JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell said the plan for 2020 was to purge high salaries, to get the salary cap under control and to fix a locker room culture that had soured because of — among other things — selfishness, contract issues and personal agendas.
But in trying to do that, the Jaguars are left with a team that is one of the youngest in the league and has little proven talent. In the wake of Monday’s release of running back Leonard Fournette and Sunday’s trade of defensive end Yannick Ngakoue, it’s hard to look at everything that has happened in the past several months and not think the franchise is, well, tanking.
Intentional or not, that’s the perception of the Jaguars in 2020.
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A team can’t trade its best defensive player and cut its second-best offensive player (arguably behind receiver DJ Chark) on consecutive days and not have it read that way. Especially considering the other moves the team has made since the 2019 season ended.
Caldwell and coach Doug Marrone will vehemently deny it. Both are in jeopardy of not being back in 2021 if the team posts a third consecutive losing season after the surprising run to the AFC title game in 2017. They believe they have a roster that will allow them to be competitive in the AFC South — and possibly compete for the final playoff spot if second-year quarterback Gardner Minshew thrives in Jay Gruden’s West Coast-style offense.
Who knows? Maybe they’re right. Maybe the Jaguars will go worst to first the way they did in 2017.
That team, however, was loaded with defensive talent. Six players went to the Pro Bowl and another, nose tackle Marcell Dareus, was a former Pro Bowler. The 2020 Jaguars are nowhere close to that, talent-wise.
Not after trading Calais Campbell and cornerback A.J. Bouye in March. Not after their marquee free-agent signing was middle linebacker Joe Schobert (who does fill a significant need) and their No. 2 signing was defensive lineman Rodney Gunter, who retired earlier this month because of a heart problem.
Not after trading Ngakoue to Minnesota for a second-round pick in 2021 and a conditional pick in 2022.
| Year: Player | Result |
|---|---|
| 2017: Leonard Fournette | Released in 2020 after third season |
| 2016: Jalen Ramsey | Traded to Rams in 2019 during fourth season |
| 2015: Dante Fowler Jr. | Traded to Rams in 2018, now with Falcons |
| 2014: Blake Bortles | Cut after five seasons, remains free agent in 2020 |
| 2013: Luke Joeckel | Signed with Seahawks in 2017, no longer in league |
| 2012: Justin Blackmon | Suspended for substance abuse, has not played since 2013 |
| 2011: Blaine Gabbert | Traded to 49ers in 2014, now backup with Bucs |
| ESPN Stats & Information | |
The Campbell and Bouye trades were salary-driven, as was the trade of quarterback There’s nothing worse in the NFL than being irrelevant. Muddling around in the five-, six-, seven-win range and realistically being out of playoff contention before Halloween year after year is awful. That’s what happened with the
BALTIMORE — Lamar Jackson didn’t look like the reigning NFL MVP until after he threw an ugly interception in the Ravens’ intrasquad scrimmage Saturday night at M&T Bank Stadium.
Jackson completed 14 of 26 passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns, but he finished on a hot streak after getting picked off by undrafted rookie Nigel Warrior on an underthrown deep pass.
Shaking off that turnover, he connected on six of his last eight passes for two touchdowns, including a 40-yarder to Marquise Brown. Scrambling to his right, Jackson uncorked the deep throw to Brown in the end zone.
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“It starts with the imagination. If you have something in your head and you’re saying, ‘OK, this is what I’m going to do.’ You have to be creative.”
Heading into his seventh NFL season, his third in Dallas, Cooper starts 2020 fresh off his five-year contract extension with $60 million guaranteed. He’s ready to prove himself as an elite receiver, and, maybe less notably, as the Cowboys’ resident chess guru.
From his large, sunny kitchen outside of Dallas, Cooper, 26, lights up when talking about playing chess, and remembers exactly when the game first captivated him as an elementary school student in northwest Miami.
“My music teacher ran the chess club after school,” Cooper said. “But if we were done with our music lesson that day, he would teach us chess lessons.” The teacher encouraged Cooper to join the after-school chess club, but even from a young age, Cooper already was committed to another passion.
“I probably came after school one time [to chess club], because I was more interested in going to my after-school program, which is where we would play football.”
In the years that followed, graduating from Miami Northwestern Senior High School, three years as a standout receiver for the University of Alabama, declaring for the NFL draft following his junior season in 2015, Cooper hardly touched a pawn on the chessboard. But his initial interest in the game’s intricacies and deception never left his mind.
And in 2015, the desire to play chess was reignited.
Wide receiver Amari Cooper started all 16 games for the Cowboys last season, netting 79 receptions for 1,189 yards and eight touchdowns. Ric Tapia via AP Photo Competition fuels Cooper
Sixty years ago, America’s Team became the NFL’s 13th team. For more on the franchise’s storied history:
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- Covered Eagles for USA Today
- Covered the Ravens for Baltimore Times
- Played college football at Cheyney University
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Titans safety Kenny Vaccaro started his virtual news conference by informing the media that he is shutting down all football talk this season.
Vaccaro feels that it’s only appropriate to discuss social injustice, systemic oppression, racism and police brutality in light of the recent events involving the shooting of Jacob Blake by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
“I’m really not going to talk football when I come into these meetings in light of recent events that have happened around the country. For me and my platform, my duty is to speak on things that are happening, and that’s just my stance. I’m just not going to talk football this year,” Vaccaro said.
This comes a day after the Titans as a team decided not to practice, instead taking time to discuss how they can move forward to create change after the latest shooting of a Black man by police. Coach Mike Vrabel said one of the main reasons the team didn’t practice was because the Titans’ frustration that the shootings continue to happen has the team wanting to find ways to spark change.
Vaccaro gave a prelude to what the Titans players plan to do going forward.
“I don’t think sitting out a practice is going to stop police from killing Black men. The next step is getting into communities. We’re going to do something that’s not just a hashtag, not just a black square people posted on Instagram and thought it meant something. We’re not going to make this a movement, we’re going to make this a lifestyle,” Vaccaro said.
Their goal is to be a shining light to the outside world of how people need to be treated. One of the ideas that came out of the conversations when they didn’t practice Thursday was to create a “Zoom with a Titan” opportunity for the fans in Middle Tennessee to talk with the players.