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Cutting Tony Brackens was a no-brainer. His number didn’t match his production and with a $2 million cap savings by getting rid of him the decision was easy. That extra $2 million brings the Jaguars total to around $15 million under the cap, money that’s available for them to spend in free-agency.
How’d they do that? You might be asking.
The expansion draft allowed the team to get out from under Tony Boselli, Seth Payne and Gary Walker’s contracts, starting the Jaguars emergence from salary cap jail. Former Head Coach Tom Coughlin, along with owner Wayne Weaver were guilty of overspending pursuing the Super Bowl. “It’s a powerful intoxicant,” is how Weaver put it. But they didn’t get there, and their window of opportunity closed quickly.
The problem was, Coughlin believed that he could still coach a team with out some key pieces to the league’s ultimate game, and he convinced Weaver they could still be competitive: if they just spent a little more money. After the 1999 season and the loss to Tennessee in the AFC Championship game, the Jaguars might have had a chance to return to the title game the following season. But injuries and age caught up with them, and their decline was in motion. It cost Coughlin his job and put the Jaguars in a tough spot; not enough talent to win, not enough money to buy some players.
The expansion draft put them in a position to start to emerge from under the cap, and trading Mark Brunell and cutting Brackens gets their head above the water. What they’ll do with it is a different story.
Fiftenn million is enough to buy a first rate starter, if they can find one out there at the positions they want. Cornerback is an obvious position need, but the market is a little soft after so many players have signed back with their original teams. Sean Springs is a possibility, but he’s missed 13 games to injury over the last two years so there’s a high risk/reward involved with pursuing him. Could Jevon Kerse be on the Jaguars agenda? He’d be just what they need, but Weaver has said the team is going to follow the lead of the Patriots when it comes to free agency. Meaning going for solid players who can fit into a scheme, instead of huge stars with big salaries who’s personal fortunes lead where the team goes.
The Jaguars re-signed two players, Paul Spicer and Chris Hanson but have 10 players from last year’s roster eligibile for free-agency: Fernando Bryant, Danny Clark, Jamir Nesbit, Sammy Williams, Leander Jordan and Joe Zelenka can sign with anybody.
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