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Jacksonville Jaguars News & Rumors

Dolphins Not Expected To Tag Jevon Holland

February 19th, 2025 at 11:07am CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Dolphins are not expected to place the franchise or transition tag on Jevon Holland, according to NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe, setting him up to be one of the top safeties on the free agent market.

The franchise tag for safeties is projected to be $19.6MM, and the transition tag is projected to be $15.6MM, per OverTheCap. The Dolphins are currently projected to be $5.4MM over the 2025 salary cap, so they would have needed to make additional moves to accommodate a tag for Holland by the start of the new league year.

Oftentimes, though, the tag is used as a placeholder to allow extension negotiations to continue, which could lead to a long-term deal with a smaller 2025 cap hit. However, the Dolphins did not make significant progress towards an extension before the 2024 season, indicating that they and Holland remain far apart.

The Dolphins may not be completely out on re-signing Holland, but they seem willing to let him test the market this spring. That’s partially because the team has “a lot of needs elsewhere,” according to Wolfe, though letting Holland walk will certainly add to that list. Jordan Poyer, Miami’s other starting safety in 2024, is also set to hit free agency and may follow his former Bills teammate Micah Hyde into retirement.

After Antoine Winfield Jr. reset the safety market last offseason, Holland will likely be looking for an APY at $18MM or higher. The 2021 second-round pick has a strong pedigree as a three-time captain and defensive playmaker, though he has struggled with injuries and lower ball production over the last two seasons. That may limit his APY to the $16-17MM range of Xavier McKinney and Jessie Bates, especially with several other safeties set to hit free agency.

Holland could receive interest from the Jaguars, per Wolfe, who are looking to add playmakers on defense after hiring Anthony Campanile as defensive coordinator. Jacksonville has plenty of cap space and a clear hole in the secondary that Holland could fill.

Jaguars Sign QB John Wolford

February 17th, 2025 at 8:16pm CST by Ben Levine

It didn’t take long for the new Jaguars regime to start adding to their roster. The team announced today that they’ve signed quarterback John Wolford and wide receiver Louis Rees-Zammit. Both players were signed to the active roster, which is a more significant commitment than the standard reserve/futures contracts you see at this time of year.

Wolford has bounced around the NFL since going undrafted out of Wake Forest in 2018. Following stints with the Jets and in the AAF, the QB seemingly found a home with the Rams, where he spent several years serving as a backup to Jared Goff and later Matthew Stafford.

Wolford ultimately spent four years with the organization, going 2-2 in his four starts. In seven total appearances with the Rams, the QB completed 58.7 percent of his passes for 626 yards, one touchdown, and five interceptions. He also added another 87 yards on 16 carries.

The 29-year-old could be part of Jacksonville’s solution behind Trevor Lawrence in 2025. Mac Jones filled in admirably in 2024, but the former first-round pick is set to hit free agency. C.J. Beathard also has an expiring contract, so it could be a new-look QBs room for the Jaguars next year.

A former rugby union player, Rees-Zammit got his NFL start with the Chiefs last offseason. He later caught on with the Jaguars’ practice squad, where he spent the majority of his rookie campaign.

AFC South Notes: Jaguars, Texans, Colts

February 16th, 2025 at 9:20am CST by Ely Allen

As the Jaguars continue to search for a new general manager to pair with first-year head coach Liam Coen, Coen continues to build his first coaching staff around himself in Jacksonville. Most recently, two offensive names have been brought up for minor roles on the offensive staff. While Coen, in his extensive experience coaching quarterbacks, will likely take on a lot of responsibility with molding Trevor Lawrence, as head coach, Coen has other responsibilities, as well, so, he’ll need assistance.

Firstly, the team is hiring Fred Walker as an offensive assistant, per Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports. Walker spent the last three years on staff in Las Vegas — two of those years as an offensive assistant before working 2024 as assistant quarterbacks coach. That may not inspire much confidence, considering the state of the position for the Raiders last year, but he did work with Derek Carr in the passer’s last Pro Bowl season in 2022.

Another name the team is looking at to work with Lawrence is James Madison offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Dean Kennedy. Kennedy is a young, fast-rising name in the coaching world. He has experience as a graduate assistant with two SEC schools (Mississippi State and Florida) as well as two years as the Gators assistant quarterbacks coach back in 2020-21, when Kyle Trask and Anthony Richardson were in the room.

Following that, Kennedy accepted a role as quarterbacks coach at Holy Cross that turned into his first offensive coordinator role a year later. Last season was his only year with the Dukes, but he led an offense that was 26th in the nation in scoring and beat the North Carolina Tar Heels, 70-50. According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, the Jaguars are interviewing him for an as of yet unreported role.

Here are a couple other coaching updates coming out of the AFC South:

  • The Texans are expected to add a new defensive staffer in Toledo defensive line coach Frank Okam, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2. Okam will serve as the team’s new assistant defensive line coach behind current defensive line coach Rod Wright, whom he played with in college at the University of Texas. Okam also played with head coach DeMeco Ryans when the two were players for the Texans from 2008-10. After defensive line coaching jobs at Rice and Baylor following his playing career, Okam held defensive line coaching jobs for the Panthers and Raiders before returning to the college ranks for the past two years.
  • Finally, the Colts are reportedly targeting veteran defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson for a role on their staff, according to Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports. Indianapolis just recently hired Chris Hewitt away from Baltimore as their new pass game coordinator & secondary coach, so it will be interesting to see what role they’d like to carve out for Henderson. Henderson has served as defensive backs coach for the Jets (2008), Browns (2009-11), Cowboys (2012-15), and Giants (2020-24) with additional years as a defensive passing game coordinator for the Falcons (2016-19) and the Giants last year.

2025 NFL Cap Space, By Team

February 15th, 2025 at 9:45pm CST by Adam La Rose

Free agency is roughly one month away, and teams are preparing for the first major roster-building checkpoint on the offseason calendar. In several cases, of course, the lead-in to the start of the new league year will require cost-cutting measures.

Teams expect the 2025 cap ceiling to check in somewhere between $265MM and $275MM, providing a general target to aim for before the final figure is unveiled by the NFL. Using a projected cap of $272.5MM, here is a look at where all 32 teams currently stand (courtesy of Over the Cap):

  1. New England Patriots: $119.8MM
  2. Las Vegas Raiders: $92.53MM
  3. Washington Commanders: $75.21MM
  4. Arizona Cardinals: $71.33MM
  5. Los Angeles Chargers: $63.41MM
  6. Chicago Bears: $62.97MM
  7. Minnesota Vikings: $58.01MM
  8. Pittsburgh Steelers: $53.26MM
  9. Cincinnati Bengals: $46.26MM
  10. Detroit Lions: $45.69MM
  11. San Francisco 49ers: $44.26MM
  12. Tennessee Titans: $44.08MM
  13. New York Giants: $43.38MM
  14. Green Bay Packers: $42.14MM
  15. Los Angeles Rams: $38.33MM
  16. Denver Broncos: $34.78MM
  17. Jacksonville Jaguars: $32.27MM
  18. Indianapolis Colts: $28.25MM
  19. Carolina Panthers: $20.33MM
  20. Philadelphia Eagles: $18.08MM
  21. New York Jets: $16.86MM
  22. Baltimore Ravens: $5.96MM
  23. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $2.24MM
  24. Houston Texans: $99K over the cap
  25. Kansas City Chiefs: $916K over
  26. Dallas Cowboys: $2.85MM over
  27. Miami Dolphins: $5.44MM over
  28. Atlanta Falcons: $11.15MM over
  29. Seattle Seahawks: $13.46MM over
  30. Buffalo Bills: $14.18MM over
  31. Cleveland Browns: $30.17MM over
  32. New Orleans Saints: $54.11MM over

These figures will of course change based on where the final cap ceiling winds up for the year, but they take into account each team’s carryover amount for 2025. Even with those savings in play, more than one quarter of the league finds itself in need of cost-shedding moves to simply achieve cap compliance by mid-March.

With the Patriots leading the way in terms of spending power, they will be a team to watch closely once free agency begins. The team’s willingness (or lack thereof) to make major free agent additions last year was a talking point, and it will be interesting to see if the regime featuring de facto general manager Eliot Wolf and new head coach Mike Vrabel takes a different approach in 2025. A serious push for Tee Higgins – by far the most sought-after wideout set to hit the market – can be expected.

Aside from Higgins, the Bengals have a number of financial priorities. Working out a monster extension for fellow receiver Ja’Marr Chase and a new deal (and accompanying raise) for edge rusher Trey Hendrickson are key goals for the franchise. Quarterback Joe Burrow is prepared to restructure his own pact to create cap space for this offseason, but the team will no doubt need to break with tradition in terms of contract structure and guarantees to keep its core intact.

The Colts’ offseason has been defined in large part by a focus on retaining in-house players during recent years. That approach has not paid off as hoped, and general manager Chris Ballard said last month he plans to oversee a shift in roster-building philosophy this year. With the finances to make at least a modest addition or two on the open market, Indianapolis could be a suitor for some of the middle-class free agent options.

Over the coming weeks, many teams will proceed with extensions and restructures to free up cap space; the Seahawks recently took the latter route with defensive lineman Leonard Williams. Teams like the Steelers (in the case of edge rusher Preston Smith) and Dolphins (with running back Raheem Mostert as well as corner Kendall Fuller and tight end Durham Smythe) have already begin cutting veterans to free up cap space. That will increasingly continue in the near future with respect to the teams currently slated to be over the cap in particular.

Jaguars To Conduct Second GM Interviews

February 15th, 2025 at 9:40pm CST by Ely Allen

The Jaguars reportedly wrapped up their first round of general manager interviews yesterday, and according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the team will start their second round of interviews in the coming days. Per Pelissero, that will begin with Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan and Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham. Pelissero adds that Jaguars assistant (and interim) general manager Ethan Waugh will also interview this week after not being included initially in the first round of interviews.

Jacksonville conducted their first round of interviews in the last four days, concluding with meetings with Sullivan and Cunningham yesterday. Planning second interviews with each personnel executive the next day bodes well for their standing in the race for the job.

[RELATED: James Gladstone, Josh Williams Also Among Finalists]

Sullivan has spent the entirety of his 22-year career in the NFL in Green Bay, starting as a training camp intern in 2003. He rose up the ranks of the scouting department, eventually serving as director of college scouting from 2016-17. Sullivan had a penchant for hitting on Day 3 picks with the Packers, demonstrated by the drafting of impact players like Blake Martinez, Dean Lowry, Aaron Jones, and Jamaal Williams.

Sullivan’s next role was as co-director of player personnel from 2018-21 before being promoted to his current title in 2022. Sullivan’s success has drawn him plenty of general manager interest around the league. He has been considered for every general manager opening in this year’s hiring cycle, interviewing with the Titans, the Raiders, and the Jets.

Cunningham was one of the initial names to be connected to the Jaguars’ job, along with former Titans general manager Jon Robinson and Buccaneers assistant general manager Mike Greenberg. Cunningham started his front office career with the Ravens back in 2008 before joining the Eagles as their director of college scouting in 2017. He climbed the ranks to director of player personnel before taking an assistant general manager job with the Bears in 2022. He’s spent the past three seasons in Chicago, though he’s flirted with promotions over the past two years. He was a finalist for the Commanders job last year, and he was interviewed for jobs with the Chargers last offseason and the Titans this cycle.

Though Waugh wasn’t included in the first round of interviews, he was mentioned as a strong candidate for the position on Thursday. Waugh had a lengthy tenure in the 49ers’ front office alongside the man these candidates are all striving to replace, former Jacksonville general manager Trent Baalke. The pair worked together from 2005-16, and Waugh worked his way up to vice president of player personnel for the 2021 and 2022 campaigns. He joined Baalke in Jacksonville in May of 2022, taking on his current title. Despite the issues that led to Baalke’s dismissal, Waugh is nevertheless in contention for the job and will interview this week.

James Gladstone, Josh Williams Among Finalists For Jaguars’ GM Position

February 15th, 2025 at 8:18pm CST by Adam La Rose

Saturday has seen the Jaguars narrow down their general manager search to a list of finalists. Second interviews are already known to be on tap for external candidates Ian Cunningham and Jon-Eric Sullivan along with interim GM Ethan Waugh. Two other staffers are still in the running, however.

The team announced Saturday that Rams director of scouting strategy James Gladstone and 49ers scouting and football operations director Josh Williams will also take part in a second meeting. After the Jags’ first set of interviews took place virtually, the five finalists will speak in person for their follow-ups. The final round will begin on February 19.

Jacksonville is known to want a GM hire in place before the start of the Combine, but the team’s timeline for this process will leave only a small window for the incoming executive to prepare for the event or work on building a staff. The Combine will kick off on the 24th, with drills beginning on the 27th. The Jags will need to move quickly in the second round of interviews to finalize a hire.

Gladstone was not connected to any of the other three general manager openings in the 2025 hiring cycle, but his performance during his initial meeting obviously went well. Gladstone has been with the Rams for eight seasons, making him a familiar face to new head coach Liam Coen due to his time spent in Los Angeles. Despite the fact he is a first-time head coach, the latter is playing a central role in the GM search process.

Williams was the first candidate to interview with the Jaguars, the only team which spoke with him about a 2025 vacancy. He is worked in San Francisco for the past 14 seasons, working his way up the ranks in the organization’s scouting department. Williams overlapped with former GM Trent Baalke, whose 49ers tenure was followed by a four-year run in the same position with Jacksonville. Baalke appeared to be safe after the 2024 campaign, but in the process of hiring Coen away from the Buccaneers owner Shad Khan reversed course and dismissed Baalke.

Khan and Co. could elect to once again bring in a 49ers staffer to lead the front office, but four other options (including promoting from within) remain on the table at this point. Giants assistant GM Brandon Brown was reported earlier this week to have a strong connection with Coen regarding his roster-building philosophy, but he is not among the finalists. It will be interesting to see how the second round of interviews shakes out once it begins.

Jaguars Interview Champ Kelly For GM

February 14th, 2025 at 9:09pm CST by Ely Allen

The Jaguars have added one more name in their search to replace former general manager Trent Baalke. According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, Raiders assistant general manager Champ Kelly has concluded the team’s first round of interviews with a meeting today.

Kelly was expected to be a popular candidate for general manager jobs in last year’s cycle. While he didn’t find interest everywhere, he did end up interviewing for the open role in Carolina last year that went to Dan Morgan. After acting as the interim general manager for the Raiders in 2023, he also was interviewed to step into the official role in Las Vegas, but when the role eventually went to Tom Telesco, Kelly remained in his role as assistant general manager.

This was the second time Kelly came up short in the GM-race for the Raiders. Kelly was also considered a top candidate for the Raiders’ position when the team hired Dave Ziegler, whom he would eventually replace in an interim role.

Kelly came on as the team’s assistant GM, and together with Ziegler, Las Vegas worked hard to rebuild a defense that had been worn thin and bring in top offensive talent like wide receivers Davante Adams and Jakobi Meyers. The defense now holds promising players like Robert Spillane, Tyree Wilson, and Jack Jones, while youth also blooms on the offensive side of the ball in players like stud rookie tight end Brock Bowers and second-year wide receiver Tre Tucker.

After making the rounds with two interviews in 2024, Kelly didn’t draw as much interest in 2025. This is the first job for which he’s been interviewed this offseason. He becomes the 11th candidate reported for the job in Jacksonville and the 10th candidate to interview.

Here’s how the Jaguars’ general manager search is shaping up so far:

Jaguars Interview Jon-Eric Sullivan For GM

February 14th, 2025 at 5:15pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Jaguars have completed an interview with Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan for their general manager vacancy, per a team announcement.

Sullivan has spent the entirety of his 22-year career in the NFL in Green Bay, starting as a training camp intern in 2003. He rose up the ranks of the scouting department, eventually serving as director of college scouting in 2016 and 2017. In those years, the Packers hit on several Day 3 picks, including Blake Martinez, Dean Lowry, Aaron Jones, and Jamaal Williams.

Sullivan was then co-director of player personnel from 2018 to 2021 before being promoted to his current title. During that time, the Packers won the NFC North three straight times before trading Aaron Rodgers to the Jets and transitioning to Jordan Love as their next franchise quarterback.

Sullivan’s success has drawn him plenty of general manager interest around the league. He was considered for every general manager opening in this year’s hiring cycle, interviewing with the Titans, the Raiders, and the Jets.

Each job ultimately went to another candidate, but Sullivan now has a chance at replacing Trent Baalke and joining new head coach Liam Coen in Jacksonville. Sullivan would have some familiarity with the Jaguars’ coaching staff, as former Packers linebackers coach Anthony Campanile is now the team’s defensive coordinator. Sullivan also worked with Matt LaFleur in Green Bay, who hails from the same Sean McVay coaching tree as Coen.

The Jaguars have now interviewed nine candidates for general manager, as listed below:

Brandon Brown Strong Candidate For Jaguars’ GM Position?

February 13th, 2025 at 4:54pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Jaguars’ general manager search is in full swing, with the team’s first round of interviews ongoing. Brandon Brown is among the candidates who have conducted a virtual meeting with the team so far, and he appears to be a name to watch closely.

Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post reports Brown (who is currently the Giants’ assistant general manager) has a similar vision to that of new head coach Liam Coen. The latter is playing a central role in Jacksonville’s GM search process despite the fact he is a first-time head coach. As a result, Dunleavy notes Brown could be a strong contender to land the position.

Connected to the Panthers’ and Chargers’ GM gigs last offseason, Brown was again heavily involved in the 2025 hiring cycle. He was among the candidates who interviewed twice with the Raiders before they ultimately hired John Spytek for the position. Brown’s first NFL came as a Jets intern in 2012, and he has held a number of titles across his time with Boston College and later the Colts, Eagles and Giants.

Coen’s preferred GM hire appeared to be his (and Spytek’s) former Buccaneers colleague Mike Greenberg. Since his decision to withdraw, though, the Jags have seen their list of targets expand. External candidates (along with at least one internal one in the form of interim general manager Ethan Waugh) are being considered, and the team hopes to have a hire in place by the start of the Combine (February 24).

Brown has never been a GM in his career, and pairing him with a rookie head coach would be a notable departure from the Trent Baalke-Doug Pederson pairing which had been in place the past three years. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see if he lands a second interview in the near future.

Via PFR’s GM Search Tracker, here is a look at how things are shaping up for the Jaguars:

Ethan Waugh In Contention For Jaguars’ GM Position?

February 13th, 2025 at 9:51am CST by Adam La Rose

The Jaguars are the lone team in the NFL with a general manager vacancy at the moment. The interview process is underway, and as a result the list of finalists amongst external candidates will soon be narrowed down.

[RELATED: Jaguars Extend President Mark Lamping]

It was recently learned that at least one internal staffer was set to receive strong consideration, though. It appears that candidate is interim GM Ethan Waugh. Waugh is a “strong” candidate to receive the gig on a full-time basis, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports.

Waugh had a lengthy tenure in the 49ers’ front office alongside Trent Baalke. The pair worked together from 2005-16, and Waugh worked his way up to vice president of player personnel for the 2021 and ’22 campaigns. He joined Baalke in Jacksonville in May 2022, taking on his current AGM title. Over the past three seasons, things have not gone according to plan for the team; Waugh is nevertheless in contention to oversee the front office as things stand.

Baalke was not dismissed alongside head coach Doug Pederson after the season ended, something which came as a surprise to many. The Jags’ head coaching search was seen as being impacted by Baalke’s ongoing presence, however, and the timing of a secret second interview with eventual hire Liam Coen coincided with the decision to make a change in the front office. Despite being a first-time HC, Coen is playing a central role in the search for Baalke’s replacement.

Coen’s top choice looked to be former Buccaneers colleague Mike Greenberg, but he withdrew from Jacksonville GM consideration. Several other external candidates have since received an interview request, with some virtual meetings having taken place already. It will be interesting to see if Waugh also winds up interviewing for the full-time gig.

Via PFR’s GM Search Tracker, here is an updated look at how things stand for the Jaguars:

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