The second edition of Liam Coen’s football team began to take shape in March when they laid low as free agency opened. The Jaguars watched as running back Travis Etienne Jr., coming off a season in which he gained 1,400 yards and scored 13 touchdowns signed with the New Orleans Saints. Linebacker Devin Lloyd had five interceptions last season, his 99-yard interception return for a touchdown on Monday Night Football will remain one of the franchise’s signature plays for years to come, he also grabbed a pair of loose balls for fumble recoveries and was among the most dependable defenders in 2025. The Carolina Panthers snatched him up with a new deal that averaged just more than $15 million annually.
Meanwhile the Jaguars football leadership added only running back Chris Rodriguez from Washington who was a rotational piece in the backfield for the Commanders, and the reaction from the media and the fan base has been, “What were they thinking?”
Last month during the NFL Draft, the Jags sat and watched as the first 55 selections were made before they turned in their first card. Observers wondered why they weren’t bold and didn’t make a splash move to go up to the bottom of the first round and deliver a pass rusher to help Travon Walker and Josh Hines-Allen and there were linebackers available and the club was down perhaps their best player at that spot. The confusion only built when the Jaguars did make their first selection of the draft and it was a tight end, and a back-up, blocking one at that who only caught 19 passes at Texas A&M and a single touchdown! “What were they thinking?”
Lost in the whirlwind of criticism has been the moves the Jaguars did make. The decision to let some players leave for greener pastures was made to create a greener salary cap in Jacksonville. The team’s brain trust carefully calculated the opportunity and delivered a new deal to Walker whose value to the defense is immense and whose value to the Duval DNA that Coen, Tony Boselli and James Gladstone hold as sacrosanct is incalculable. Cornerback Montaric Brown is back in the fold after an impressive year and let’s not miss on wide receiver Jakobi Meyers who signed an extension in December after arriving via trade in November and quickly became quarterback Trevor Lawrence’s go-to guy. Add in linebacker Dennis Gardek, tight end Quintin Morris and defensive tackle Matt Dickerson who carved out critical roles for themselves last season and you have a healthy free agent haul that also created a healthy future for the Jaguars salary structure.
Tight end Nate Boerkircher and the addition of Tanner Kozoil in the fifth round pay off Coen’s plan to make greater use of the position in 2026 with specific players who possess the exact skill set the head coach and his offensive staff find valuable as they seek to gain an advantage with bigger players who can run and catch against the multiple defensive back formations that defenses are giving them.
That’s what they’re thinking. Pay the premium positions; pass rusher, wide receiver and cornerback, find good players who can fill a role at a reasonable price and draft at spots like tight end, linebacker, guard and safety to stock the roster with guys who fit your “DNA” and your salary cap. It’s the kind of plan that the Patriots used to keep their championship window open for nearly two decades, and it’s how the Rams, 49ers and Seahawks have built to dominate the West Coast.
I’m just curious, though, did the observers forget about what matters most? What happened on the grass in 2025? Coen, Boselli and Gladstone flipped a four-win team into a 13-win team, and they did it with a roster full of the previous regime’s players. That nine-win improvement is the fourth best turnaround in NFL history. They also made an aggressive move up in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft to select Travis Hunter who they believe will be a premier player at both wide receiver and cornerback.
The Jaguars football leadership earned the trust in their decisions with their results. There should have been more grace afforded to them this off-season based on what they’ve achieved since taking over a little more than a year ago.
All I can ask those who watch and write is “What are you thinking?”
