The main objective for coach Liam Coen, GM James Gladstone and the new regime of the Jacksonville Jaguars this offseason has been to clean up some of the mess left over from the fired Trent Baalke.
One glaring example was the team’s recent decision to cut wide receiver Gabe Davis — a player Baalke signed to a three-year, $39 million deal in March of 2024. The Jaguars absorbed north of $20 million in salary cap costs just to cut ties with the veteran wide out, whose most memorable moment in Duval County was his random sideline spat with quarterback Trevor Lawrence in a game against the Colts last October.
Another failed Baalke signing remains on the roster in defensive lineman Arik Armstead, who inked his own three-year deal with the Jaguars last year worth $43.5 million. Jacksonville was hoping the former San Francisco 49ers’ star could replicate his dominant 2023 season that saw him rack up 58 total QB pressures and eight sacks from the interior.
Things went the other direction, however, for Armstead, who never looked comfortable in former defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell’s scheme in a move from tackle to defensive end. He struggled to one of his more unproductive seasons as a pro, finishing with two sacks and just 36 QB pressures.
Armstead will try to turn things around in 2025, playing a more familiar role for new DC Anthony Campanile. Either way, NFL analyst Lou Scataglia doesn’t see Armstead living up to his $14.5 million per year price tag.
Here’s why Scataglia named Armstead’s deal one of the worst in the NFL entering the 2025 season:
Starting just one game for the Jaguars in 2024, Arik Armstead produced two sacks and 29 total tackles. The $14.5 million per year price is just way too much for Armstead, who has been in the NFL since 2015 when he was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers. This was another pretty notable free agency miss by Trent Baalke, who isn't with the team anymore.
Armstead may end up being on the decline, and that's OK, as all NFL players go through this at some point in their careers. He is the team's worst contract approaching the 2025 NFL Season.
Jacksonville’s pass rush was brutal last season, and with strong pass rushers like Josh Hines-Allen and Trevon Walker on the outside, that’s a commentary on the Jaguars’ defensive interior.
Gladstone didn’t make any big moves on defense in free agency, outside of adding a couple veterans to the secondary in nickel corner Jourdan Lewis and safety Eric Murray. They’re going to need guys like Armstead — an excellent glue-guy for the locker room and the reigning Walter Payton Man of the Year — to be major factors to get things turned around in short order, because the cast remains young and largely the same as last year’s group that struggled in just about every defensive metric.
It’s hard to argue Scataglia’s overall point here; although, it would be a lot easier to call out Lawrence’s $275 million extension as the worst number on Gladstone’s books. Armstead’s deal is bad as well, based on his 2024 production, and if he doesn’t bounce back in 2025, the team can cut him loose next offseason for a dead-cap hit of $17.1 million.
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