Who the Jaguars should keep or let go in 2026

The Jaguars will have 13 free agents in 2026, and not all of them will get re-signed for various reasons. James Gladstone and the front office will have some tough decisions to make in order to maintain a competitive team while also tightroping the salary cap.

Here is the Jaguars free agency class.

Travis Etienne

Travis Etienne is a particularly difficult player to evaluate. Etienne had an excellent rookie season but has since been up-and-down, having an awful 2024 season before bouncing back in 2025. Etienne's production at his best has given the Jaguars above-average production, but his lack of lateral quickness and downhill speed makes him just an above-average running back, which is not enough to justify a second contract.

Even when Etienne struggled down the stretch, the Jaguars passing offense remained potent, reducing Etienne and the running game's value in the offense. The flashes from Bhayshul Tuten, the thin margins the Jaguars will have to operate on in free agency, the position being relatively replaceable, and the offense not relying on a strong running game are all reasons the Jaguars should not re-sign Travis Etienne.

Devin Lloyd

Devin Lloyd is also a tough evaluation because of his coaching circumstances. In his first three years, Lloyd consistently looked lost in coverage, lacked the ability to tackle in open space, and could not process the speed of the game quickly. In 2025, this completely changed. Lloyd became an excellent run stuffer, a very good open-field tackler, and was great in pass coverage, recording 7 pass deflections and 5 interceptions.

The question is, were his struggles simply due to poor coaching, or is his success only due to the scheme? I believe that if or when the Jaguars get a new defensive coordinator, the Jaguars have the coaching in place to make sure Lloyd remains a star player. The Jaguars should re-sign Devin Lloyd.

Montaric Brown

Similar to Devin Lloyd, Montaric Brown had a career year in his first year under Anthony Campinele, which leads to the same question: was he a product of good coaching or did he struggle because of poor coaching? Montaric Brown is primarily an outside-the-numbers corner, but in Campinele's heavy zone scheme, it played to his strengths, recording 12 pass deflections, a 74.3 passer rating when targeted, and just 379 yards allowed, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com.

One of the biggest challenges the Jaguars faced at cornerback was depth and overall talent. Jourdan Lewis will be 31 and coming off a major injury, Travis Hunter will be splitting reps and is also coming off a major injury, and Greg Newsome II will have to be replaced. The major hole to fill in the secondary, along with his play in a career year, is why the Jaguars should re-sign Montaric Brown.

The others

As for the other 10 free agents, the Jaguars should move on, as most of them were either fringe starting players or underperformed. Players such as Andrew Wingard and Dawuane Smoot have played for years with the team at important positions, and the Jaguars need to continue to add younger and higher-ceiling players.

Conclusion

The Jaguars will have 3 key players they must make a decision on. Those players are running back Travis Etienne, linebacker Devin Lloyd, and cornerback Montaric Brown. The Jaguars should re-sign Devin Lloyd and Montaric Brown because of the career years they had under defensive coordinator Anthony Campinile. Travis Etienne should not be re-signed because of his inconsistency throughout his career and in 2025, the value at his position, and the team having a pass-heavy scheme.

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