Jacksonville Jaguars: 6 Possible cap casualties for 2019
By Larry Brake
Marcell Dareus
Marcell Dareus played an important role in the Jaguars drive in last seasons playoff run. He was obtained before the trade deadline from Buffalo. He helped plug the middle in the run defense. Like Parnell, Dareus came into the league in 2011 in Buffalo. He has played 24 games for the Jaguars while starting only sixteen games. He has a hefty contract going into next season.
Dareus is scheduled to make $10.585 million against the salary cap, per spotrac.com. By releasing him, the Jaguars salary cap space would grow to over $13 million, per Spotrac. This cap space is very important because of the pending draft picks that will need to be signed.
Dareus’ replacement was possibly drafted last season in the first round. Taven Bryan will need to assume the role as the run stuffer in the middle. Once again, Bryan is a younger, more inexpensive option than Dareus.
Dareus is fighting against father time, like most athletes as the approach the magic age of 30. Bryan has more upside and still on his rookie contract. This move makes sense because of the production versus paying a high salary contract.
Jacksonville has a few more moves to vastly improve their cap space. After signing with the Jaguars in 2016, the next candidate actually prophesied that he would not return in 2019.