5 Observations from Jaguars GM Trent Baalke's season-ending press conference
Demetrius Harvey
Jaguars General Manager Trent Baalke has plenty to be excited about after the team exceeded all expectations this year, winning the AFC South and advancing to the second round of the playoffs.
With Doug Pederson at the helm as the team's head coach, the team reached new heights with players acquired by Baalke and his staff through the free-agency process and via the NFL Draft.
Still, the work isn't finished in Jacksonville and the team will undergo another year of reworking the roster to put the best players on the field as they continue within their window of opportunity.
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During his final press conference of the season at TIAA Bank Field on Tuesday, Baalke indicated there was no greater influence on the team's success than Pederson, who recently was awarded the AFC Coach of the Year by 101 Awards.
"I don't think you point to anything greater than Doug's influence as a leader. When you have someone at the top that's as steady as Doug is, as fearless as he is, and really as authentic," Baalke said. "Those are three things I think of when I think of the way Doug's led this organization and this football team that really stand out, and people get behind that.
"When you're authentic, you're the same guy every day, and you're fearless as a leader, people — players, staff, fan bases — it's encouraging, and it's engaging."
One year after Jaguars fans were seen donning clown masks in protest of the GM retaining his job and as a response to the dysfunctional season the franchise had in 2021, the turnaround has warranted an appropriate positive response.
In response to the criticism during his tenure, Baalke said it's important to simply block out the noise.
"We're paid to do a job, and our job is to put the best product we can on the field," said Baalke.
"I've never listened to the noise. The noise doesn't determine the decisions that we're going to make as an organization. I think the best thing you can do when there's a lot of noise is put ear plugs in and go about your job, and that's what we tried to do."
Jaguars ready to be the 'hunted,' rather than 'hunter' in AFC South
For years Jacksonville has been viewed as a stepping stone within the AFC, and particularly within the AFC South. Though the team enjoyed success in 2017, outside of that year the Jaguars were not viewed as much of a threat.
In 2022, that changed with the Jaguars winning the AFC South and advancing to the second round of the playoffs with Pederson and quarterback Trevor Lawrence at the helm. As a result, the Jaguars will be under a microscope unlike anything they've seen before over the past couple of decades.
Baalke shares that sentiment and admitted on Tuesday the team will likely become the hunted, rather than the hunter moving forward.
"As you get better and you become the hunted, the challenge gets harder," said Baalke. "You're going to get every team's best when they show up in Jacksonville. In the past, maybe they thought this was going to be an easy out, that's no longer going to be the case."
Jacksonville essentially played the role of spoiler throughout the last month-and-a-half this year, having to win out in order to enjoy the success they had in the postseason. The sense of urgency that was created should enable the team to carry the momentum forward into next year.
"I think we'll all enjoy it, but yes, obviously, the leadership matters and if you're fearless and you're not afraid to be the hunted, then let's go," Baalke said. "There's a lot of work to do, you can't just talk about it. You got to go do it."
Jaguars, Evan Engram have mutual interest in sticking together
Jaguars tight end Evan Engram is one of the 12 impending unrestricted free agents the Jaguars have this year. The fifth-year TE signed a one-year deal last offseason with Jacksonville, which paid off for the former first-round pick.
In 17 games this year, Engram caught 73 passes for 766 yards and four touchdowns. He set single-season franchise records for receptions and yards by a tight end, also setting career highs.
Baalke indicated Tuesday he and Engram met Monday.
"Obviously, we'd love to have Evan back," said Baalke. "Now we have to make it happen. That's something that we're going to work on with Evan and all the other free agents that we have. We have a list of them that we've got to mow down one at a time."
Engram recently stated multiple times he enjoyed the best year of his life in Jacksonville. He also indicated on Monday that he would like to stay with the team moving forward.
"There's nowhere I'd rather be," he said.
Retaining players, continuing to build around nucleus of team is a priority
The Jaguars will have a lot of decisions to make this offseason. From retaining a player like Engram to potentially re-signing right tackle Jawaan Taylor, who enjoyed the best year of his career this past season.
Making certain that the nucleus of the team is intact will be a priority for the Jaguars.
"I think you're always looking to keep as many players in the nest as you can," said Baalke. "You work hard to draft these guys or to secure them through various methods, whether it's free agency or the draft, college free agency, a lot of different ways these guys come onto the team.
"Once they've proven themselves, not only on the field, but in the locker room, those are the core guys you want to build around."
Still, the team understands that there will be tough decisions that are made because not everyone will be able to come back.
"You want to keep as many of these guys as you can, everybody understands that we're going to do everything we can to make that happen, but if we're going to make that happen, something has to give. Everybody has got to give a little bit," Baalke said.
Those conversations have already been had with players, Baalke indicated.
"We've got a lot of work ahead of us in order to make this happen, but I'm pretty confident that we can do what we need to do structurally if we need to sign the guys back that we needto bring back."
Big spending in free agency is a thing of the past for Jaguars
In the first two days of free agency last year, Baalke and the Jaguars assigned seven new players, spending nearly $260 million with more than $150 million guaranteed.
Don't expect that to be the case this year.
Jacksonville is currently projected to be over the salary cap, even with it rising, prior to the new league year opening and without other moves being made.
As a result, the team will not be as cap-flexible this year, needing to rely on the draft along with re-signing its own players. Baalke said that "has" to be the case this year.
"First of all, we're up against the cap a lot more than we were the previous two years. We feel really good about the nucleus of young players that we have on the team," Baalke said.
"I believe we're the fifth or sixth youngest team in the National Football League right now. We have a lot of young players on their first contracts, a lot of players overall on their first contracts."
The Jaguars are currently the fifth-youngest team in the NFL with an average roster age of 25.87 years old.
Jaguars hope to not have to use franchise tag
Last year, the Jaguars utilized the franchise tag on left tackle Cam Robinson, who eventually signed a three-year deal with the club.
This year, the team hopes to not have to utilize the tag, signing players to deals or allowing them to walk and test the market in free agency instead.
Still, the team has yet to finalize their plan, and Baalke didn't completely dismiss the possibility.
"I'm hoping we don't need to use it," he said. "Right now we're evaluating this team as a staff. Doug and the rest of the coaches are going through a process, an end-of-the-season process that we've set up."
Free agency begins March 15. They're on the clock.
Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on Twitter at @Demetrius82.