Jacksonville Jaguars

With $51.2M in dead cap (rank 9 of 32) dragging down a current room of just $16.0M and next year's projected space shrinking to $3.2M, Jacksonville's front office has very little margin for error on every personnel move.

16 contracts expiring

Madden Tools Analysis

Eight starting spots have weak depth behind the starter.

Seven picks concentrated in a single upcoming class, including three first-round selections over the next three years, give Jacksonville real resources to accelerate a rebuild even if the cap stays tight.

The roster's top strength is its edge-rushing talent, anchored by an 89-overall Josh Hines-Allen and an 80-overall Travon Walker, while the running back and interior defensive line rooms represent the most glaring weak spots on the depth chart.

• DThigh

  The interior defensive line is rated 30th at the starter level, and the depth chart opens with aging veterans Arik Armstead and DaVon Hamilton, both of whom are cut candidates.

• FShigh

  Eric Murray, a twilight-stage veteran, backs up starter Caleb Ransaw and represents the only proven depth at the position on a unit ranked 29th at the starter spot.

• HBhigh

  Bhayshul Tuten leads the backfield but the position ranks 31st in starter quality leaguewide, making the running back room one of the most urgent upgrades on the roster.

• RThigh

  Walker Little starts at right tackle but the unit ranks 28th leaguewide, and Van Lanen is the only other tackle option behind him.

• WILLhigh

  Ventrell Miller holds the starting weak-side linebacker spot on a unit ranked 29th, with Parker Hughes and Jack Kiser as thin backups in a room that needs an injection of talent.

• TEmedium

  Brenton Strange starts at 78 overall, but the tight end room ranks 29th in depth leaguewide, with Nate Boerkircher and the 63-overall Quintin Morris offering little behind him.

• WRmedium

  Parker Washington and Brian Thomas Jr. form a promising young duo, but the starter rank of 24th reflects a room still developing and not yet tested as a top-end unit.

• Clow

  Robert Hainsey holds the starting center job at 74 overall on a unit ranked 20th, with Sam Mustipher as the backup and no standout option pushing for the role.

• LGlow

  Emmanuel Pregnon starts at left guard at 74 overall, and while the starter ranks 21st, the depth behind him is among the best in the league at rank 3.

• LTlow

  Anton Harrison starts at left tackle at 79 overall, ranking 22nd leaguewide, but the depth here is strong at rank 2, so this is more about improving the starter than the room.

• 75DaVon HamiltonDTReleasing DaVon Hamilton frees $7.4M against $5.0M in dead money, and as the second DT on a depth chart already flagged as a high-severity need, he offers below-starter value at a position the team must upgrade anyway.Frees $7.4M · $5.0M dead
• 76Arik ArmsteadDTArik Armstead is a twilight-stage 32-year-old starter at a position ranked 30th leaguewide, and his release frees $14.0M against only $5.4M in dead money, making him the single highest-value cap move on the roster.Frees $14.0M · $5.4M dead
• 77Walker LittleLTWalker Little starts at right tackle on a 28th-ranked unit but his release frees $7.5M against $7.0M in dead money, a near-breakeven move that makes the most sense only if a superior starter can be added with the savings.Frees $7.5M · $7.0M dead
• 65Matt DickersonDTMatt Dickerson is a 65-overall backup DT whose release frees $1.3M against just $150K in dead money, a clean roster cut that clears a spot in a room that needs to be rebuilt from the ground up.Frees $1.3M · $150.0K dead
• 63Quintin MorrisTEQuintin Morris is the third tight end on a depth-chart ranked 29th in depth and carries a 63 overall, and cutting him frees $1.4M against $600K in dead money for a minimal cap gain with no depth-chart cost.Frees $1.4M · $600.0K dead

Jacksonville hands you a franchise built around Trevor Lawrence, whose 87-overall Star rating at 26 keeps the quarterback position off the worry list for the foreseeable future. Josh Hines-Allen at 89 overall is the best player on the roster and a game-wrecker at right edge, while Travis Hunter's 84 overall and Superstar development at just 23 signal a genuine cornerback talent on the rise. The problems are numerous and pressing, however. The running back room ranks 31st, the interior defensive line opens with two veterans who are legitimate cap-cut candidates in Arik Armstead and DaVon Hamilton, the weak-side linebacker and free safety spots rank near the bottom of the league, and the right tackle starter ranks 28th. The $51.2M in dead cap is a significant constraint, leaving only $16.0M to work with this season and a projected $3.2M next year once commitments balloon to $315.0M. Foyesade Oluokun has been the heartbeat of the linebacker unit but is entering a phase where planning for his successor cannot wait, and Jourdan Lewis, deep into his career, will need to be replaced at corner sooner rather than later. The seven picks in the upcoming draft, all concentrated in one class, give the front office resources to address multiple holes at once, and the roster does own three first-round picks over the next three years. If the young core of Hunter, Parker Washington, Brian Thomas Jr., and Antonio Johnson develops on schedule, Jacksonville has the building blocks for a contender, but the path there requires navigating a tight cap and rebuilding several weak units simultaneously.

The Jacksonville Jaguars were awarded to Jacksonville, Florida on November 30, 1993 as the NFL's 30th franchise, under principal owner Wayne Weaver, and began play in 1995 alongside the Carolina Panthers. Placed in the AFC Central (moving to the AFC South upon 2002 realignment), the expansion Jaguars enjoyed one of the great early runs in NFL history under first head coach Tom Coughlin: after a 4-12 debut, they reached the AFC Championship Game in just their second season (1996), upsetting the Bills and Broncos on the road. They made the playoffs four straight years (1996-99), won AFC Central titles in 1998 and 1999, and posted a franchise-best 14-2 regular-season record in 1999 before losing the AFC title game to Tennessee. Salary-cap problems and Coughlin's 2002 firing ushered in leaner years; the Jack Del Rio era produced playoff berths in 2005 and 2007 but no division titles. The bright exception was 2017, when Doug Marrone and the top-ranked 'Sacksonville' defense rode to the AFC South title and within a whisker of the Super Bowl, losing 24-20 at New England. The current era began with the No. 1 overall selection of Trevor Lawrence in 2021; after the brief Urban Meyer tenure, Lawrence led an AFC South title and a memorable playoff comeback in 2022 under Doug Pederson. Pederson was fired after 2024; the team hired Liam Coen in January 2025 and immediately vaulted back to prominence with a 13-4 AFC South championship in 2025. The Jaguars have made the playoffs nine times, won five division titles (1998, 1999, 2017, 2022, 2025), and reached three AFC Championship Games (1996, 1999, 2017), but remain one of four franchises, along with Cleveland, Detroit, and Houston, never to appear in a Super Bowl.