After fizzling out at the end of the 2023 season, the Jacksonville Jaguars will have to wait eight months to get back on the field and prove that their 2022 season wasn’t a fluky one-off run to the Divisional Round.
Until then, the Jaguars have a lot of work to do to propel the team forward.
A year ago, Jacksonville mostly sat on its hands rather than make significant changes. The team returned 21 of its 22 starters and finished with another 9-8 record, although the second time around it wasn’t good enough to reach the playoffs.
With a few more resources to work with in 2024 and much more urgency to fix what was broken, the Jaguars will likely be more aggressive about improving the roster this offseason.
For fans, here are the dates that will be most important during the 2024 offseason:
Jan. 30-Feb. 3:
For scouts and talent evaluators, draft season never really stops. But for most football fans, it starts when NFL coaches, scouts, and decision-makers descend on Mobile, Ala. for the Senior Bowl.
Feb. 4: Pro Bowl Games
Josh Allen and Ross Matiscik are Pro Bowlers and there’s a chance more Jaguars will get in as alternates.
Unlike previous years, there isn’t an actual Pro Bowl, but games like dodgeball and tug-of-war, as well as a seven-on-seven flag football game.
Feb. 20-March 5: Franchise/transition tags can be applied
If the Jaguars hope to retain both Josh Allen and Calvin Ridley, it’s hard to imagine the team not using the franchise tag in 2024. The likelier candidate seems to be Allen.
Feb. 27-March 4
If the Senior Bowl is the appetizer of the next wave of NFL talent, the NFL Combine is the buffet. While they may not all participate in every drill, just about every player drafted in April will meet with and workout for teams in Indianapolis.
March 11: Legal tampering period begins
Two days before free agency begins, NFL teams can get on the phones and start putting together deals with players about to hit the market.
March 13: Free agency begins
There are 22 Jaguars players currently set to become free agents at 4 p.m. ET on March 13.
March 24-27: Annual league meeting
The league meeting will be held in Orlando, Fla. where rule changes and other NFL business will be discussed and implemented. It’ll also likely be the first time Doug Pederson talks to the media about the moves made by the Jaguars in free agency.
April 15: Jaguars may begin offseason workout program
The Jaguars will wait to announce their offseason program schedule, but teams with a returning head coach are permitted to get started on April 15.
April 25-27: NFL draft
The 2024 NFL draft will be held in Detroit. The Jaguars are set to pick 17th overall and are expected to add a couple compensatory selections for the losses of Jawaan Taylor and Arden Key in free agency last offseason.
May 2: Deadline to exercise 5th year options for 2021 picks
Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne were both first-round selections in the 2021 NFL draft and are heading into the fourth year of their respective rookie contracts. It’d be a surprise if the Jaguars didn’t take on the fifth-year options on both deals, tying them to the team through at least the 2025 season.
May 3-6 or May 10-12: Rookie mini-camp
The Jaguars will be permitted to get their 2024 rookie class out at practice for the first time in one of the first two weekends after the draft.
May 20-22: Spring league meeting
The second league meeting of the offseason doesn’t typically create the headlines of the first, but it could be a massive one for the Jaguars this year. Team president Mark Lamping has pointed to the May meeting as the perfect time to get league approval for a massive renovation of EverBank Stadium.
