3 Observations on the Jaguars Trading Star Defender

The Jacksonville Jaguars made big waves on Monday evening, trading former defensive captain and starting defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris for a 2026 sixth-round pick.

What does the Robertson-Harris trade mean for the Jaguars in the short- and long-term, and where do the Jaguars go from here? We break it down below.

The Robertson-Harris extension was simply poorly timed

A lot of social media jabs have been thrown to general manager Trent Baalke in the wake of the Robertson-Harris trade, and it makes sense why. Robertson-Harris was extended after the 2022 season seemingly due to a small sample size of impressive games at the end of the season. There was no real reason to make him an early extension candidate.

With that said, Baalke and the Jaguars could not have envisioned the team changing their entire defensive staff and scheme a year after the extension. Robertson-Harris has been a square peg in a round hole in Ryan Nielsen's scheme, but he was a good fit in Mike Caldwell's defense. The extension was never a good move, but the timing of the scheme change makes it look even worse.

Was this what Doug Pederson was referencing in terms of changing the culture?

Doug Pederson didn't mince words when talking about the team's culture after Sunday's loss to the Bears. In short, the Jaguars are currently a culture that is defined by losing. They have folded in five games this season -- three one-score games and two blowout losses where the Jaguars rolled over early in the game.

Could this be an example of what Pederson was talking about, or is it simply about the Jaguars putting up a 'for sale' sign in their front yard when it comes to trades? This type of move coming so shortly after Pederson's comments does make one raise eyebrows, and the truth is the answer is likely somewhere near the middle.

Why this move makes sense now

The biggest reason this move makes sense for the Jaguars? Because Robertson-Harris was never likely to be in the Jaguars' plans past 2024. Out of all of the returning defenders, it always seemed like his transition to Ryan Nielsen's defense would be the toughest. They were moving from a five-man front to a four-man front, which meant fewer snaps. Then the Jaguars added Arik Armstead and Maason Smith, which means even fewer snaps.

Robertson-Harris was having a solid season numbers-wise compared to his usual 17-game sample sies, but he is not somebody who was going to return in 2024 no matter what happens to the coaching staff on the defensive side of the ball. He was just an odd-man out from the jump, so getting any kind of return on him when you were going to release him for the same dead cap figure makes plenty of sense.

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