In AFC South news, the Indianapolis Colts’ division rival, the Jacksonville Jaguars, announced that they made a move at general manager, parting ways with Trent Baalke after four seasons.
The move comes later than anticipated. After a disappointing four-win season in 2024 in which the team fired head coach Doug Pederson almost immediately, owner Shad Khan made the initial decision to retain Baalke–a move that surprised many around the NFL.
However, roughly two weeks after moving on from Pederson, and with the Jaguars fully in the midst of their head coaching search, the decision to let Baalke go comes on the heels of the team missing out on Ben Johnson and Liam Coen.
One report from Dianna Russini said that the Jaguars “setup” did not align with what Johnson was looking for. It’s also not far-fetched to think that Baalke’s track record with head coaches going back to his time in San Francisco had at least some factor in Coen’s decision to stay in Tampa Bay.
Along with looking for a new general manager late in the process, the Jaguars are still in search of a head coach as well. They currently have two interviews scheduled this week with Patrick Graham and Robert Saleh.
In addition to the Jaguars, the Tennessee Titans also made a switch at general manager this offseason. However, as we all know, the Indianapolis Colts didn’t, and the added irony–or pain–is that both Tennessee and Jacksonville have won AFC South titles more recently than the Colts have.
