JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …
Bill from Jacksonville
As general manager, Trent Baalke has drafted seven wide receivers since 2011. The career totals of those seven selections while playing for Trent Baalke: 200 catches, 1,241 yards and four touchdowns. John, what do you think these numbers say about Baalke's ability to identify wide receiver talent? Thanks! Go Jags.
I would say the question is perhaps a little slanted against Jaguars General Manager Trent Baalke. While your statistics are accurate, Baalke in seven drafts as a general manager has drafted just one wide receiver before the fourth round. That was A.J. Jenkins, who the San Francisco 49ers selected in Round 1 of the 2012 NFL Draft – No. 30 overall. Jenkins indeed was a major disappointment, playing just three NFL seasons with 17 receptions. If Baalke had selected two or three receivers on Days 1 and 2 of the draft and all were disappointing, I would say there's a trend there. That's not the case.
Russ from Jack
Big O, did the Jags have to pay Jack the last two years of his contract since they cut him not traded him?
No, the Jaguars do not have to pay the last two years of former linebacker Myles Jack's contract. If the Pittsburgh Steelers – who signed Jack after the Jaguars released him last week – had traded for him, they would have been responsible for those two years because they would have acquired the contract. The Jaguars released Jack along with his contract and therefore are not responsible for the salary.
Bradley from Ozark Mountains, AR
Butch & Sundance, Bonnie & Clyde, Smith & Wesson, Sbarros & Food Poisoning and now Allen & Hutchinson. Do you think Baalke & Head Coach Doug Pederson will be smart enough to create another famous duo?
Stay tuned.
KC from Orlando, FL
KOAF. I see similar pay for both of our big-ticket cornerback in consecutive years. Who is our CB1?
I wouldn't necessarily get caught up in salary on this one. The Jaguars have at least three good cornerbacks with extensive NFL experience: second-year veteran Tyson Campbell, sixth-year veteran Shaquill Griffin and newly signed fifth-year veteran Darious Williams. There's not an extreme difference in ability between the members of the trio; with a new staff, it remains to be seen how CB1, CB2 and nickel play out.
Daniel
What is dead money on a contract? Thank you.
Dead money is the amount of salary cap dollars that rolls into a year on the team's salary-cap balance sheet once a player is released. When players sign with teams, teams reduce the yearly salary-cap hit of the signing bonus by spreading the cap ramifications of that bonus over the duration of the contract. When they release a player, the salary-cap hit of the "unplayed" years roll into the current year. It's called "dead" money because teams are "paying" in terms of the cap for a player no longer on the team. All teams have some dead money on the cap. Minimizing it over the course of time is the goal.
Sam from Orlando, FL
Does Treadwell make this team next year? He seems to bring something different to the wide receiver room that the other guys don't.
The Jaguars re-signed veteran receiver Laquon Treadwell this past week. I think he has a good chance to make the team. How good could depend on what the Jaguars do at the position in the draft.
Gary from St. Augustine, FL
I remain soooo tired of your act.
Good eye.
Fair Weather Fred from Jacksonville
Not a daily reader, but checking in after a while. Are you still on some consecutive streak of O-Zone articles? How long has it been?
Yes, the streak stands. I was going to dig up the answer, but I thought instead I might answer it sometime in the next month or so. It will give you incentive to read more regularly. (Insert smiley avatar here).
Bruce from Green Cove Springs, FL
Doug from Jacksonville's about the cap with regard to a player-coach got me wondering. Had there even been player-coaches in the NFL? I learned that yes, the last player-coach was the late Dan Reeves. The Cowboys head coach (the late Tom Landry) used Dan Reeves in that capacity from around 1970 to 1973. For Reeves, it was the starting point to a long coaching career where he became one of the winningest head coaches ever. My question, John, is this: in your tenure covering the Jaguars, have there been any players you thought had the right attributes to be a player-coach?
Sure. Former defensive lineman Calais Campbell could have done it. And former Jaguars linebacker Paul Posluszny. Those two come to mind.
Steve from Nashville, TN
You said recently the Jaguars have not been good enough to earn compensatory draft picks. Meaning the rich just get richer with awarded compensatory picks by not having to replace lost free agent players from outside but rather developing drafted players instead? So basically if your team is not good at drafting and developing talent they are not going to earn compensatory picks? Does any other NFL Team have a longer "losing streak" of no compensatory picks since 2010?
How your team fares doesn't necessarily correlate with compensatory selections, but struggling teams typically partake heavily in free agency – and teams that partake heavily in free agency rarely receive compensatory selections. The Jaguars' streak of 12 consecutive years without a compensatory selection is currently the longest such streak in the NFL.
Gero from Wenden, Germany
Hello, John. So former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was traded to the Indianapolis Colts. I would say it could have been far worse for us. Would it be arrogant to say we can get two wins against Indy in the new season?
The Jaguars won three games last season and have won four the past two seasons. The Jaguars can beat Indianapolis twice next season. That's not arrogant. Now, if you're saying they will … yeah, that's somewhat arrogant.
Mark from Sobieski, WI
Will we ever get a break? I have not seen but one positive score card for our free agency drafts. Almost every sports channel and writer are giving us Cs through Fs. We can't win (even though I do think the team did overpay some players).
It's whatever, I suppose.
Tucker from Gallatin
John, the AFC quarterback situation is out of control. (Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, Russell Wilson of the Denver Broncos, Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers, Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens, Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals, Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans and Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills). All top-tier quarterbacks. Pass rusher all day at No. 1. Could you see us trading back in the first round to get a receiver? Or do you see a receiver falling in the first round?
I think there's a really good chance the Jaguars select a wide receiver with the No. 33 overall selection in the 2022 NFL Draft. They absolutely could trade up into the first round from there. Or they may not need to do that.
Sam from Orlando, FL
As Wrestlemania season is once again upon us. I always like to do a dive back to a simpler time when Eugene "Rock Salt" Frenette body slammed Andre the Giant inside Madison Square Garden. His aardvark strength and sub 3.8 40 made him a sight to behold in his prime.
That actually happened at the Coliseum in Jacksonville in a Championship Wrestling from Florida match. Gordon Solie was on the call. It was, as Gene likes to say, "Off the chain."
Steve from Princeton, WV
Humility has a way of bringing out the best in people and Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson can sling it. I'm just happy the Jaguars won't have to see him twice a year anymore.
I'm not as high on Watson as I am on other top quarterbacks in the AFC, but he certainly is in the conversation when discussing quarterbacks who can get to the postseason.
Daniel from Jersey City, NJ
O-man, because she's always right, I took the big bold step of asking my wife how she thought our offseason was going and if we would be happier on Sundays more often next year. She said I should ask you.
She's smarter than you look.
Kevin from Tennessee
I have scoured the internet and podcasts for all potential draft scenarios since, like, week 16. There is one scenario I've yet to hear anyone discuss. If Jaguars center Brandon Linder retires or is cut, what do you think the chances the Jags trade up/back to draft Tyler Linderbaum from Iowa? Supposedly he is the best center PFF has ever graded. (And would come about millions cheaper).
I wouldn't rule out the Jaguars trading up from No. 33 overall to make such a move. I would be surprised if the Jaguars are able to trade out of the No. 1 overall position.
