The Jacksonville Jaguars appear to be in the wide receiver market.
Speaking with Denver media the day after the Broncos traded second-year wide receiver Devaughn Vele to the New Orleans Saints for a fourth- and seventh-round pick, Broncos head coach Sean Payton let it slip that the Jaguars were also in the running for Vele.
Payton's Reveal
"That factors in -- and Jacksonville -- and ultimately, it is the best compensation ... I think George and I both knew, if it became a fourth, that's something we would do.
"Two [teams]— and then a third team — all called," Payton said. "In other words, we weren't actively shopping at all. Teams in need of receivers obviously do a good enough job [of scouting]. They look at the depth of certain teams. Within like a three-day period, [General Manager] George [Paton] and I had gotten calls from two serious teams and a third, and all coincidentally on the same player. Look, George would know better the initial offer, what the compensation would be, and the next morning, he and I sat down and said, 'No.' Obviously, we value this player."
The Jaguars added two high-profile receivers this offseason in Travis Hunter and Dyami Brown, who joined a wide receiver room that already had Brian Thomas and Parker Washington.
While the Jaguars have a talented top-4 receiver group, it is a unit that lacks size and a true ball-winner outside of Brian Thomas Jr. For that reason alone, th e Jaguars could be looking for new faces to add at receiver.
"You are always trying to add competition and playmakers. There's so many schemes that you can devise and execute, and ultimately when you have players that can win on their own and do something with the ball on their own, I can't really coach that," Jaguars head coach Liam Coen said in April after the Jaguars drafted Travis Hunter.
"Coordinators can't really coach for that. Ultimately, you're looking for players, can they win on their own, and can they impact our offense in that way? Yes, he does. That is what we were looking to do in so many ways. Try to address the ability to block up-front in the pro-free agency and get some more help there and competition at positions on the O-line and try to go get this guy here.”
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