The free agency tampering period will start in less than a day and the Jacksonville Jaguars need to be one of the teams that come away from it with several upgrades. That especially needs to be the case on the offensive side of the ball where Trevor Lawrence needs skill weapons and new starters on the offensive line around him.
While they weren’t able to complete the move, the Jags have already shown their interest in acquiring veteran receiver help when they got involved in the trade for Amari Cooper. Now, they will have to turn to free agency for an answer, and according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, they are eyeing one of the top receivers on the market and are expected to consider others.
One of those players is expected to be JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Allen Robinson II is the beneficiary of Mike Williams’ $20 million-per-year deal with the Los Angeles Chargers and Chris Godwin’s $19.2 million franchise tag in Tampa Bay. Those numbers lift the receiver market, and Robinson could be looking at up to $18 million annually on a new deal. Cleveland’s trade for Amari Cooper takes the Browns out of the big-money receiver market for Robinson and others. But the Jacksonville Jaguars and New England Patriots are expected to be looking.
JuJu Smith-Schuster will have options this week, starting with a potential re-signing with Pittsburgh. The Eagles, Chiefs, Bears and Jaguars also could be involved come Monday’s tampering period, I’m told.
Smith-Schuster, 25, was drafted in 2017 in the second round by the Pittsburgh Steelers and has played there since. Throughout five seasons, he’s accumulated 323 catches for 3,855 yards and 26 touchdowns and has also been named a Pro Bowler once in 2018.
However, he’ll be coming off a season where his stats were down due to having season-ending shoulder surgery in October. As a result, he only played in five regular season games and accumulated 15 receptions for 129 yards in the regular season, but was able to return in the postseason when the team took on the Kansas City Chiefs.
While he wouldn’t necessarily add speed to the offense, it would give Lawrence a threat who can make things happen after the catch. That would be huge, and they would still have the draft to further improve the position.
Like many free-agent receivers, figuring out what to pay Smith-Schuster is the hardest part, though. Like Jags receiver DJ Chark Jr., he’s only had one season where he’s accumulated over 1,000 yards, which was the season he went to the Pro Bowl in 2018.
That said, maybe a deal like Courtland Sutton’s is a place to start as he was a receiver who recently received a big-time payday, but is in a similar position as Smith-Schuster in terms of having one 1,000 yard season and one Pro Bowl nod. That deal was a four-year extension worth $60.8 million, with a guaranteed amount of $34.9 million. Then again, with that type of guaranteed money, maybe going for former Jags draft selection Allen Robinson would be a wiser move due to him being a more productive player.
Only time will tell if the Jags get the help at receiver they need for Lawrence in free agency. there will be limited options to choose from in the process, so it feels like they will have to be significantly more aggressive than they’ve been to this point under general manager Trent Baalke to acquire one of the aforementioned options.
