3 Jacksonville Jaguars who won't be back after firing Doug Pederson

Doug Pederson is no longer the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars after the organization informed him that he was a casualty of Black Monday. The decision was a longtime coming and it's probably for the best in Duval that he won't be back. Unfortunately, perhaps the bigger problem for the Jaguars, general manager Trent Baalke, will return for the 2025 season.

Baalke has a long track record of not succeeding in the NFL by my estimation and much of the Jacksonville shortcomings fall at his feet with roster construction. It was a bad hire to begin with and possibly even worse to stick with him and not institute a full regime change. With that being said, Baalke returning could be him coming back on a hot seat and needing to shake things up a bit without Pederson in the building.

With the news of Pederson being ousted, though, it's hard not to look further into the offseason at some players who could join him in not coming back to the Jaguars for the 2025 season.

3. The Jaguars will find a different backup QB than Mac Jones

Jacksonville made a shrewd trade in the offseason to get former first-round pick Mac Jones in a low-cost trade maneuver with the Patriots. Trevor Lawrence needed a backup (which proved to be even more important after QB1 went down with an injury) and taking a flier on a former first-rounder in the final year of his rookie contract is actually good business.

The problem, of course, is that Jones just isn't that good. He led Jacksonville to a meager 2-5 record as the starter with eight touchdowns and as many interceptions in an offense that, if the Jags didn't have Brian Thomas Jr. emerging as a star, probably would've been completely anemic. You don't expect a backup to be starter caliber — hence why they're a backup in the first place. But at the same time, a backup needs to be serviceable and, at least in Duval, I don't think Jones cleared that bar.

Jones is now set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason. Without the cost control of a rookie contract and combining that with the performance that he delivered (or failed to) when called upon with the Jaguars this season, it'd be quite hard to imagine him returning under a new head coach.

2. Brandon Scherff will get paid by someone other than Jacksonville

One of the big areas of focus I expect Jacksonville to attend to this offseason is going to be the trench play. This offensive line wasn't a disaster but it also undeniably could've and perhaps should've been better. I expect Baalke, particularly in the interest of protecting the organization's biggest investment in Trevor Lawrence, to try and shuffle things up there (as well as on the defensive line, but that's less in our scope right now).

Brandon Scherff then seems like an obvious candidate to let walk in free agency. The five-time Pro Bowl guard has definitely lost a step at age 33 but is still a fine guard who performed at about an average level for the Jaguars this past season. At the same time, though, his age and decline in performance don't exactly scream that he's a long-term piece to install to protect Trevor Lawrence, especially because a veteran guard with his pedigree is likely going to cost a bit this offseason as well.

Jacksonville surely will do their homework on the offensive line class in the draft but also potentially take another, cheaper veteran swing in free agency as well. But it does feel like the Jaguars are in a spot to let him walk and move some of the pieces around the O-line board.

1. Christian Kirk seems like a prime trade candidate for the Jaguars

Leading up to the NFL Trade Deadline, one name that started garnering quite a bit of buzz was veteran wide receiver Christian Kirk. Unfortunately, the week before the deadline, he broke his collarbone, an injury that forced him to miss the rest of the season and, thus, killed any chance of the Jaguars being able to flip him at the deadline.

But why not reinvigorate those talks this offseason?

Kirk holds the highest cap hit on the Jaguars for the 2025 season but Jacksonville could save $16.5 million of that with a $7.884 million dead cap hit by trading him (or designating him) as a post-June 1 trade. Yes, those same figures apply as a post-June 1 cut but there should still be a market for Kirk in terms of a trade for the Jags to be able to get something in return instead of losing him for nothing.

Having said that, with the emergence of Brian Thomas Jr., as mentioned, as an immediate 1,200-yard, 10-touchdown receiver despite playing half the year with a backup quarterback along with Parke Washington flashing and the team paying Gabe Davis, the exorbitant cost of Kirk is likely untenable moving forward and could open up a ton of flexibility for the Jaguars to be able to not direly hurt a solid part of the roster and address other issues.