Jacksonville opted to avoid big moves in free agency last time around, making value signings instead of large, splashy contracts. The success of that decision has been dubious, though, as the team still handed out relatively hefty contracts to players who were just average, at best. Cornerback Shaquill Griffin, for example, wasn’t bad this season, but he made nearly $14 million to not record an interception.
However, perhaps the worst deal made last offseason was the signing of Rayshawn Jenkins. The safety had a promising start to his career with the Chargers, and Jacksonville rewarded him with a four-year, $35 million contract. That’s a noteworthy deal for a safety — the third-biggest on the Jags’ roster (in terms of his cap hit), to be exact. And according to Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine, Jenkins’ deal is the worst on the entire team right now.
With Urban Meyer at the helm last season, the Jaguars went on a spending spree in free agency. They brought in several free-agent veterans who were good but not great.
Rayshawn Jenkins was among those. Coming off his second season as a starter for the Los Angeles Chargers, the Jags signed him to a deal that cost them little in the first year but will now balloon up to around $10 million per year for the next three years.
The problem is that Jenkins wasn’t nearly as good this season. In his final season with the Chargers, he gave up just 5.7 yards per target and an overall passer rating of 78.0 when targeted. This year, those numbers rose to 8.5 yards per target and a passer rating of 96.9, per Pro Football Reference.
Jenkins was the 71st-graded safety by Pro Football Focus this year. The early returns on this move have not been good.
Jenkins’ season ended prematurely due to injury, but it was still shaping up to be a statistically average year for the veteran. When you consider the success that third-round pick Andre Cisco had when he saw the field this season (and even Daniel Thomas at times), it’s not entirely unlikely that Jenkins finds his starting spot in jeopardy heading into 2022.
That could make him a potential trade candidate if he didn’t have such a large deal, but his sizable contract paired with his relatively pedestrian level of production in 2021 make his stock fairly low as a trade asset. Jenkins totaled 73 tackles (one for loss) with three passes deflected but no interceptions in his first season in Jacksonville.
Luckily for the Jaguars, the lack of big contracts on the team makes his deal manageable, and the team is still projected to be among the league’s leaders in available cap space this offseason. But if the Jags want to avoid a repeat of last season’s results, they need to make more impactful free-agent decisions than they did last time around.
