Jacksonville Jaguars: Signing Gerald McCoy would upgrade defense
By Larry Brake
The Jacksonville Jaguars would upgrade their defense overall by signing Gerald McCoy and could help make up the gap left by Telvin Smith’s absence.
Lady luck has not been kind to the Jacksonville Jaguars in recent seasons. However, their luck changed in the draft when Josh Allen and Jawaan Taylor fell into their lap. Now, Gerald McCoy is a free agent and Jacksonville should sign him.
McCoy was released this week by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He would have made $13 million, according to Spotrac, this season but was a salary cap casualty. Apparently Tampa Bay wanted to save a bit of money by cutting McCoy signing Ndamukong Suh.
After the fallout from Telvin Smith’s decision to not play in 2019, signing McCoy would be the best option in replacing Smith. McCoy’s new deal would replace Smith’s contract, at almost the same price. McCoy is a tried and true cog on the defensive line.
In his career, McCoy has made 296 total tackles with 54.5 sacks. His veteran leadership would pay dividends with the young players on the Jaguars roster. Last season, there was a leadership void left by the retirement of Paul Posluszny.
By signing McCoy, Jacksonville has the opportunity to move Allen into the linebacker position. Allen is an incredible athlete with speed to match. He could be a bigger version of Smith.
Jacksonville could give a 3-4 defensive look on passing downs. They might have a combination of McCoy, Marcell Dareus and Calais Campbell on the line with Myles Jack, Yannick Ngakoue, Leon Jacobs and Allen playing the four linebacker slots. Sounds like a tough front seven, especially with the fantastic secondary behind them.
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Perhaps, the Jaguars could sign McCoy with a one year deal in the $13 million range, what he was due in Tampa. If Smith does not decide to return in 2020, they could extend McCoy’s deal into the near future. This opportunity to sign McCoy sounds too good to pass along to someone else.
McCoy might be the added ingredient for a deep playoff run and then some. It will be interesting to see how much interest Jacksonville gives McCoy.