2024 Free Agency: Could the Jaguars Be Buyers in the Guard Market?

The Jacksonville Jaguars haven't been afraid to spend big money on offensive guards in the past. Could they do it again in 2024? 

They did in 2014 with Zane Beadles. Four years later, they did it again with Andrew Norwell. And four years after that, the Jaguars made Brandon Scherff one of the highest-paid guards in the league. 

Will the cycle repeat in 2024? According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, the Jaguars are one team to watch when it comes to a potentially expensive and active guard market next week.

"Yup, good money will be spent on guards this offseason. So many teams need them and have targeted the position, and Detroit's Jonah Jackson, Miami's Robert Hunt, New England's Mike Onwenu and the Los Angeles Rams' Kevin Dotson are among the top options. Don't be surprised if some or all from this group command $16 million or more," Fowler said. "Will there be enough seats in the musical chairs for all of them to get paid? It's very possible. Consider all of the teams that really need guard help, including the Giants, Jets, Panthers and Jaguars."

It is interesting the Jaguars were mentioned for a few reasons. The Jaguars clearly need to improve their offensive line after a poor 2023 season from the unit, but could that be at guard? 

The Jaguars have openly expressed a desire to re-sign impending free agent Ezra Cleveland, who they traded for at the trade deadline. Then there is Scherff, who is currently still under contract and is slated to be one of the highest-paid players on the roster. 

"Our offensive line, if you talk to these guys individually, they know and we know that it wasn’t our best. As a coaching staff, I put a lot of this on us and making sure that we’re doing the right things to put our players in position," Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said at the NFL Scouting Combine this week.

"You’ve heard me say this a lot, put our players in position to be successful. Give them an opportunity; and that falls on us as coaches through game planning and scheming and not having too much, just having the right amount of plays to execute. In turn, that falls back on the player. The player has to go out and play and use his God given ability to go execute the play. We’re going to continue to look, to improve, we always talk about competition and we want to bring in players to add value and depth at every position. We have to coach it better, we have to teach it better, we have to detail it and it all starts in the offseason.”

If the Jaguars move on from Scherff, who was arguably their best lineman a year ago, then there will be a gaping hole at right guard. And if that happens, it certainly seems like there is a possibility that hole could be filled with an expensive free agent.