Jacksonville Jaguars: 4 Possible cap casualties for 2018 season
By Larry Brake
The Jacksonville Jaguars have difficult offseason decisions to make in the 2018 offseason, so which players might become a salary cap casualty?
For several years, the Jacksonville Jaguars have had plenty of salary cap space to play with. In 2018, the salary cap will increase to $178 million from $167 million. Jacksonville will have $16 million in available cap money according to OverTheCap.com.
Historically, teams will release players to increase their cap space due to wanting to sign top tier free agents. Since the Jaguars are so close to a Super Bowl appearance, would they release a player for an upgrade? Here are four players who might become cap casualties.
Remember the uproar last Spring when Jacksonville picked up Bortles’ contract option? Tyler Conway of Bleacher Report reported the following:
"Bortles, 25, will make the average of the NFL‘s 10 highest-paid quarterbacks in 2018 under terms of the option. The contract is only guaranteed for injury, however, so it’s still possible the Jaguars move on after the 2017 season."
Bortles has definitely earned the starting quarterback job for 2018. Recently, Bortles underwent surgery to repair his right wrist, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Bortles’ surgery has complicated matters somewhat.
There are a couple of options for Jacksonville. If Bortles is declared healthy before March 14, they can save $19 million by releasing him. Or, they could trade him to the New York Giants for Eli Manning. According to spotrac.com, the trade would save Jacksonville $3.05 million.
Allen Hurns is another potential target. Hurns is scheduled to make $7 million. If Jacksonville releases him before June 1, they will save $7 million, per OverTheCap.com. Hurns missed six games this past season due to battling injuries.
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Jermey Parnell is currently the starting right tackle. Jacksonville would save $5 million by releasing him. Abry Jones’s release would save the Jaguars $3.5 million. If all four players are released, the Jaguars would have $34.5 million more in available cap space. Spotrac.com reports that the Jaguars salary cap space would be over $51 million for 2018.
Would Jacksonville release this players? They should, if and only if, their replacements are better players. Expect the Jaguars to very active this offseason.