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Jacksonville Jaguars enter rebuild with Calais Campbell trade

By Nick Villano

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 19: Calais Campbell #93 of the Jacksonville Jaguars looks on from the sideline during a game against the Tennessee Titans at TIAA Bank Field on September 19, 2019 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 19: Calais Campbell #93 of the Jacksonville Jaguars looks on from the sideline during a game against the Tennessee Titans at TIAA Bank Field on September 19, 2019 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images) /
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The Jacksonville Jaguars are two years removed from being one reversed fumble return away from making the Super Bowl. Now, after the trade of Calais Campbell, it looks like they’re starting over.

Calais Campbell was one of the best free agent signings in recent memory for the Jacksonville Jaguars. They signed him to a four-year deal worth $60 million back in 2017, and it immediately paid dividends. He helped the “Sacksonville” defense run all the way to the AFC Championship Game, where a Myles Jack fumble recovery and return could have, and maybe should have, sent Jacksonville to the Super Bowl.

That call was reversed, and it led to a downward spiral of this Jaguars franchise, which has some calling them to be the NFL’s first London team, and the Jaguars front office selling everything that isn’t tied down. Last offseason, they signed Nick Foles to try and be competitive again. He got hurt the first game of the season, and now the Jaguars are looking to unload.

On Sunday, the Jaguars traded Calais Campbell to the Baltimore Ravens for a 5th-round pick. It’s not a lot for what has been one of the better pass rushers, especially at his age. He’s had 31 sacks over his three seasons with the Jaguars. Even if his sacks went down to 6.5 last season, he actually had more QB pressures than the year before (33 against 28).

This would be surprising if the Jaguars weren’t already losing everyone that made the defense great. Just last week, they traded cornerback A.J. Bouye to the Denver Broncos. Over the course of the season, they traded Jalen Ramsey to the Los Angeles Rams and Telvin Smith decided to step away from the team, seemingly for good. This offseason, they declined the option on Marcel Dareus and had Yannick Ngakoue publicly tell them he doesn’t want to be there anymore. It’s just one thing after another with this Jags defense.

After the 2018 Super Bowl, we thought the Jaguars were going to be one of the great teams in this league for a long time. This season, it appears they are attempting to be one of the teams going for the first-overall pick. Gardner Minshew will likely take over as starting quarterback after they trade Foles. It’s literally the only redeeming quality of this franchise.

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What was once one of the great young defenses in this league is now a shell. This trade to the Baltimore Ravens shows the Jaguars are willing to trade their pieces for whatever they can get. Unlike the Ramsey trade, they did not get good value in this deal, and just worked to get salary off the books.

It’s sad for Jaguars fans, who felt like they just got out of a rebuild after going six-straight years with five wins or less. They hope this rebuild goes a little quicker, but with how the front office have handled the most recent Jaguars team, it’s hard to believe this will happen quickly.

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