Jaguars earn dubious distinction following questionable 2026 offseason moves

The Jacksonville Jaguars surprised many people in 2025. Just one year after going 4-13, the Jaguars improved all the way to 13-4 in 2025, and won the AFC South. 

It was a great first year for head coach Liam Coen and general manager James Gladstone, but it's fair to wonder if that success went to their heads a little bit. Instead of being aggressive to improve the roster and take advantage of a contention window, the team basically stood pat and seems to be reliant on internal development. 

Gladstone was especially criticized for his draft. The general manager reached on several picks and used his first pick of the draft, a second rounder, on a blocking tight end. The team also lost key contributors like Devin Lloyd, Travis Etienne, and Andrew Wingard to free agency. 

As a result, when Jordan Dajani of CBS Sports recently identified the worst offseasons, it wasn't surprising to see the Jaguars at the top of the list. 

CBS Sports says Jaguars had worst offseason in NFL 

Dajani mentioned Gladstone's questionable draft and the free agency losses in his reasoning. It's also worth mentioning that the only notable outside additions the team made were running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. and defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro. 

"The reigning AFC South champion Jaguars did not earn high marks from pundits when it came to free agency or the draft," Dajani explained. "In the draft, the Jaguars put together what many would call the worst class this year. It's not fair to judge an entire draft class before the players have taken a single snap, but the picks were a bit confusing."

As Dajani mentioned, pretty much every NFL pundit was unimpressed with what the Jaguars did. Banking on Trevor Lawrence having an elite year, the defense being better, and all of the weapons performing better than they did a year ago seems like a risky bet. 

It seems like there are plenty of reasons to be pessimistic about the team, but even Dajani admitted that it may not be all bad. 

Jaguars could still contend in AFC 

After all, Lawrence was an MVP finalist in 2025 and the defense was No. 2 in takeaways. Plus, they play in the AFC South, which is never the hardest division in football. 

"Jacksonville won the division last year with a first-year coach, had an MVP finalist in quarterback Trevor Lawrence, and saw the defense rank No. 1 in rushing yards allowed per game and No. 2 in takeaways," Dajani said. "So, the Jaguars appear to have had the worst offseason in the NFL when it comes to additions and subtractions. But I still wouldn't be surprised to see them win the AFC South again. Maybe James Gladstone is a football genius and Nate Boerkircher is Travis Kelce."

It will be interesting to see if the Jaguars can repeat as division champs. The Houston Texans will be no easy foe, and you can't count out the new-look Tennessee Titans either. 

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