TUESDAY HOT THOUGHTS: THE JAGUARS AND THE FRANCHISE TAG

Should the Jaguars use the franchise tag before the deadline? Will they?

BY JEREMY MARKOSKI

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The Jaguars Will Not Use The Franchise Tag, Nor Should They

The deadline is here (today @ 4 pm), and so far, we have seen tight ends David Njoku, Dalton Shultz, and Mike Gesicki tagged by their respective franchises. These were three major players for the tight end market in which I expected the Jaguars to be heavily invested. The deadline for each team’s franchise tag to be allocated is today at 4 pm, and I think that window passes WITHOUT the Jaguars choosing to tag a player. Wide receiver DJ Chark and offensive tackle Cam Robinson seemed like the two most likely recipients of the tag here in town, but with the #1 overall pick, money to spend in free agency, and the wide receiver tag coming in at $18+ million, there is no way they can stomach using the tag. Reports are DJ Chark will command rather impressive offers, and even more so now as the free-agent market continues to dwindle for pass catchers. If someone wants to pay over market value for Chark, let them. One of four years has been solid for Chark, but outside of that, he has yet to reach the ceiling we all expected he would. Yes, I understand this could be due to poor quarterback play and injury ended his first run with Trevor at the helm, but try and justify $18 million given his career numbers. I’ll wait. As for Cam, the offensive line talent is loaded both in free agency and at the top of the draft. If building the offensive line is as much a priority for Dougie Fresh as I think it is, the money would be better spent dispersed amongst a couple of free agents, as well as acquiring an elite talent at the top of the draft. While I believe that letting talent (as mediocre as it may be) walk at any point is never great when you lack talent altogether, you can’t stomach those franchise tag numbers.

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