Latest / The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network / Jags A.M. Podcast Ep. 216 | AFC South Trades, Free Agency Fan Questions & More

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Jags A.M. Podcast Ep. 216 | AFC South Trades, Free Agency Fan Questions & More · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

0:16
Speaker 1: Welcome and to dag Zam, Connie Seeding, Larry, Brian Section
0:18
Speaker 1: and John Oser. As we sol drawn past the combine.
0:21
Speaker 1: Now it's a free agents see focus as free agents
0:24
Speaker 1: are going to be on the market starting next week,
0:27
Speaker 1: and that's where we're going to look forward to. So
0:28
Speaker 1: let's start out with our big things and big thing
0:30
Speaker 1: number one is the free agents focus. We've talked a
0:32
Speaker 1: little bit about the free agents on this team that
0:34
Speaker 1: are going to be probably hitting the open market. But Brian,
0:37
Speaker 1: when I look at this team, where do you want
0:39
Speaker 1: them to focus when they're looking at adding free agents
0:42
Speaker 1: to this roster?
0:42
Speaker 2: Well, I mean the first thing they've got to do
0:44
Speaker 2: is get under the cap, which obviously they have a
0:46
Speaker 2: plan to get there. They're one of those handful of
0:48
Speaker 2: teams that still have to manage that before next week.
0:51
Speaker 2: You know, I'd like to see them do John what
0:53
Speaker 2: they did last year and go and find guys like
0:54
Speaker 2: Robert Hainsey, solid starters who come in at a reasonable
0:58
Speaker 2: number and don't just play well, but they bring something
1:00
Speaker 2: to the locker room. They bring some of that culture,
1:03
Speaker 2: some of that toughness, some of that style of play
1:05
Speaker 2: that the Jaguars want and when you're looking at positions.
1:08
Speaker 2: I mean, we could spend the entire hour, do we
1:10
Speaker 2: have an hour talking about defense? Just you know, where
1:13
Speaker 2: you could improve on the defensive line, how do you
1:15
Speaker 2: replace it? Devin Lloyd and things like that. But I'm
1:18
Speaker 2: more of instead of a position, I'm more focused on
1:20
Speaker 2: that mid level guy because I thought they got so
1:23
Speaker 2: much from Hainsey last year, and the ability to grab
1:27
Speaker 2: a couple of those kinds of guys is really something
1:29
Speaker 2: I'm interested in.
1:31
Speaker 3: It was pretty loud around here last year, meaning you know,
1:34
Speaker 3: quietly loud if you will no front line break the
1:37
Speaker 3: market free agent. But they got Eric Murray, they got
1:39
Speaker 3: Jordan Lewis, they got Patrick McCarry. You know, they made
1:43
Speaker 3: noise in early free agency last year to really solidify
1:48
Speaker 3: their roster. I don't think it's gonna look like that.
1:50
Speaker 3: I mean, I think you may see one or two
1:56
Speaker 3: the senses they need to try to figure out penetrating
1:59
Speaker 3: defense of tackle, but I think it's gonna be hard
2:01
Speaker 3: to find in free agency because if he's gonna really
2:04
Speaker 3: disrupt usually has to be pretty high end. So I
2:07
Speaker 3: think it's gonna be quiet. But I do think they
2:10
Speaker 3: will try to do what Brian said, which is one
2:12
Speaker 3: or two guys that matter that don't break the bank
2:14
Speaker 3: because there's now I'm not sure there's enough bank to break.
2:18
Speaker 1: Sure, let's talk about our big thing number two, which
2:21
Speaker 1: is the math ain't math? And because at this point
2:23
Speaker 1: they don't have any cap space right so according to
2:25
Speaker 1: score track, they have about sixteen million over the cap. Now,
2:27
Speaker 1: there's a lot of people that paid a lot of
2:29
Speaker 1: money to make those numbers work and find a way. John,
2:31
Speaker 1: they have a lot of guys that can do that.
2:34
Speaker 1: Who is someone they can work with? I mean they
2:35
Speaker 1: can extend certain people, they can rearrange the money. What's
2:38
Speaker 1: something they might do to try to open some stuff up?
2:41
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's you would think Armstead's contract is in there
2:47
Speaker 3: anybody with signing bonus that you or with salary that
2:52
Speaker 3: you can turn into bonus and move down. Brian, I
2:55
Speaker 3: know you get the shivers when you hear that sort
2:58
Speaker 3: of thing, because we all anybody who's around the nineties
3:01
Speaker 3: when they went through salary cap. It's not going to
3:03
Speaker 3: be that though. But they do have to mortgage the
3:06
Speaker 3: future a little bit to get into the cap. I
3:08
Speaker 3: think they'll keep that to a minimum because I get
3:11
Speaker 3: all these emails saying, well, they should just do what
3:12
Speaker 3: they do with mahomes in Kansas City and free up
3:14
Speaker 3: forty million. Well, at some point that comes back, so
3:17
Speaker 3: you have to manage that. Well, they'll do it. There
3:21
Speaker 3: will be restructurings in the coming weeks. In terms of specifics. Yeah,
3:26
Speaker 3: that it all kind of gets lost in the middle.
3:28
Speaker 3: They'll be on the team, so it's not that big
3:30
Speaker 3: of a deal to me. Who exactly restructuring is.
3:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's two guys at the top of the chart. Obviously,
3:35
Speaker 2: Trevor Lawrence and Josh heinz Allen have the biggest cap numbers,
3:39
Speaker 2: and that gives you an opportunity to convert because ostensibly
3:42
Speaker 2: both of those guys will be in Jacksonville for the
3:44
Speaker 2: long term. So you can take there, as John said,
3:48
Speaker 2: their salary, convert it to signing Bonetus, and then spread
3:51
Speaker 2: it out over the years of the salary cap. And
3:53
Speaker 2: you can do that breathing a sigh of relief because
3:56
Speaker 2: you believe that these are cornerstone guys. With a guy
3:59
Speaker 2: like Eric said, who's going to be thirty three years
4:01
Speaker 2: old and you're thinking you're towards the end, you wouldn't
4:04
Speaker 2: do that you would try to see if you could
4:06
Speaker 2: restructure his contract some way, maybe throw what they call
4:09
Speaker 2: a dummy year or two. But you wouldn't get too
4:12
Speaker 2: crazy and too creative with that because he's an older player,
4:15
Speaker 2: and he's a free agent you brought in here. He's
4:17
Speaker 2: not one of your core guys. They could do something
4:20
Speaker 2: with Trayvon Walker, right, They could create a contract for
4:23
Speaker 2: him which would lower his fifteen million dollar cap number,
4:27
Speaker 2: call it a million. But you're talking now about making
4:31
Speaker 2: a substantial, cornerstone sort of decision a year before you
4:36
Speaker 2: have to. They'll get there and they'll have room to spare.
4:39
Speaker 2: But you know the other thing, Kai and John is
4:41
Speaker 2: there are a lot of players on this roster that
4:43
Speaker 2: the Jaguars want to pay so rather than diving into
4:46
Speaker 2: free agency, I mean, just a guy Patrick, I'm sorry,
4:50
Speaker 2: Parker Washington, I was call him Patrick, But you know
4:54
Speaker 2: guys like that that you want that you want to
4:56
Speaker 2: be here. Brent Strange is another guy that you want
4:59
Speaker 2: a round for the long m Anton Harrison's gonna come up.
5:02
Speaker 2: So there's a lot of cap things they can do,
5:05
Speaker 2: but they had to have those guys in mind too.
5:07
Speaker 3: Yeah. Those guys, though, won't necessarily lower the cap significantly,
5:11
Speaker 3: but you can keep their cap figure manageable going forward.
5:14
Speaker 3: But yeah, Brandon Strange and Parker Washington are two guys
5:18
Speaker 3: they need to get done this year. I think they
5:19
Speaker 3: will absolutely.
5:20
Speaker 1: I'm sure if they haven't talked to them already, they
5:22
Speaker 1: are going to be doing that very soon. Our final
5:24
Speaker 1: big thing today is going to be on the road again,
5:26
Speaker 1: because coming out this week they may even made an
5:28
Speaker 1: announcement that the Jaguars are going to play two games
5:31
Speaker 1: in London next year, and both of them are actually
5:33
Speaker 1: gonna be home games, one at Wembley and one at
5:35
Speaker 1: Tottenham Stadium, and Mark Lamping here at the Jaguars explained
5:38
Speaker 1: a little bit about why they did that trade off
5:40
Speaker 1: for two home games.
5:43
Speaker 4: We were scheduled to play an additional game in twenty thirty.
5:49
Speaker 3: We work with the league.
5:50
Speaker 4: The league has agreed to move that game to twenty
5:54
Speaker 4: twenty six. So what that means is we're getting a
5:58
Speaker 4: game back that will be in Jacksonville in the new
6:02
Speaker 4: stadium at full capacity, and we're giving up a game
6:08
Speaker 4: at reduced capacity in the stadium here. And it also
6:12
Speaker 4: helps us regarding the construction.
6:16
Speaker 1: So next year, limited home games limited capacity here at
6:19
Speaker 1: the stadium, at every big stadium, so they're kind of
6:22
Speaker 1: doing a little switch around, Brian trying to get back
6:24
Speaker 1: a game at new capacity at the new stadium in
6:27
Speaker 1: twenty thirty, because obviously the Jaguars play there every year,
6:29
Speaker 1: but every four or five years an NFL team has
6:32
Speaker 1: to play an international game, so they're trading that game back,
6:35
Speaker 1: but not only six home games next year. So that's
6:37
Speaker 1: kind of tough.
6:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is, but as Mark said, it's about the
6:40
Speaker 2: trade off. Mark explained it last Wednesday, and I've been
6:43
Speaker 2: explaining it John. I'm sure you have two every day since,
6:46
Speaker 2: whether it's in lined publics or at a rotary club
6:48
Speaker 2: or standing on the beach. Everyone wants to know about
6:51
Speaker 2: this other league game. So the league changed something and
6:55
Speaker 2: they said that every eight years a team has to
6:58
Speaker 2: give up a home game. Bag wars have been over
7:00
Speaker 2: there enough. They haven't been part of that. But now
7:03
Speaker 2: the league has changed the resolution and every four years,
7:06
Speaker 2: and the Jaguars are on the books for twenty twenty
7:08
Speaker 2: seven and twenty thirty. The Wembley thing is totally separate
7:11
Speaker 2: than this particular game that they call the resolution game.
7:14
Speaker 2: So moving it from twenty thirty when they're scheduled to
7:16
Speaker 2: twenty twenty six, just seems reasonable to everyone involved. Your
7:19
Speaker 2: lower capacity here, you get the game back at a
7:22
Speaker 2: full capacity stadium in twenty thirty. It just makes a
7:25
Speaker 2: lot of sense. And I get why people are questioning this,
7:29
Speaker 2: but the reality of it is is it was the smart,
7:31
Speaker 2: reasonable decision for the Jaguars. The London games. Wembley stands alone.
7:36
Speaker 2: The resolution game is different, and the Jaguars have to
7:39
Speaker 2: give one up right now every four years.
7:42
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I have asked me the same thing, and
7:45
Speaker 3: it always comes with the question, well, why are they
7:47
Speaker 3: punishing us twice? Well, that's the way some fans see
7:52
Speaker 3: it around here, but the league doesn't see the Wembley
7:55
Speaker 3: game as a punishment because the Jaguars want to play
7:58
Speaker 3: that game, so they don't really see that as it's
8:01
Speaker 3: not keeping score and points off, points on. It's like
8:04
Speaker 3: Brian said, it's a separate deal. I think also it's
8:06
Speaker 3: important to remember in order to get to in order
8:13
Speaker 3: not to be away in twenty six all games, they
8:18
Speaker 3: had to figure out some way to have some construction
8:21
Speaker 3: safety net here, and this is a way to get
8:25
Speaker 3: four or five weeks. They hope away from Jacksonville, you
8:29
Speaker 3: have time to construct. And the argument I've heard with
8:31
Speaker 3: that of its fans as well, they should think about
8:33
Speaker 3: football first. Well they are, but the big picture here
8:37
Speaker 3: was to try not to have a second season away
8:39
Speaker 3: from Jacksonville. So this was an effort to try to
8:42
Speaker 3: do that. Basically, in order to get that, it was
8:45
Speaker 3: hard to get seven or eight games at home that year.
8:48
Speaker 3: They had to sort of sacrifice one or two and
8:50
Speaker 3: only have six. Anyway, I hope you explained that a
8:53
Speaker 3: little bit, but I know that was important to have
8:55
Speaker 3: a little bit of construction time during the season. That's
8:58
Speaker 3: one of the reasons that they wanted to move that
9:00
Speaker 3: game into this year too.
9:01
Speaker 1: It's a good point because with that construction time, they'll
9:03
Speaker 1: have the two games away in London, then it'll be
9:05
Speaker 1: a bye week most likely, and then an away game.
9:08
Speaker 1: We'll give them a full month to do construction here
9:10
Speaker 1: at the stadium and kind of get everything in the
9:11
Speaker 1: works because we all want to see what that new
9:13
Speaker 1: stadium is going to look like in the years to come.
9:15
Speaker 1: So stay with us here on jag Zam. Coming up,
9:17
Speaker 1: we'll talk a little bit about what's been going on
9:18
Speaker 1: around the NFL elsewhere. Welcome back into jag z Am
9:28
Speaker 1: today as we get ready for free agency next week.
9:31
Speaker 1: We are just I think I'm I'm excited to get
9:34
Speaker 1: back into football little bit. It was a little weird
9:35
Speaker 1: last week. We didn't go to the Combine, which we
9:37
Speaker 1: normally do, and that's kind of the swing back into things.
9:40
Speaker 1: But it's a reminder as well. We don't have a
9:41
Speaker 1: first round draft pick, so thinks they're going to be
9:43
Speaker 1: a lot different here this year.
9:44
Speaker 3: Yeah.
9:44
Speaker 2: I'm used to get ready to go to wherever the
9:46
Speaker 2: draft is, you know, in Pittsburgh, and we're used to
9:48
Speaker 2: having a big draft day party here at the stadium,
9:51
Speaker 2: but obviously those things don't factor into it as well.
9:53
Speaker 2: Everything's different around here this year.
9:55
Speaker 3: Yeah. It's when you went after Travis Hunter last year
10:02
Speaker 3: and when you went after free agency the way you did.
10:05
Speaker 3: You sort of made sure that your splash off season
10:10
Speaker 3: was twenty five and your twenty six off season was
10:13
Speaker 3: lower key, sort of maintaining what you hoped you built
10:16
Speaker 3: in twenty five. The good news is they built it. Yeah,
10:19
Speaker 3: and you're thirteen and four, so you did get to
10:21
Speaker 3: a point where you can have an off season. I
10:24
Speaker 3: I don't call it maintenance. Mean, maybe maybe that's what
10:26
Speaker 3: it is, where you sort of can just monitor things
10:31
Speaker 3: and tweak rather than have to have the splash moves
10:33
Speaker 3: to get there. I think this is the off season
10:37
Speaker 3: where you calm it, yeah, and then you can act
10:40
Speaker 3: like a normal Once they've got the cap in order,
10:43
Speaker 3: the draft picks back, you can have some more, you know,
10:46
Speaker 3: off seasons like we're used to. Starting in twenty seven,
10:49
Speaker 3: I think.
10:49
Speaker 1: We'll have a little more of an idea with free
10:50
Speaker 1: agency whatever they tend to do, to give us a
10:54
Speaker 1: little bit more of an idea of what they might
10:55
Speaker 1: be focusing on in the draft, because right now we
10:58
Speaker 1: can make what we think are what we think might happen.
11:01
Speaker 1: We don't really know that yet. So I think that
11:02
Speaker 1: always gives you a little more focus seeing what they
11:04
Speaker 1: address in free agency, because then that'll kind of give
11:06
Speaker 1: you a heads up as where they're going to be
11:07
Speaker 1: for the draft. But let's look around the league, see
11:09
Speaker 1: what else is going on right now. We'll check it
11:11
Speaker 1: in the division. The Colts have a lot going on.
11:14
Speaker 1: Daniel Jones not signed as of yet. That seems to
11:17
Speaker 1: be what they're gonna go after with quarterback, as Anthony
11:20
Speaker 1: Richardson has said he wants a trade. I think they
11:22
Speaker 1: were kind of done with that anyway, or seeking a trade.
11:25
Speaker 1: But then also Alec Pierce is someone you might be
11:27
Speaker 1: wanting to franchise tag. They haven't done used the tag yet.
11:30
Speaker 1: I don't know if they're going to use that today.
11:32
Speaker 1: Today's last day, John, I think they can do that.
11:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, uh, today's the last day. I look. Storylines of
11:40
Speaker 3: franchises sort of evolve over decades, right. The Colts were
11:46
Speaker 3: the quarterback franchise for what, you know, from ninety nine
11:50
Speaker 3: until Luck retired in twenty fifteen, well whatever the day what?
11:54
Speaker 3: And when I was up there, people knew they were
11:58
Speaker 3: blessed to have a quarterback in Peyton. And people would
12:01
Speaker 3: walk around the building saying, hey, don't forget this is
12:04
Speaker 3: not normal, meaning this kind of consistency, and boy have
12:08
Speaker 3: they paid for it a quarterback since right? I mean,
12:10
Speaker 3: and they are a franchise, maybe the model franchise right
12:14
Speaker 3: now for years and years of trying to get that
12:18
Speaker 3: position right and it's hard and the Daniel Jones says, interesting,
12:22
Speaker 3: I mean he was great when he played last year.
12:27
Speaker 3: That Achilles can be tricky to come back from. Do
12:30
Speaker 3: they know what he was going to be. I think
12:33
Speaker 3: they have to because they committed to it.
12:35
Speaker 2: The timing of the injury is what really hurts you, believe.
12:37
Speaker 2: I mean, if it had happened in September, yeah, you
12:40
Speaker 2: might be moving on because you hadn't had enough of
12:42
Speaker 2: a sample size. Or October maybe you have enough of
12:44
Speaker 2: a sample size, you have a comfort level with where
12:46
Speaker 2: Daniel Jones is. I'm interested and I know that they're
12:49
Speaker 2: different sports in different positions. But Jason Tatum, the Boston
12:52
Speaker 2: Celtics star, is forty two weeks removed from tearing his
12:55
Speaker 2: achilles in the NBA playoffs last year, and I've kind
12:58
Speaker 2: of been monitoring that while reading the Daniel Jones stuff
13:01
Speaker 2: because Tatum kai is at a point where they're talking
13:03
Speaker 2: about him being back in time for the playoffs, maybe
13:06
Speaker 2: before the playoffs, and that you would think might be
13:10
Speaker 2: a more difficult position to play, a difficult sport to
13:12
Speaker 2: play when the achilles. So it seems to me John
13:16
Speaker 2: like they're all in on Daniel Jones, and the question
13:19
Speaker 2: mark is is how much are you paying him and
13:21
Speaker 2: how are you structuring the contract? Because they like who
13:24
Speaker 2: he is and the other thing that I've heard you
13:26
Speaker 2: guys probably have two is they're keeping Alec Pierce because
13:29
Speaker 2: Pearce and Jones are a great tandem and they're going
13:31
Speaker 2: to figure out a way to make that one work.
13:34
Speaker 3: Yeah. I kind of think they have to be all
13:36
Speaker 3: in on Jones just because they went after the cornerback
13:39
Speaker 3: last year, gave up the two first round picks. If
13:42
Speaker 3: you're not all in on Jones, what are you all
13:44
Speaker 3: in on? So they're an interesting franchise because they were
13:49
Speaker 3: really good when he was right. But you're playing on
13:53
Speaker 3: a timeline with the running back because they don't last forever.
13:56
Speaker 3: So I would read there have Tylor Lawrence situation.
14:04
Speaker 2: It's worth wointing out. The other great quarterback franchises been
14:07
Speaker 2: the Packers. They had Farth, they drafted Rogers, They drafted
14:10
Speaker 2: love Right, which caused a problem with Rogers. If the
14:13
Speaker 2: culture sitting in the second round and there's a quarterback there,
14:15
Speaker 2: I think you have to take them. I think you
14:17
Speaker 2: have to be at a position where you start to
14:19
Speaker 2: re establish some quarterback depth.
14:21
Speaker 3: Just in case is he good the guy they're gonna
14:26
Speaker 3: take right? It's a gamble, but they're that franchise. Every
14:32
Speaker 3: year they have dipped a toe uh, and they haven't
14:35
Speaker 3: come up with right guy.
14:36
Speaker 1: So as we look elsewhere in the division, the Titans
14:40
Speaker 1: trade to and Andre Sweat up to the Jets Jermaine
14:43
Speaker 1: Johnson back will Robert Sala, who's coach in New York,
14:47
Speaker 1: and they have a lot of cap space opposite of us,
14:50
Speaker 1: so they have a ton of cap spaces. Feels like
14:52
Speaker 1: Sale's gonna try and get his guys in there to
14:56
Speaker 1: day to Vander Sweat, a giant human being, but didn't
14:59
Speaker 1: fit in with what they were trying to do.
15:00
Speaker 2: No, to me, this is just a okay, I'll take
15:03
Speaker 2: your guy, you take my guy. I think it helps
15:06
Speaker 2: the Jaguars not to have that guy, you know, mine
15:09
Speaker 2: up in the middle of the line. But I neither
15:12
Speaker 2: here nor there. I do know this. The money that
15:14
Speaker 2: they have to spend can either take them to a
15:18
Speaker 2: place where they're competitive or it can bury them. And
15:21
Speaker 2: the Jaguars are a case study on misspending taking too
15:26
Speaker 2: many chances. You know, it seemed forever they were in
15:29
Speaker 2: free agency, theyk we're going to fix it all this year.
15:32
Speaker 2: Saw saw some of that when he was here with
15:34
Speaker 2: Gus Bradley. I would think that he would want to
15:37
Speaker 2: spend wisely.
15:38
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a free agency is a dangerous drug though, yea,
15:42
Speaker 3: it is, meaning when you've got that money spend and
15:46
Speaker 3: you've got pressure. This is a franchise that was consistent
15:50
Speaker 3: for thirty years basically and is now we'll say it
15:57
Speaker 3: like it is there. Where the Jaguars were in the
16:01
Speaker 3: sort of abyss of the last fifteen years, meaning they're down,
16:05
Speaker 3: they now have a quarterback, they have draft capital, and
16:08
Speaker 3: they have free agency capital. As you said, Brian, we've
16:11
Speaker 3: seen where if you try to do everything in one
16:14
Speaker 3: off season, it's very tempting because you get the money.
16:18
Speaker 3: So they're anything franchise we've seen here. When you hit
16:22
Speaker 3: that low, it can be harder to pull out than
16:26
Speaker 3: it ought to be. Them trying to pull out is
16:29
Speaker 3: the storyline for the next year or so.
16:30
Speaker 2: You've always called it. It's like your foot stuck in
16:33
Speaker 2: a puddle of mud, yeah, and trying to break that
16:35
Speaker 2: suction and get free. And it took the Jaguars a
16:37
Speaker 2: long time to do it because they put themselves in
16:40
Speaker 2: a tough spot with free agents. Sala was in New
16:44
Speaker 2: York when they had a bunch of picks and they
16:45
Speaker 2: drafted very well on the defensive side of the ball.
16:47
Speaker 2: Jamae Johnson was one of them. Mike Wilgonzi, the general
16:52
Speaker 2: manager who came from Kansas City where they drafted. Hopefully,
16:57
Speaker 2: if you're solo, that's where they're going.
16:59
Speaker 3: And I think find a note on that. It's important
17:01
Speaker 3: to credit what the Jaguars did last off season because
17:06
Speaker 3: that's the right way to try to get out of
17:09
Speaker 3: the abyss. Meaning Hainesy, McCarry, Jordan. Listen. None of those
17:14
Speaker 3: guys are probably going to the Hall of Fame, but
17:16
Speaker 3: they are really good culture players you could afford and
17:20
Speaker 3: gradually get out of it. Along with drafting. Well, it's
17:24
Speaker 3: harder to do that than in autobate.
17:26
Speaker 2: There's also one other factor in it, and people don't
17:28
Speaker 2: necessarily always take it into account. You have to spend
17:31
Speaker 2: to a certain percentage of the cap on a three
17:33
Speaker 2: year rolling average. So they've got all this money and
17:35
Speaker 2: it's not like they can bank it and keep flipping it.
17:37
Speaker 2: They have to spend to get the revenue sharing in
17:40
Speaker 2: the NFL. They required to spend. I believe it's ninety
17:43
Speaker 2: percent of the cap on a three year ruling average.
17:45
Speaker 2: So they got this money and they got to spend
17:46
Speaker 2: some of it, so you've got to be really careful
17:49
Speaker 2: on where you spend it.
17:50
Speaker 3: Money burn a hole in their pocket.
17:51
Speaker 1: We're going to keep it eye and see what they
17:53
Speaker 1: actually end up spending it on elsewhere in the division.
17:56
Speaker 1: The Texans training for Lions running back David Montgomery, sending
18:00
Speaker 1: a bunch of picks their way, and that was a
18:02
Speaker 1: little bit interesting to me.
18:05
Speaker 3: Their addition there.
18:05
Speaker 1: I felt like, obviously they had the whole thing with
18:07
Speaker 1: Joe Mixon and I don't think anybody ever figured out
18:09
Speaker 1: what that was about with his foot injury. Didn't play,
18:11
Speaker 1: but they got a lot of good play out of
18:12
Speaker 1: Woody Marks. And obviously David Montgomery was really successful what
18:16
Speaker 1: he's done in Detroit, but he's not as eighth year now,
18:18
Speaker 1: so it was an interesting trade for me. I think
18:20
Speaker 1: he could be really great. But also they're shipping out
18:23
Speaker 1: a ton of their offensive linemen, so I'm not really
18:24
Speaker 1: sure what the Texans are doing there either. It seems
18:27
Speaker 1: like they're kind of trying to Obviously their defense is tremendous,
18:30
Speaker 1: but they're trying to overhaul this offense and get it
18:32
Speaker 1: tinkered into the right way.
18:33
Speaker 3: Yeah, and they're in a tough spot because what CJ.
18:39
Speaker 3: Stroud is right now is more uncertain than we thought
18:42
Speaker 3: it would be a couple of years ago, so they're
18:44
Speaker 3: trying to tinker with the offense. Dave Montgomery is a
18:47
Speaker 3: really good player. Ran in a situation in Detroit where
18:49
Speaker 3: the other kid was playing just so much better that
18:52
Speaker 3: his opportunities were sort of limited. Eight year running back.
18:56
Speaker 3: I expect him to matter for the Texans. He fits
18:58
Speaker 3: what they like to do. But to me, the storyline
19:01
Speaker 3: for the Texans is is CJ. Stroud a leader or not?
19:04
Speaker 3: And that will determine to me whether they can be
19:08
Speaker 3: a super Bowl team or a team with a very
19:10
Speaker 3: good defense fighting to get there.
19:11
Speaker 2: Well, they've got to make a decision on the fifth
19:13
Speaker 2: year option with c J. Stroud and John's it's a
19:16
Speaker 2: big decision for them. He was really good, and then
19:18
Speaker 2: they got Joe Mixon and I thought he played great,
19:21
Speaker 2: and then last year he didn't have a terrific running game.
19:24
Speaker 2: You mentioned Woody Marks and Nick Chubb. They brought in
19:26
Speaker 2: and they were good enough, but Mixon was a difference
19:29
Speaker 2: maker in twenty twenty four, and that's what they're trying
19:32
Speaker 2: to get here with Montgomery and you hope an eight
19:35
Speaker 2: year guy with Woody Marx can be that banger that
19:38
Speaker 2: Mixon was when he came in. It's not quite as big,
19:41
Speaker 2: he's not quite as fast, but he's a really good
19:43
Speaker 2: football player if you use him the right way. This
19:46
Speaker 2: is all about CJ. Stroud and trying to figure out
19:49
Speaker 2: a way to make him effective while they have that
19:51
Speaker 2: defense guy, because that defense will start to piecemeal itself
19:55
Speaker 2: away as they start paying the top players and have
19:59
Speaker 2: to retool the secondary.
20:00
Speaker 3: That's really a tough spot there, and is defense. There's
20:04
Speaker 3: elite defenses that carry it, which they are. They're the
20:06
Speaker 3: I mean, they were the team in the postseason that
20:09
Speaker 3: you know, I thought the Jars have toughest match up
20:11
Speaker 3: against because that defense is dominant. But dominant defenses, as
20:15
Speaker 3: we saw in seventeen around here, shelf life is more
20:18
Speaker 3: limited than when you're built around a quarterback. Be interesting
20:21
Speaker 3: to see what they do with CJ. Stroud.
20:23
Speaker 1: Also, just when we saw the back half of the
20:25
Speaker 1: season after out with that injury not running as much either,
20:28
Speaker 1: so I think that's also limiting his game. But we'll
20:30
Speaker 1: keep an eye and see what they end up doing
20:32
Speaker 1: with the extensions. Obviously he'll be there for a little
20:34
Speaker 1: bit longer, but something to keep an eye on. Sal's
20:37
Speaker 1: here and diaxam. We're gonna do some ozone mail bag
20:39
Speaker 1: questions as John shares his wisdom with us after the break.
20:54
Speaker 1: Welcome back to jagxam today. Obviously it's the off season,
20:56
Speaker 1: so John Oser is getting a lot of ozone questions.
20:59
Speaker 1: We're gonna go over some of them with you today
21:01
Speaker 1: and give you the answers that he brought to his viewers.
21:03
Speaker 1: So first one is Bradley from Death Valley, California, says,
21:05
Speaker 1: Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Junior has elite size, speed
21:08
Speaker 1: and athletic ability. Had an elite rookie year, but the
21:12
Speaker 1: regression this past year is concerning, but I think he
21:14
Speaker 1: bounces back. How serious are the Jaguars about trading dt J?
21:19
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's always a trade. I can call him rumors.
21:24
Speaker 3: Anymore trade stories out there that when you look at
21:27
Speaker 3: it's like, okay, Well, somebody from Pittsburgh said that there
21:30
Speaker 3: was interest from the Steelers in the interesting So I
21:35
Speaker 3: don't doubt that there are teams who look at Brian
21:36
Speaker 3: Thomas Junior say I'd be interested in having that. I
21:40
Speaker 3: don't think there's significant interest on the Jaguars part. There's
21:45
Speaker 3: a price for everything, yeah, but I don't think it's
21:47
Speaker 3: necessarily They're sitting back there going we need to move
21:50
Speaker 3: this because I think they like The regression that he
21:54
Speaker 3: talked about was in the first seven or eight games
21:56
Speaker 3: this season. In the second half, thing started looking better
22:01
Speaker 3: for this receiving corps as a whole. James Gladstone talked
22:05
Speaker 3: after the regular season about having three or four guys
22:10
Speaker 3: in the passing offense and btj's ability to stretch the
22:14
Speaker 3: field and draw defenses was a big part of that.
22:18
Speaker 3: The question you have if in theory you're trying to
22:21
Speaker 3: get rid of Brian Thomas, I'm saying a reader asking
22:24
Speaker 3: me about that, what are you replacing him with? You know,
22:27
Speaker 3: if you trade him for a second round pick, are
22:29
Speaker 3: you getting better than him when you go try to
22:31
Speaker 3: replace it. You better be able to find somebody who's
22:35
Speaker 3: stretching and straining the defense if you're going to get
22:38
Speaker 3: rid of him. So I don't think they're very serious
22:39
Speaker 3: at all. No.
22:40
Speaker 2: A couple thoughts on this. The first that stands out
22:42
Speaker 2: to me is we're just redefining his role.
22:44
Speaker 1: Right.
22:45
Speaker 2: We thought he was that one alpha. The offense rolls
22:48
Speaker 2: through him. But as you just said, James Gladstone really
22:52
Speaker 2: likes the idea of having three or four guys at
22:54
Speaker 2: seven hundred yards, which they had last year four guys
22:56
Speaker 2: at five hundred I think was the number. So while
22:59
Speaker 2: he may not be that alpha one dominant all pro
23:02
Speaker 2: wide receiver, he's a big part of what they do
23:05
Speaker 2: on offense. And the other thing is, and it's this
23:07
Speaker 2: trend and I don't know whether it's social media or
23:09
Speaker 2: media in general, but it's could might be. You see
23:12
Speaker 2: these headlines now and it's just somebody speculating, you know,
23:15
Speaker 2: who who matches up? Who who needs it? Oh, the
23:18
Speaker 2: Bills need a receiver. Well, where might that make sense? Well,
23:21
Speaker 2: Brian Thomas Junior wasn't the dominant player and they didn't
23:23
Speaker 2: draft him. There's just a lot of speculation, and you
23:26
Speaker 2: click on these things that are clickbait now and there's
23:28
Speaker 2: so much just possibly, could might Maybe there's nothing hard
23:33
Speaker 2: news to it at all, So.
23:34
Speaker 3: I might win the lottery. I keep waiting, Yeah, and
23:38
Speaker 3: so far no, you keep going up. Yeah, my code
23:41
Speaker 3: case working with right good KAI.
23:43
Speaker 2: Could be going to Sunday Night Football she's certainly talented enough,
23:45
Speaker 2: but you just don't know that. People just throw things
23:49
Speaker 2: out there, and I don't see why you'd want especially
23:52
Speaker 2: because you don't have to pay him this year. It's
23:54
Speaker 2: not like you're up against the contract where he's going
23:57
Speaker 2: to cost you twenty million.
23:59
Speaker 3: He's a rookie deal.
24:00
Speaker 2: Still, like, it makes sense to keep right here because
24:02
Speaker 2: he's talented, because he's cost defective, and because he's part
24:05
Speaker 2: of an offense he could really use his talent.
24:07
Speaker 3: And I think the important thing to remember about him too.
24:10
Speaker 3: None of the numbers weren't there, but the plays in
24:14
Speaker 3: the moments were, Oh yeah, I'm not sure they beat
24:16
Speaker 3: Houston without him here or Kansas City. I'm not sure
24:18
Speaker 3: they beat Kansas City without him. So when you have
24:20
Speaker 3: offensive guys who make that play in that moment that
24:24
Speaker 3: win a game for you, you know, before you get
24:27
Speaker 3: rid of it, you ask yourself, where am I getting
24:29
Speaker 3: that from? If he's not here? I think BTJ fits
24:32
Speaker 3: into that. And look, we've seen the potential, We've seen
24:35
Speaker 3: what he can do, all right.
24:36
Speaker 1: Second one's about Travis Hunter's rehab. Bruce from Saint Simon's
24:39
Speaker 1: Island and Georgia says his wide receiver cornerback Travis Hunter's
24:42
Speaker 1: injury last year potentially affect his quickness and agility for
24:45
Speaker 1: this season, or do today's advanced medical procedures aka Tommy
24:49
Speaker 1: John and such mean that Hunter will retain his abilities.
24:52
Speaker 3: This is for obviously for doctor ol here. Yeah, I'm
24:55
Speaker 3: not a doctor. Uh my nickname is doctor O. In
24:59
Speaker 3: you in high school it was an ironic nicknack or
25:04
Speaker 3: anything may that was not the doctor. But look, any
25:10
Speaker 3: injury to a knee has a chance to wear and
25:15
Speaker 3: tear in a road quickness and agility. I mean, that's
25:18
Speaker 3: why players aren't as good when they're thirty five. The
25:21
Speaker 3: body wears out. But I don't sense that there's any
25:24
Speaker 3: concern around the building that when he comes back next year,
25:28
Speaker 3: you're going to see a player who's not as quick
25:32
Speaker 3: and agile as he was when they draft him. I
25:34
Speaker 3: don't think there's any concern that he's not going to
25:36
Speaker 3: be the player.
25:37
Speaker 2: That he was before.
25:39
Speaker 3: You know, it's always a risk when they're surgery involved
25:42
Speaker 3: and there's an injury, but I don't sense that is
25:45
Speaker 3: a huge concern. You guys may have heard different. I
25:48
Speaker 3: think they think he's going to be the player that
25:50
Speaker 3: he was.
25:50
Speaker 2: I've never known what the term ahead of schedule means
25:54
Speaker 2: with respect to surgery, especially knee surgery, but I keep
25:57
Speaker 2: hearing that he looks good and he's ahead of schedule hearing.
26:00
Speaker 2: I haven't seen it, but they said when they announced
26:05
Speaker 2: that he was not going to play the rest of
26:07
Speaker 2: last year that they fully expected that he would be
26:09
Speaker 2: ready to go when OTA's got started. So I don't
26:13
Speaker 2: doubt that he is doing well and that his recovery
26:16
Speaker 2: is at least on track and they expect him to
26:19
Speaker 2: come back, if only because when they have talked about
26:22
Speaker 2: him this year, they have talked about him still being
26:24
Speaker 2: a guy who can play on both sides of the ball,
26:27
Speaker 2: who not just play on both sides of the ball,
26:29
Speaker 2: but be a factor on both sides of the ball.
26:32
Speaker 2: And if that's the case, if they really believe that
26:34
Speaker 2: they're telling you, they don't have many concerns about him.
26:37
Speaker 3: In my sense is the biggest storyline with Travis is
26:39
Speaker 3: going to remain usage. I think once he gets going
26:46
Speaker 3: in training camp, the physical part will not be the issue.
26:49
Speaker 3: It'll again be exactly how they're going to use him,
26:51
Speaker 3: and that'll be the storyline we want.
26:52
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's the most tantalizing part of him.
26:54
Speaker 2: Do you need him on offense this week? Do you
26:56
Speaker 2: need him on defense this week? What do you need?
26:58
Speaker 1: And a year with the playbooks on both sides can't
27:00
Speaker 1: hurt either. That's certainly gonna help them. But yeah, from
27:03
Speaker 1: all we've heard so far, rehab has been going as
27:05
Speaker 1: planned and we should see him back on the field
27:07
Speaker 1: when they start their off season programs soon, so we're
27:10
Speaker 1: gonna close things out. We'll go to Michael from Orange Park, Florida,
27:13
Speaker 1: who says, Ozone, where are we playing in twenty seven?
27:18
Speaker 1: Why are they delaying this?
27:19
Speaker 3: Well, I don't know where they're playing because they're delaying
27:26
Speaker 3: this because it has to be voted on by NFL
27:30
Speaker 3: owners by rule, and that'll happen at the owner's meetings
27:35
Speaker 3: in Phoenix at the end of March. The Orlando or Gainsville.
27:39
Speaker 3: I don't have a great sense that I'm coming unt
27:42
Speaker 3: to share on the air about where it will be,
27:45
Speaker 3: but I think we'll know within three weeks.
27:49
Speaker 2: I've seen the stories out of Orlando and how aggressive
27:51
Speaker 2: they have been in trying to make a deal. But
27:54
Speaker 2: until the owners vote on it, the Jaguars can't say
27:58
Speaker 2: anything about it. They have to let that process play out. Now.
28:01
Speaker 2: Once they decide, oh you're gonna hear about it, you
28:04
Speaker 2: can be sure you're going to be hearing about it.
28:06
Speaker 3: And guess what, they don't play until twenty seven, so
28:11
Speaker 3: to wait till that's wrong? Way.
28:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a lot on on the to do list
28:15
Speaker 2: to be able to play here in twenty twenty six.
28:18
Speaker 1: Yes, so there's a lot to go down. But the
28:19
Speaker 1: answer is short answer.
28:21
Speaker 3: Three weeks.
28:21
Speaker 1: The'll vote on it and then we will know for sure.
28:23
Speaker 1: But say with stern jagsam will tell you what's coming
28:25
Speaker 1: up the rest of this week and then going to
28:26
Speaker 1: free agency next week. SAgs bands tend to lock in
28:34
Speaker 1: your seats for twenty twenty six by placing.
28:36
Speaker 3: Your deposits now.
28:37
Speaker 1: Next season will be played at EverBank Stadium, but limited
28:40
Speaker 1: capacity obviously, so you want to get in there early
28:42
Speaker 1: and get your spot. Don't miss out on your chance
28:44
Speaker 1: to see the biggest matchups this season. Play that deposit,
28:47
Speaker 1: get in there and get your tickets. Go to Jaguars
28:49
Speaker 1: dot com slash tickets. You can also call in.
28:52
Speaker 2: It's gonna be fun, you know if the news that
28:55
Speaker 2: I think just escaped last week from Mark's press conference,
28:59
Speaker 2: was the atmosphere that they expect.
29:01
Speaker 1: You know, Actually it's back to what you expect out
29:04
Speaker 1: of a Jaguars game.
29:05
Speaker 2: The back end really Jaguars fans.
29:07
Speaker 1: Back back end of that season. You think about Monday
29:09
Speaker 1: Night football, you think about that playoff game. The crowds
29:11
Speaker 1: were the best part of some of those games. And
29:14
Speaker 1: to have that back now and have a team that's
29:16
Speaker 1: worth watching every single week, you want to be there
29:19
Speaker 1: to see it. Especially with sometimes with smaller crowds, I
29:22
Speaker 1: feel like you can be a little more voracious as well,
29:24
Speaker 1: so like it's like a little bit, it feels like
29:26
Speaker 1: it's on top of you a little bit, and I
29:27
Speaker 1: think it'll be a cool environment for sure.
29:28
Speaker 3: Of Colus. It's reduced, but it's reduced to forty three.
29:31
Speaker 3: It's not the twenty seven that you had in San
29:34
Speaker 3: Diego or La back in the day. There will still
29:37
Speaker 3: be I expect the energy to be out out of
29:40
Speaker 3: this world for the games that are here.
29:42
Speaker 1: Absolutely, So that's something to keep an eye on for
29:44
Speaker 1: US franchise tag deals time is up today, so we'll
29:48
Speaker 1: keep an eye on that. I don't expect anything here,
29:50
Speaker 1: but just elsewhere around the league, and then what's the
29:53
Speaker 1: timeline for free agency next week?
29:54
Speaker 3: John, Well, the negotiating period begins Monday and then and
30:00
Speaker 3: free agency technically starts at four pm Wednesday, and it'll
30:04
Speaker 3: be one of those our awkward time of the year
30:08
Speaker 3: here because the news will be flying Monday and Tuesday
30:12
Speaker 3: officially on the website, will report at four on Wednesday
30:18
Speaker 3: when it actually happens because of the league year league rules,
30:21
Speaker 3: but all the fun stuff is Monday and Tuesday, and we'll.
30:23
Speaker 2: Pay attention obviously because the Jagwarts has some work to
30:25
Speaker 2: do to get under the count.
30:26
Speaker 1: So we'll be here with you at some point next week,
30:28
Speaker 1: not sure if it's Tuesday or Wednesday, but to talk
30:30
Speaker 1: a little bit about free agency what the team plans
30:33
Speaker 1: on doing. But we'll obviously have you covered on Jaguars
30:35
Speaker 1: dot com as well, so always check there for your
30:37
Speaker 1: latest info and we'll see you next week on Jacks
30:39
Speaker 1: amm