JACKSONVILLE – Let's get to it …

Michael from Orange Park, FL

I'm sitting here and it's two days before the franchise-tag deadline, zone. Other teams are doing their do diligence and applying the tag to their key players – see Dallas: wide receiver George Pickens – and I continue to strum my fingers on the table not-so-patiently and wait for Gladstone to follow suit. To do SOMETHING!! I understand that we can't keep both ETN and D-Lloyd, but help me understand why it's not gross negligence to not use it on one of those two players when it's just there on the shelf and waiting to be used? Does he not know it's there? SOMETHING!

A few thoughts on your not-at-all patient and borderline angry thoughts. One is that Jaguars General Manager James Gladstone indeed does know the rule allowing teams to place franchise and transition tags on pending unrestricted free agents, thereby limiting those players' ability to participate in free agency. This does not mean that the Jaguars will use either tag on running back Travis Etienne or linebacker Devin Lloyd – and my sense is the Jaguars will use neither tag on either player, with the accompanying sense being that neither player will re-sign with the Jaguars before the start of the 2026 NFL League Year on March 11. The Jaguars in the coming weeks likely will restructure numerous contracts to maneuver and be under the salary cap – and they will make roster moves of various significance during that time. The Jaguars will have significant "dead money" on the 2026 salary cap because of moves made last offseason to get out of what the Jaguars' current decision-makers believed were bad long-term contracts. These decision-makers also spent significantly last offseason to bolster the roster for the short-term. That bolstering and reshaping helped the Jaguars solidify the roster – and the moves helped the Jaguars to a 13-4 AFC South Championship season. The idea now is to stabilize the cap while continuing to make moves necessary to improve. I expect the coming free agency period to be lower-key than last offseason. Part of that "low-keyness" will be making long-term decisions many fans don't like. That's not "gross negligence" in any way, shape or form. It's just doing what must be done.

Matthew from Townsville, Tropical Australia

Hi, O. Has Maason Smith become a Taven Bryan-style bust on the verge of not making the next roster, or do the coaches still have some hope he can be an asset? Given he is being pretty much ignored in discussions of defensive line needs, it seems more like bust. Given the potential many good judges saw, this is looking really disappointing.

This isn't really a comparison issue or a style issue. Defensive tackle Maason Smith was a second-round selection by the Jaguars in the 2024 NFL Draft. He flashed at times as a rookie. He played a bit in his second season, then by the end of the season he often was a healthy scratch because other players gave the Jaguars a better chance to win. The Jaguars were really good against the run in 2025 and not as good disrupting the passer on the interior of the line. It would be cool if Smith could develop and disrupt from the interior. A career does not have to be defined by two seasons. Stay tuned.

Richard from Jacksonville

What makes you think you're always right about everything.

Not everything.

Jesse from Texas

I think the reason some fans feel like defensive end Josh Hines-Allen has been a disappointment is because somehow, in a contract year, he managed to get 17.5 sacks. The past two seasons combined he has total of 16 sacks. And to make it worse, this past season, the Jags were up by multiple scores by the third quarter, which forced the opponents to pass much more than run. I get it that he's a good player and gets pressure, but he is being paid to be a game-wrecker. Can you understand why some of us fans would feel this way?

I completely understand why some Jaguars fans believe Hines-Allen is a disappointment. Fans tend to focus only on sacks as a statistic and also tend to not realize that pressures matter – and that sacks are often difficult for one individual to control whereas individuals can control pressures a bit more. What fans feel about a player and how that player is truly performing are often very different. That doesn't make the fans awful people. It just means they see things differently than people closer to the situation see it. That's OK. Not everyone has to see things the same way.

Chris from Mandarin

I never said those two players, Jaguars defensive ends Travon Walker and Hines-Allen, weren't good pass rushers. However, you have players like defensive end Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns, Tre Hendrickson of the Cincinnati Bengals and T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the elite of elite tier, players like Maxx Crosby of the Las Vegas Raiders and Will Anderson Jr. of the Houston Texans in the next – and Walker and Hines-Allen could still be placed reliably a tier or two even below though that. Pressures are wonderful and they effect the game … but sacks are sudden game-changing and momentum-changing plays – and neither Walker nor Hines-Allen do it enough. The game is set up for elite pass rushers to get 15 sacks per year, and while Hines-Allen did so once in a contract year, neither him nor Travon seem interested in showing up every game. They just aren't consistent. They're good, but we need something better than a run stopper like Travon and a when it suits-me-sack guy like Hines-Allen.

OK.

Bradley from Death Valley, CA

Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. has elite size, speed and athletic ability. He had an elite rookie year. The regression this past year is concerning, but I think he bounces back. This receiving cor[s has the potential to be pretty amazing. How serious are the Jags about trading BTJ ?

Thomas indeed didn't have the season in 2025 that he did in 2024, but he was still a player who strained defenses, often drew the opponents' best corner and had multiple huge plays. He was by season's end integral to the Jaguars' passing offense and part of a really good – and productive – receiving corps. I don't believe the Jaguars are passionate about trading him.

Fred from Naples, FL

Do you know if the NFL will announce our opponents or at least dates of our back-to-back games in London this year ahead of the official announcement? It certainly would be beneficial for travel purposes.

The NFL typically announces dates and opponents for international games shortly before – as in a day or two – it announces the overall schedule. I expect the league will stick somewhat close to that timeline for announcing the specifics of the Jaguars' London plans this offseason.

Jay from the Burg, FL

Coaches and players work really, really hard. They are always looking for an edge. The really good ones work to condition themselves for any possibility every opportunity. The Jaguars have a lot of really good football players. On any given play be prepared to possess the ball. In other words, while on the field every player's number is called on every play. A defensive tackle long snapper. Rookie defensive tackles defending passes and recovering fumbles. Third-string receivers and tight ends catching touchdowns. If you were on the field, be ready – because the ball will find you. They all had their struggles but no egos. Just a bunch of football players flying around ready to play any time any place. Is that fun or what? Go Jaguars!

It's fun.

Bradford from Orange Park, FL

Am I understanding it correctly, that had the Jaguars not traded cornerback Tyson Campbell his salary cap hit in 2026 would have been $5 million dollars? And trading him accelerated a $19 million dead money hit? When you already knew you had wide receiver Gabe Davis' $14.6 million dead money hit coming down the pipe? In what world would that have been a good idea? There's the money for re-signing Etienne. With some leftover that could have gone towards Devin Lloyd. I really hope I'm misunderstanding this.

The Jaguars traded Campbell last offseason because they didn't feel the level of play warranted the contract over the life of that contract. They traded him when they traded him because they wanted to execute the trade then and not later. Does having so much dead money on the cap hinder what the Jaguars can do in free agency? Sure. Sometimes, when you're taking over and reshaping a roster you have to rid yourself of the past – on and off the field. And sometimes when you're doing that, it's best to do it sooner rather than later.

Tom from Jacksonville

I found Greg's car keys. Why is he still driving a '55 Studebaker?

Those are Sexton's keys.