know he brings that presence to the quarterback room of breaking down how things work in the offense that's. You know that's always important. You know somebody who's been holding the clipboard and you know hearing the play calls for a while for Udinski, so that's important. We'll go next to Eric Murray. Eric Murray is a guy that you know, we're familiar with, played with the Texans last year.
Speaker 1:He is a guy when you look at his contract, uh, you're probably looking at a one to two year starter, but a guy who I would say is kind of probably a patch option. And again, I'm going back to what I said earlier with james gladstone, highlighting the amount of uh draft picks we got. I wouldn't be shocked that you know, the jaguarsuars might be on a long term option or would look to the draft for a long term option in terms of the safety position. But, as I said, murray is a guy who you got to feel like is probably at least a year one starter for this year, maybe even next year. When looking at his contract and his deal, um, I think mjd shouts to mjd former guests of the show um, he broke it first, but was a three-year deal worth. Uh, let's see 19.5 million. I'm trying to pull it up on spot track or something. Uh, three-year deal worth 22.5 million, according to uh, this is actually jaguars Wire, if I'm reading this correctly. I'm seeing it from Google, but it's Jaguars Wire. So, yeah, you're talking about a guy that probably you know he'll fulfill two of those three years on the contract.
Speaker 1:And the guy when I watched him on film, I think what stood out to me and he is a little bit older for a, you know, a free agency pickup 31 years. Oh, I'm not saying the guy's ancient, but typically, you know, when you sign free agents, you're looking at guys you know in that 25 to 28, 29 year old range, but nonetheless, um, you know a guy that when I, when I looked at him on film, one thing I noticed about him is his lateral quickness. Um, he's pretty good running laterally and, um, you know, I feel like he's a guy who probably you know more so helped him in the box and closer to the line of scrimmage and help them, um, in in assisting with the run game as well, but definitely, um, not a guy that I see as a long-term option. I also would say this too I think the jaguars may have looked at the safety market and what it would cost to get one of the a-tier guys right and just said like, uh, you know, we probably are better off getting, you know, a cheaper veteran over the age of 31 like murray, that you know that'll save us a little money and also, too, in terms of a long-term fix.
Speaker 1:Um, you know, let's just get a guy in the draft man. We can get a guy for four years on a dirt. You know, I don't want to call it dirt cheap, but on a pretty affordable deal. Especially if you don't get them in the first round, which we don't think the Jaguars are getting, the safety in the first round. We can get an affordable safety at a position that is kind of getting a little pricey. You know, if you will, it's not the highest paid position, but you know, when, looking at the circumstances of free agency, the price of those options were certainly a little too high for their liking. So you can get something a lot more cheapable, cheaper and sustainable. I tried to combine two words there cheapable, but cheaper and sustainable.
Speaker 1:In regards to you know, a rookie contract that you can get a guy on and watch him develop over time. Know a rookie contract that you can get a guy on and watch him develop over time, so not shocked that the Jacksonville Jaguars didn't get um one of the higher priced names. Um, and I definitely would say again, kind of like what I said with Hainsey um, murray wouldn't stop me from and I hope I didn't call him um Eric Reed or you're in the podcast, but Murray wouldn't stop me from and I hope I didn't call him Eric Reid earlier in the podcast, but Murray wouldn't stop me from getting a safety early in the 2025 NFL draft. All right, and the next two players I'll group together because they are at the same position Hunter Long, tight end, and johnny munt. Um, munt is coming previously from the minnesota vikings, if I can recall. So, um, you know again more familiarity with grant udinsky and then long, who was drafted by the miami dolphins, is coming from the Rams, so some familiarity with you know, liam Cohen when he was there and also with James Gladstone, but two guys, I think, just overall, who will probably predominantly be used for blocking.
Speaker 1:You know, when you look at the tight end position in Liam Cohen's offense, you know it's not a position that they asked for a lot of crazy production out of. They more so asked for guys who do kind of I don't know, like the dirty work, if you will, guys who can help them in the run game a lot, if you will, which that makes sense, that they let Evan Ingram go in that regard, right, but that's kind of what they want and I think that's what they would be getting here. Hunter Long, you know, gives you special teams experience. I think he took a fumble back for a touchdown on a punt, a block punt or something like that, and I'm not sure what Munt's special team background is is, but I would think when you're talking about second and third string tight ends, they would be able to help you in that regard a lot as well. Again, he's a guy that spent some time with Grant Udinski most recently and Kevin O'Connell. Again, that is a part of the not the Liam Cohen tree, but the Sean McVeigh tree, which you know, all of those run together as well with the Liam Cohen tree.
Speaker 1:Uh, continuing on to Fred Johnson, that was the last free agency edition we made, even though it's, um, that doesn't cover all 10 that we made. I'll get to others in just a bit, but, um, you know Fred Johnson, a Florida kid went to the University of Florida. Um, I watched some film on him as well, um, and the Jaguars of course not just only needed starters on the offensive line, but they need the offensive line depth as well too. So his signing makes sense in that regard. When, when I watched him on film, I did see a lot of what would be a Trent Baalke type of prospect right, very long arms, right, just, he has the measurables, I guess, like maybe the feet you would like to be a little bit better for offensive tackle. And, coincidentally, when I was thinking that, I went back and looked at his scouting report, right, and some of his scouting reports that were put out of there or out there when he was coming out of college and that was one of the things that people kind of mentioned, I think even NFL Network said he might be better suited for guard for that reason. So that kind of matched what I said kind of gave me all a a little inkling of how I evaluate, right. But yeah, just to share some real quick information on it. A lot of times what I do I'll like I'll watch a player write a scouting report of what I'm seeing on my own right and then when I, after I'm done with that. I'll go and pull up scouting reports that have actually already been written on that player and see what matches from what I saw and if the you know is there any things on there that um don't match that I saw, that I'm not seeing on other scouting reports, then I go back and reassess that. You know that aspect of the player's game but, um, yeah, that kind of matched a lot of what I saw when I researched him and you know that aspect of the player's game but, yeah, that kind of matched a lot of what I saw when I researched him and you know his scouting report.
Speaker 1:Coming out of college I saw a player who was a heavy handed, high energy player. He'd pancake a guy and then pop up and just you know, be screaming his heart out, you know, just kind of being a warrior. So high energy player, as I say, a heavy handed, strong in the run game. Again, I mean no duh, because that's what the Jaguars need. So it's not shocking that they're targeting that. He does get out leveraged in pass protection. It was a lot of you know more than I would like to see times where you know others were able to get under him and you know he is a taller guy, um, so you know that's always something, you know that could be an issue for taller players. So you know, getting out leverage and you know not having great feet sometimes that can be a bad combination.
Speaker 1:But definitely a guy. That, um, I think is an upgrade over foster, in my opinion. And, um, you know, I I think that's a sign that foster's days might be numbered, to be honest with you. Uh, because not only did they get him, they got another um offensive tackle, swing tackle and free, which we'll mention as well. But yeah, you know he's got that's gritty and I mean that was kind of embodiment of the whole Eagles offensive line. When I was watching him it was just kind of hard not to watch the rest of the Eagles offensive line and how dirty and gritty they get as well. Man, I just love what they got going there. Man shout outs to them the Super Bowl champions but uh, yeah, a player who I think definitely makes the team in Johnson and a guy that I think could be definitely serviceable in spot tackle duties.
Speaker 1:Again, you know, we know Walker Little kind of has an injury history. Anton Harrison not necessarily has an injury history. You know he did play banged up that first year on the shoulder, but you know it's more so Walker Little, that you'd probably be more concerned about when it comes to injuries. So that's an option that they can maybe put out there if they like in terms of Johnson and again, a guy that I do believe will make the team. They can maybe put out there if they like in terms of Johnson and again, a guy that I do believe will make the team.
Speaker 1:And then there is the other tackle I might as well get into while we're here, and Chuma Eduga, who signed a two year deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He is the one that I haven't watched a lot of, or watched at all in terms of the all 22. But he gives the Jaguars depth at tackling guard. Again, just kind of rehashing what I was saying earlier. You know the Jaguars have added a lot of people who are versatile and you know he's another guy that you know obviously, obviously is an indicator that the time is ticking. You know he shows, or he's proof, that time is ticking for Javon Foster, he has 23 career starts to his name, so you know a good amount of starts to his name, which you always want, and I mean, and again, man, like the Jacksonville Jaguars didn't also just need starters, but they needed um, they needed to get better behind the starters too.
Speaker 1:Right, you know they started people like Van Lannen and Blake Hance and guys that you know, when they entered the lineup, a lot of people knew trouble was coming, you know, even though Cole Van Landen was okay in the preseason, if I can recall, but still, you know, I think fans should feel a lot better about guys that I'm naming, like Edoga and Fred Johnson, getting into the starting lineup and starting over the backups we had in the past, which you know, like I said, van Landen and Blake Hanson. And you know, like I said, van Lannan and Blake Hanson, and you know players of that nature. So I look more into Idoga down the road and I might, you know, post my thoughts on him on the Twitter page, because, again, he's the only one that I didn't watch and I think it's one more player here. Let me make sure, let me go through the list. Um, no, I got them all there, so that was all 10 of them.
Speaker 1:And while it wasn't a free agency class where the jaguars blew a bag or anything like that, I'm still excited about a lot of these players and it even gets me more excited about the draft because, again, a lot of these guys are either either band-aids Some of them could be long term starters but for the most part they're band-aids, which is an indication that you know the Jacksonville Jaguars probably are going to look to land a lot of players with starter potential in the NFL draft. So that excites me and I'm glad to be in a place where we're looking forward to the draft in regards of landing starters Right for to the draft in regards of landing starters right, and I'm glad, like we, I feel like we're functioning by having a low-key free agency. We're in functioning, functioning more like a team that could be elite. This is kind of how you know, except for the chiefs. The chiefs do spend money in free agency still. So, um, they spend money and still are good, right, it's nothing for them to at least get one good free agent a year. I think they were kind of quiet this year, unless I'm missing somebody, but for the most part, this is how teams that are consistent and consistently in the postseason function, kind of like the Ravens and so on and so forth, and I think not spending as much in free agency is a sign that you know this team is going to be draft centric. You know, and I'm not. This is not to say that they'll always take this approach in free agency, but it does show that you know the mindset heading forward for the most part, will be a team that's draft centric and I can't wait to get things started under the james gladstone era. So, all of that said y'all, we will go ahead and wrap this free agency episode up.
Speaker 1:As I said, we'll have phil back next week. Um, for the next episode, we're gonna have guests. All that good stuff. Talk about the draft, do mock drafts. All of that good stuff, you name it. We will cover it in terms of the draft, in terms of plugging the handles.
Speaker 1:Again, I am sportsgrind underscore done on twitter, which is where you can most notably find me. You can find Phil, my co-host, phil Barrera, at Phil the Filipino. You can find the touchdown Jaguars podcast podcast Twitter handle at TD Jaguars pod and our website is Touchdown Jaguars podcast. Shout outs to all our new listeners and all our old listeners. To the new listeners, feel free to rate and subscribe and interact with us on the Twitter page. All that good stuff and also too, yeah, we'll get some spaces going, man, those have been fun lately. We haven't done one in a few weeks. So, stodge, if you're listening, man, get ready. Man, aaron, as well, to get a space going. Talk some jazz football with the draft heading forward and, yeah, all of that said, this is James Johnson with episode 111 of touchdown Jaguars, looking forward to doing 100, uh, episode 112 with you all. Uh, give us your feedback and all of that good stuff and in the meantime, everybody take care of each other, and I am signing out, thank you.