{"id":280843,"date":"2026-04-27T16:22:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T20:22:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=280843"},"modified":"2026-04-27T16:22:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T20:22:35","slug":"whats-next-for-the-jaguars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/04\/27\/whats-next-for-the-jaguars\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s Next for the Jaguars?"},"content":{"rendered":"

After the best regular season of the century for the Jaguars<\/a>, there were a lot of questions about how they would approach the offseason. They were quiet in free agency, making three total signings. Their lack of aggression in free agency meant that they would have to hit on their draft picks. Just days after they made many controversial selections, their future is entirely up in the air.<\/p>\n

What’s Next for the Jaguars?<\/h2>\n

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The selection of tight end Nate Boerkircher<\/a> drew a lot of eyes right away, prompting many to ask where the Jaguars were headed. General manager James Gladstone<\/a> insisted the pick be made as an effort to shift toward more 12- and 13-personnel. Boerkircher will be a positive addition to the run and pass blocking, but it was a bold move that could have dramatic consequences if it does not pay off quickly.<\/p>\n

Later in round three, they swooped in and drafted offensive lineman Emmanuel Pregnon<\/a>, pairing him with Wyatt Milum<\/a> as their future guards along the offensive line. On the offensive side of the football, they appear to be set at every position. But what about the defense?<\/p>\n

With Travis Hunter<\/a> and Caleb Ransaw<\/a> coming back from injury, they have the pieces they need in the secondary without having to use more draft capital. However, heading into the offseason, it was universally agreed that the two biggest needs for the Jaguars were defensive tackle and linebacker.<\/p>\n

They did add two players to the defensive line in Ruke Orhorhoro<\/a> and Albert Regis<\/a>, but it’s hard to imagine these additions will dramatically improve their pass rush. With the linebacker position, it appears they believe Jack Kiser<\/a> and Ventrell Miller<\/a> are ready to lead the group going forward. This is a lot of faith they are putting into unproven players, especially considering the regression in turnover rate they are likely to face.<\/p>\n

Can the Jaguars Compete?<\/h2>\n

After an unexpected run to end the regular season, many thought the Jaguars could make some noise in the AFC playoffs, but this was not the case, losing in round one. This was not only a missed opportunity because of the run the team was on, but because teams like the Chiefs<\/a> and Ravens<\/a> are not going to be out of the playoffs moving forward.<\/p>\n

This is where quarterback Trevor Lawrence<\/a> has to step up. His play to end the season was what Jaguars fans have been waiting for since he was drafted. The next step is putting together a full season and winning multiple playoff games. There is not a team in the AFC that is head and shoulders above the rest of the conference, so the Jaguars very well could make a deep playoff push and contend for a Super Bowl. But if Lawrence and the team take a step back, the pressure will quickly mount.<\/p>\n

As of right now, the Jaguars have just over $11 million in cap space<\/a> and just over $10 million in 2027. Parker Washington, Antonio Johnson, Brenton Strange, and Anton Harrison are all due for contracts, but due to the Jaguars’ financial constraints, they may not be able to pay all of them. A disappointing 2026 campaign would have them in a very similar position to where they were in the 2024 offseason.<\/p>\n

This draft was an important one not just for the short-term improvement, but for their long-term financial flexibility and ability to remain contenders. If they’re able to take the next step as an A-tier contender in the AFC, the roster decisions become much more manageable, but if they take a step back and this draft class does not pan out, they may be in more trouble than some might think.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After the best regular season of the century for the Jaguars, there were a lot of questions about how they would approach the offseason. They were quiet in free agency, making three total signings. Their lack of aggression in free agency meant that they would have to hit on their draft picks. Just days after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5773,"featured_media":268206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36,13],"tags":[33533,7335,34268,34395,32476,6249],"class_list":["post-280843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-jaguars","tag-2026-nfl-draft","tag-jacksonville-jaguars-news","tag-james-gladstone","tag-nate-boerkircher","tag-travis-hunter","tag-trevor-lawrence"],"modified_by":"Mike Roberts","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5773"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280843"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280843\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":280871,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280843\/revisions\/280871"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}