The Jacksonville Jaguars have an important offseason coming up, and with a projected amount of $59.6 million in cap space set to be available, they could help themselves a lot in free agency. Of course, they can do that by adding players from the outside, but they also need to retain some of their own pending free agents.
Some of the names fans have been vocal about keeping are pending free agent receiver DJ Chark Jr. and offensive tackle Cam Robinson, but Anthony Treash of Pro Football Focus has a different free agent in mind. While he admitted that the Jags roster is a predicament where they need to keep all the notable free agents they can, he singled out guard Andrew Norwell as one free agent he thought was the most worthy of being retained.
G Andrew Norwell
2021 Player Grade/Rank: 67.2 (43rd of 90)
2021 Team Position Grade/Rank: 62.5 (20th of 32)There’s really no pending free agent the Jaguars cannot afford to lose, which can be the case for the team picking No. 1 overall in the draft. Norwell agreed to a pay cut and removed years from his contract before the 2021 season, which will almost certainly complicate a reunion. Nonetheless, among all the issues along the Jaguars’ offensive line, Norwell has not been one of them, as his 79.8 pass-blocking grade since 2018 ranks eighth among left guards.
If the Jags let Norwell hit free agency, it would add yet another need to what’s already a big list. Additionally, it would add another need to an offensive line that already has various holes in it. That said, keeping a good pass protecting option in Norwell for another year might not hurt.
However, there are several ways for the Jags to replace Norwell if they want, as proven options like Laken Tomlinson and Brandon Scherff could hit the open market. The Jags also have 12 draft picks, five of which are in the top-102 selections. Those are selections that would put them in position for younger and cheaper options like Kenyon Green, Ed Ingram, and Jamaree Salyer.
Before we can even begin to process what the Jags could do about Norwell, the Jags have to figure out who will be their next head coach and general manager. Once that happens, it will be easier to speculate what the Jags feel are the strengths of free agency and the draft.
