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Jacksonville Jaguars’ Three Biggest Offseason Needs After Stunning 2025 Campaign

Picture Devin Lloyd somewhere in the tunnel after the final whistle, after that heartbreaking wildcard round defeat to the Buffalo Bills—helmet in hand, five interceptions in his pocket from a season that turned him into a second-team All-Pro, knowing full well that he just played his way off this roster. The market is going to give him $48 million over three years. The Jaguars—$17 million over the projected cap, sitting on no first-round pick—can’t match it.

That’s the paradox bleeding through every Jacksonville offseason conversation right now. They went 13-4 in 2025, winning the AFC South for the first time since 2022. Trevor Lawrence finally looked like the guy the franchise sacrificed years of losing for. And now GM James Gladstone has to dismantle pieces of the machine that built it.

Jaguars 2026 Hopes

This isn’t a rebuild. Don’t call it that. Jacksonville went 13-4 by winning with smoke and mirrors at cornerback (Montaric Brown and a mid-season rental), an interior offensive line that held together through sheer stubbornness, and a linebacker who played like a top-five defensive player, despite entering camp on an expiring rookie deal worth $3.2 million annually. The window is real. The holes are realer.

Online betting sites can see that. The Jags are a +180 shot to repeat as division winners next term, narrowly behind the +150 Houston Texans. If you wanted to parlay that with Trevor Lawrence winning a maiden MVP award, you could be set for a windfall, as the below betting calculator shows.

Screenshots sourced from this comprehensive betting calculator: https://thunderpick.io/betting-calculators/parlay-calculator

But in order for T-Law to deliver those mesmerizing displays he has proven himself more than capable of, he firstly needs support. Here’s what has to happen in the coming weeks to make that dream a reality.

Cornerback

Travis Hunter is transcendent. He’s also, increasingly, the reason the rest of the cornerback room looks terrifying. Jacksonville traded its 2026 first-round pick to Cleveland to move up and grab him second overall—a move that looks visionary until you remember they now pick 56th and can’t simply draft a CB1 when they need one most.

Hunter locks down one half of the field. The other half? Jarrian Jones isn’t a No. 1 outside corner. Greg Newsome—acquired in the Tyson Campbell trade—allowed nearly 70% completions and never cracked Campanile’s zone system. Montaric Brown was the genuine article: 54% completion rate on 68 targets, nine pass breakups, instincts that fit the scheme like he’d run it for a decade. He’s also a free agent, and the question is whether $9-10 million annually feels manageable on a roster already drowning in red ink.

Here’s the brutal math: if Brown walks and Day 2 prospect Chandler Rivers (Duke) turns out to be a third-round project instead of a first-round talent, Jacksonville is asking Trevor Lawrence to outscore opponents while defenses route their entire game plan away from Hunter.

Anthony Campanile’s zone scheme doesn’t need athletes—it needs thinkers, corners with coverage anticipation, and scheme IQ. Dee Alford and Rasul Douglas fit that mold for bargain prices. A 4th-round pick for a zone-literate veteran from a cap-strapped contender replicates what they got from Cleveland for Tyson Campbell.  But none of it replaces the urgency of retaining Brown. He’s not a luxury. He’s the difference between Hunter having a partner and Hunter being an island surrounded by sharks.

Linebacker

Gladstone has “spoken positively” about keeping Devin Lloyd. In NFL-speak, that’s the sound of a door quietly closing.

Lloyd’s 2025 season was arguably the best individual linebacker performance in the AFC: five interceptions—one returned for a touchdown—10 QB hits, 81 tackles, career-high PFF marks across every major defensive category. PFF projects $20.1 million annually on a three-year, $48 million deal. The franchise tag for linebackers is $28.2 million. Jacksonville will use neither mechanism. They simply don’t have the cap space, and every restructure they execute today becomes a millstone in 2027.

So who replaces the heartbeat of an attacking defense? Devin Bush at three years, $36 million is the most realistic pivot—$12 million cheaper annually, serviceable alongside Foye Oluokun, but a demonstrable downgrade from All-Pro. Nakobe Dean offers a cheaper developmental middle ground. Jack Kiser and Jalen McLeod are year-two projects who aren’t ready to start.

Meanwhile, Baltimore just re-signed Roquan Smith. Buffalo has Terrel Bernard locked in. Kansas City keeps quietly solving these problems while everyone else writes think pieces. If Lloyd takes his next deal to Buffalo or Washington—both teams with the cap room to go all-in—Jacksonville doesn’t just lose a linebacker. They hand a rival the engine of Campanile’s defense. That keeps people up at night in Duval, and it should.

Offensive Line

Cole Van Lanen got $55 million after a breakout season at left tackle. Anton Harrison is locked in on the right side. The bookends are fine. The interior is why Lawrence was scrambling for his life in Buffalo when it mattered.

Patrick Mekari and Robert Hainsey are replacement-level starters—functional in September, exposed in January. Ezra Cleveland is getting cut or traded to generate cap relief. Restructuring Mekari frees $7.5 million, which suddenly makes the Lloyd conversation slightly less hopeless. The offensive line doesn’t get the headlines that cornerback and linebacker demand, but championship roster construction lives and dies in the interior. Kansas City understood this years ago. Jacksonville is learning it the hard way.

John Simpson—Lawrence’s former Clemson teammate, currently with the Jets—is the budget-friendly free agency target. Chemistry over elite talent, yes, but quick integration matters when your chemistry budget is exhausted. Day 3 targets Logan Taylor and Gennings Dunker address depth without spending capital elsewhere. Lawrence is entering Year 4 of his prime. Championship windows don’t wait for interior guards.