The Jacksonville Jaguars entered free agency under second-year head coach Liam Coen with a posture that stood in contrast to nearly every other team in their division: conservative, measured, and oriented almost entirely around protecting existing relationships and depth rather than aggressive external acquisition.

Jacksonville re-signed cornerback Montaric Brown, edge rusher Dennis Gardeck, and tight end Quintin Morris at team-friendly terms. They allowed running back Travis Etienne — who left for New Orleans — and linebacker Devin Lloyd to depart without a retention effort. GM James Gladstone made no significant outside free agent additions in the opening wave.

The restraint is a strategic choice, not a resource limitation. Jacksonville has cap flexibility and draft capital. What Coen's organization is signaling is that the answer to their roster's remaining gaps is the April draft, not the free agent market. The positions where the Jaguars are most visibly undersized — pass rush depth, wide receiver opposite Gabe Davis, and the running back room Etienne's departure leaves thinner — are positions where the draft board may offer more value than the free agent pool at its current price point.

Coen went 13-4 in his debut season in Jacksonville, won the AFC South title, and reached the playoffs in a conference that grew more difficult in the subsequent offseason. His second year will require answering questions about whether the success of year one was organizational talent the previous regime assembled, organizational momentum that a good first-year coaching performance created, or something the Coen staff specifically built. The answer is probably all three.

What Coen and Gladstone are communicating with their free agency approach is that they believe the foundation is sound and that the draft will address what it needs to address. Whether the draft produces what the roster requires — or whether the conservative offseason leaves Jacksonville undersized in ways that show by October — is the evaluation question hanging over the organization heading into April.

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Sources: "AFC South winners and losers," Big Cat Country | "2026 NFL free agency tracker," NFL.com | "2026 NFL free agency tracker," CBS Sports