The NFL’s franchise tag deadline has passed and the Jacksonville Jaguars will stand pat, opting not to use either the franchise or transition tag on one of their impending free agents.
Teams had a window from Feb. 17 to March 3 at 4 p.m. to place one of the tags on their impending free agents to retain the player on a one-year, fully-guaranteed contract.
For Jacksonville, the team had multiple candidates for either tag, including linebacker Devin Lloyd and running back Travis Etienne as the team’s top impending free agents.
If the Jaguars had tagged Etienne, the cost would have been $14.293 million for the franchise tag and $11.323 million for the transition tag. For Lloyd, the franchise tag would have been valued at $26.865 million, while the transition tag would have been valued at $21.925 million.
The Jaguars entered this year’s offseason with 14 unrestricted free agents and two exclusive rights free agents. The team has already agreed to re-sign defensive tackle Matt Dickerson and running back DeeJay Dallas to one-year deals. Meanwhile, the team tendered ERFA cornerback Christian Braswell, ensuring he will remain with the team for at least another season.
The team also re-signed cornerback Keith Taylor, who originally joined the franchise in December.
Jaguars need cap space help ahead of free agency
According to OverTheCap, the Jaguars currently sit at -$16,902,005 in cap space ahead of the start of the new league year. That prohibits the team from making major moves to add to the roster and could have played a role in the team’s decision to not use the franchise or transition tags.
Expect the Jaguars to make several moves including potential restructures, cuts and/or trades to get below the league’s salary cap. The team’s cap space likely precludes the team from being big spenders to open the free agency market, but they have options to enabler that if wanted.
Which Jaguars are set to hit free agency?
Here are the Jaguars who are set to hit the open market on March 11:
Unrestricted:
Exclusive rights:
When does NFL free agency start?
Free agency is set to start on March 11 at 4 p.m., the beginning of the new league year, while teams will be permitted to negotiate with player representatives a couple of days earlier, beginning on March 9 at 12 p.m.
Teams will not be able to sign players during the 52-hour window, but will be able to “legally tamper,” agreeing to deals that will be signed upon the official start of the new league year.
Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @Demetrius82 or on Bluesky at Demetrius.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars pass on franchise tag for Travis Etienne ahead of NFL deadline
Reporting by Demetrius Harvey, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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