The Jacksonville Jaguars are heading into 2026 with big expectations, but not everyone is buying into what they’ve done this offseason.
That disconnect has become the story around Jacksonville. The Jaguars have drawn plenty of criticism for an offseason that some around the league have treated like a misfire, even though the team clearly approached it with a different plan than the usual splash-and-dash March spending spree.
NFL.com was the latest outlet to pile on, handing Jacksonville an F in its offseason review. Tennessee got an A+, while Houston and Indianapolis both landed grades that passed muster. The writeup on the Jaguars was blunt.
"No offense to James Gladstone and Co., but this offseason hasn't been great. The Jaguars lost multiple key starters in free agency and added very little to compensate. Their biggest moves were pure maintenance: extending former No. 1 pick Walker after a 3.5-sack season; re-upping Strange, who put up career highs of 46 catches, 540 receiving yards and three TDs in 12 games in 2025; and re-signing Brown," NFL.com said.
"Then came the draft. Jacksonville’s class took home Gennaro Filice’s second-lowest overall grade and was frequently criticized for drastic reaches and a failure to address primary needs -- like linebacker -- until the latter rounds. After the last few months, the Jags are under serious pressure when it comes to their division title defense, with other AFC South teams making strides this offseason."
A big part of the backlash comes down to one simple thing: the Jaguars didn’t spend like some of their rivals. That has become the easiest shortcut for a strong offseason grade, and Jacksonville didn’t follow that script. Instead, the team chose a different route, leaning into the compensatory draft pick game to project three extra picks in the 2027 NFL Draft while also bringing back several important pieces.
That approach would look very different if the Jaguars had chosen to keep Devin Lloyd or Travis Etienne and let go of Montaric Brown, Travon Walker, or Brenton Strange on new deals. In that version, the offseason probably would have been judged more favorably. That’s part of the frustration here: the grading system seems to reward the loudest moves, not necessarily the ones a team is actually trying to build around.
The spending numbers tell the story, too. The Jaguars were among the bottom five teams in free-agent spending, alongside the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers. Those clubs were graded F, C+, and D-, while the Titans and Raiders - two of the biggest spenders - were the teams that came away with the highest marks.
It’s a pattern that says a lot about how offseason evaluations are being made. If a team hands out money, it gets attention.
If it sits back, makes selective moves, and keeps an eye on the long game, it risks getting hammered for not doing enough. Jacksonville has clearly become the latest example.
The Jaguars did go 13-4 last year, so in theory they should have earned more benefit of the doubt. But that kind of trust doesn’t arrive after one season.
The Los Angeles Rams have built enough of it that the same kind of offseason would barely raise an eyebrow. Jacksonville hasn’t reached that level yet.
That matters because the Jaguars have tried the other version before. They’ve had the big spending years, the glowing reviews, and the headline-grabbing moves - and still watched the wins slip away. Even the seasons when spending did lead to success, like 2017 and 2022, the payoff didn’t last.
So this offseason looks less like a mistake than a test of patience. Jacksonville is trying to build something that lasts longer than March, longer than 2026, and longer than a single hot run. If the Jaguars are going to create real, sustained success for the first time in decades, this is the path they have to take.
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