The NFL hasn’t yet announced the compensatory picks awarded for losses during free agency in 2023, but when they do, the Jacksonville Jaguars are set to be on the receiving end for the first time in more than a decade.
For 13 straight years, the NFL determined that the Jaguars acquired more players who qualified in the league’s compensatory formula than they lost. Most of the time, it was because very few of the starting-quality players that left Jacksonville were actually leaving on expiring contracts.
Players who are released — like Folorunso Fatukasi, Rayshawn Jenkins, Darious Williams — don’t count when the NFL is counting up every team’s losses. However, those same players won’t count as additions either for the teams that sign them.
For example, the New Orleans Saints are projected to get three compensatory picks, partly because the four-year, $150 million deal they gave to Derek Carr won’t count against them as he was released by the Las Vegas Raiders last year.
If the Jaguars hope to get compensatory picks again in 2025, here are 15 free agents who could be a good fit and won’t count against the team next year:
CB Tre'Davious White
White earned All-Pro honors during his time with the Bills and signed an extension with the team in 2020. But an ACL tear in 2021 and an Achilles tear in 2023 derailed his time in Buffalo and he was released Wednesday before playing on the final two years of his contract.
DE Emmanuel Ogbah
Ogbah signed with the Dolphins in 2020 and then signed a four-year extension with the team in 2022. He has 42.5 sacks in eight NFL seasons and recorded 5.5 sacks as a rotational rusher for Miami in 2023. The Dolphins released Ogbah in February to save $13.7 million in cap space.
WR Michael Thomas
The 2019 AP Offensive Player of the Year recorded a ridiculous 470 receptions for 5,512 yards and 32 touchdowns in his first four seasons with the Saints. But injuries, off-the-field troubles, and a rapidly decaying relationship with Derek Carr all mean he’ll reportedly be released soon by New Orleans.
CB Donte Jackson
Jackson, a six-year starter in Carolina, hasn’t been released yet, but the team will reportedly part ways with the cornerback before he receives a $4 million bonus on March 16 if it can’t find a trade partner. While an Achilles tear ended his 2022 season, Jackson came back from the injury to be a relatively reliable player for the Panthers in 2023.
C Mitch Morse
Buffalo had to make big moves to climb out of a salary cap hole. Along with the aforementioned Tre’Davious White, the Bills also released their veteran center. Morse, who turns 32 next month, has received a PFF grade of 61 or higher in all nine of his NFL seasons.
C Brian Allen
While Allen’s been a top 10 center in the NFL when healthy and did enough to earn an extension in 2022, injuries piled up and he was eventually replaced in the starting lineup by Coleman Shelton in 2023.
WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling
Valdes-Scantling was a Super Bowl LVIII hero, but his Chiefs tenure was mired by drops and inconsistency. Still, the speedy deep threat has finished all six of his NFL seasons with at least 15 yards per reception.
CB Isaiah Oliver
The former Falcons cornerback signed a two-year deal with the 49ers last year, but was only halfway through his first season before his snaps dwindled away in the San Francisco secondary.
C Mason Cole
After underwhelming in Arizona, Cole was traded by the Cardinals to the Vikings in 2021 and stepped his game up in Minnesota. The breakout year earned him a three-year, $15.75 million deal with the Steelers. While he was a full-time starter in Pittsburgh, he was released in February after two seasons.
CB J.C. Jackson
After looking like one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL for four seasons in New England, Jackson was a prized free agent for the Chargers in 2022. However, he only played a handful of games before he was benched by Los Angeles. In his second season, the Chargers traded him back to the Patriots for peanuts, but he couldn’t recreate his old New England magic and the team released him last week.
CB Avonte Maddox
Maddox spent his first three seasons in the NFL with Doug Pederson as his head coach, but really emerged in the slot when Jonathan Gannon became the Eagles’ defensive coordinator. It earned Maddox a three-year extension in 2021, but he missed most of 2023 with a torn pec and was released Wednesday.
G Cody Whitehair
Whitehair was a Pro Bowl center early in his career in Chicago and signed a massive extension with the Bears just before his fourth season. But when the team began moving him around the offensive line with most of his time at left guard, Whitehair’s play tailed off. He was released to save just over $9 million in cap space.
G Mark Glowinski
After a slow start to his career in Seattle, Glowinski made a name for himself in Indianapolis where he was a four-year starter at guard. When he hit free agency in 2022, he signed a three-year, $20 million deal with the Giants and put together an OK first year in New York. But after a disastrous Week 1 performance in 2023, he spent much of his last season with the Giants watching from the sideline.
RB Nyheim Hines
With the Colts, Hines proved himself an effective change-of-pace back capable of making plays as a receiver and a returner. After he was traded to the Bills in 2022, he made big plays as a returner, but didn’t contribute much else and was released by the team after missing the entire 2023 season due to injury.
C Nick Gates
Here’s one more veteran center, for good measure. Gates impressed early in his career with the Giants as an undrafted free agent who eventually earned a starting role. While he signed a three-year deal with the Commanders last offseason, he was replaced in the starting lineup during his first season in Washington.
