The Jacksonville Jaguars have signed fifth-year OLEarl Watford as an unrestricted free agent, the club announced today.
Watford, 26, has appeared in 33 career games with 12 starts and was originally drafted by Arizona in the fourth round (116th overall) of the 2013 NFL Draft. He has appeared in one postseason contest in his first four NFL seasons with the Cardinals.
Watford, 6-3, 300, appeared in 15 games with 10 starts during the 2016 season. In 2015, Watford played in eight games with two starts at RT, making his first career start vs. New Orleans on Sept. 13, 2015, but was placed on injured reserve (hand) on Dec. 8, 2015. Watford played in 10 games and one playoff game in 2014, seeing action primarily on special teams. He made his NFL debut against the New York Giants on Sept. 14, 2014. In 2013, Watford was active for three games during the season, but did not see action.
A native of Philadelphia, Pa., Watford attended James Madison University from 2008-12 and appeared in 43 games with 37 starts, including starts in each of his final 35 appearances. Watford was a two-time first-team All-Colonial Athletic Association selection and earned first-team All-American honors as a senior while serving as a team captain. He attended Simon Gratz (Philadelphia, Pa.) High School where he was a first-team All-City selection and was named to the second-team All-Decade Public team on the defensive line by the Philadelphia News. Watford can be found on Twitter at @EWatts78.
