Nowadays, in Jacksonville, when talking about the Jaguars wide receivers, it's more about whether Calvin Ridley will be back with the team rather than being under a contract extension or under the franchise tag. Or, the conversations are completely different than that, discussing why the Jaguars shouldn't bring him back.
However, it seems that the closer the Jaguars get to free agency, the more we are hearing about players that could be cut to save cap space. Now, one of those is one of the Jaguars' best wide receivers.
There are rumblings that the Jaguars could cut Zay Jones. Pro Football Focus themselves predicts he will be one of the bigger names the team lets go.
Salary Cap Details: $6,569,334 dead money, $4,183,294 cap savings
Jones missed multiple stretches of the 2023 season, and Jacksonville is preparing to bring fellow wideout Calvin Ridley back on a much bigger veteran contract. The emergence of rookie Parker Washington could help fill the void here in 2024 and beyond. - PFF
Jones missed several games last season for two reasons: Yes, he was banged up, but so was everyone on the team. He was also involved in an incident that saw him sit in jail. In seven seasons, this was Jones' first year playing under 15 games. So, he usually doesn't miss much time, and it's not like he is a guy who's injury-prone, never sees the field, and never produces.
The Jaguars could possibly not bring back Ridley, and if they do decide to go a different direction than Ridley, letting go of Jones would leave them with one really good receiver in Christian Kirk. Even if they do bring back Ridley, I don't think they will get rid of Jones because he does provide that vertical, contested catch threat. He is a few bad passes away from three more touchdowns on his stat sheet from this season.
There are certainly other areas and players the Jaguars could look into that would help relieve some space. This one shouldn't be one of them.
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