Taking an early look at the Jaguars cap situation

The Jaguars will have a lot of decisions to make in the 2026 offseason. With their first pick not coming until late in the second round of the NFL draft, along with their cap space being limited, they will have to operate carefully while improving in the margins.

We will start with the most unavoidable number that will hinder the Jaguars throughout free agency: $43.8 million. That is how much money the Jaguars will have in dead cap, with $34.1 million being owed to Tyson Campbell and Gabe Davis. According to OverTheCap.com, the Jaguars are $21 million over the cap. This is before the salary cap increases, but for right now, the Jaguars are far above where they'd like to be, and it will be a key factor in their decision making during free agency.

Cap casualties and pending departures

The players with the highest chance of being cut or traded will largely depend on their trade value and dead cap hit. A cut pre June 1st will give the least amount of cap savings with the highest dead cap penalty, while a trade post June 1st will allow the most cap flexibility with little dead cap penalties

In no particular order, the most likely cut candidates are Davon Hamilton, Foye Oluokon, Chuma Edoga, and Walker Little. There is no telling if or how the Jaguars plan to release or trade these players, but if all 5 were to be cut pre June 1st, the Jaguars would have to pay $44 million in dead cap, while only saving $7.3 million.

All of these movies are not going to be made, which narrows down the potential candidates. Walker Little is the most likely player to be cut because of his lack of trade value. Little's dead cap number is set at $18 million pre-June 1st and $13 million post-June 1st, but because of his consistent struggles, the Jaguars may be willing to pay the price.

Davon Hamilton is the second most likely because of his lack of production in the pass rush. The Jaguars interior pass rush was dead last in pressures and sacks over the final 5 weeks once Arik Armstead suffered a hand injury, and Davon Hamilton was supposed to help fill that gap. Hamilton's cap number is $12.4 million in 2026, and the Jaguars would have to pay $10.5 million in dead cap for a pre-June 1st cut. With such a need at the interior defensive line, the Jaguars may be willing to deal with this cap hit as well.

Foye Oluokon will be 31 at the start of the 2026 season, with two seasons left on his contract. Oloukon has been a good veteran linebacker for the Jaguars, and is set to count $32 million over the final two years of his contract. What makes his situation interesting is the benefits of his final season's cap numbers.

In 2026, a pre-June 1st cut would result in $14.2 million in dead cap money, while only saving the Jaguars $2.5 million. In 2027, his dead cap number dropd to $7.4 million while the Jaguars save $8.4 million. With the pending free agency decision of Devin Lloyd, the Jaguars may keep Oloukon on the roster through June 1st or even the entire 2026 season as added insurance.

Conclusion

With key pending free agency decisions, as well as operating the dead cap number, James Gladstone will have his hands full in free agency to continue improving the roster while not making detrimental cap decisions. The Jaguars have a lot of positions filled and under contract, but contracts from previous regimes, as well as potential departures, will make it difficult to fill said holes.

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