THE JAGUARS HAVE AGREED TO TRADE CALAIS CAMPBELL — NOW WHAT?

Calais Campbell and Yannick Ngakoue (David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire)

The Jaguars' defensive rock is gone. What will the Jaguars do now?

BY JORDAN DE LUGO

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The Jaguars have agreed to trade Pro-Bowl defensive end Calais Campbell to the Ravens for a 2020 fifth-round pick. The trade will be finalized at the start of the new league year.

What does this mean for the Jaguars?

It means they're losing a lot of proven production. Campbell spent three years in Duval and played at a historically high level. His run defense was impeccable. As a pass-rusher, Campbell racked up 31 sacks for the Jaguars during his time in Jax. But the soon to be 34-year-old is in the twilight of his career. He picked up just 6.5 sacks in 2019 and wasn't the same player — from a pass rusher perspective — that he was in years prior. 

The Jaguars lose the heart and soul of their defense and one of the best leaders of men in football. 

They gain more draft capital for 2020 — Jacksonville now has 11 total draft picks this year. I wouldn't expect the Jaguars to use all those picks. Instead, they'll likely leverage some of that draft capital to move up in the draft when they see fit. They could even use some of the current draft capital to trade for younger, ascending veterans. 

The Jags also gain $15 million in 2020 cap space and now have around $30 million in cap space, even with Yannick Ngakoue under the franchise tag.

The move indicates that Josh Allen will now be a full-time starter. The 2019 rookie edge rusher had a historically productive rookie season and should now be in line for even more snaps in 2020. 

The Jaguars have enough cap space to attack free agency with a full head of steam, and they'll need to with the roster in its current state. And I'd expect more cap saving moves in the coming hours. Marqise Lee, Geoff Swaim, and Abry Jones could all be on the chopping block. The only current holdovers from the dominant 2017 defense are Myles Jack and Abry Jones. The Jaguars have roster work to do on all three levels of their defense.

The Jaguars could also look to save money this year, and opt to not spend too much money in free agency in the coming days. They could instead focus on rebuilding through the draft and hitting free agency hard in 2020, when they'll have even more cap space available. 

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