Marcell

Dareus

Dareus last played in the league in 2019, when he appeared in six games for the Jaguars before being placed on IR due to a core muscle injury. Dareus was released at the end of the season after the Jaguars chose not to pick up the 2020 option on his contract, and he’s been out of the league ever since. Heading into what would be his age-32 season, Dareus could still have something to offer as an early-down run stuffer. The former No. 3 overall pick by the Bills in 2011 is a two-time Pro Bowler and was named AP First-Team All-Pro in 2014.

They’ve also been linked to veteran free agents Clay Matthews and Everson Griffen. Dareus would give Seattle a run stopper to pair with Jarran Reed and Poona Ford. He started all six games and graded out positively over 206 snaps before injuries landed him on IR last year.

“He’s still a guy that we have interest in being back at some point in time,” Caldwell said. “We’ll see what his mindset is and where he is from salary demands and stuff like that.” The Jags declined an option that would have guaranteed Dareus nearly $20 million in 2020. Dareus is coming off an injury-ruined 2019 but should draw plenty of interest as a run-stopping force.

He becomes a free agent. The option would have guaranteed Dareus nearly $20 million, so this was never going to get picked up. Jacksonville had the worst cap situation in the league before declining options on Dareus and Jake Ryan. They can free up another $11 million from releasing CB A.J. Bouye.

Eagles castoff Akeem Spence was signed in the corresponding roster move. Dareus underwent core muscle surgery on Thursday and will need 4-6 weeks to recover. It’s unclear if he’ll be one of the players Jacksonville designates for return later this season. If so, he’d be eligible to return for Week 17 and the playoffs, should the Jaguars qualify.

He fills a need for the Jaguars, who just lost former third overall pick Marcell Dareus to injured reserve (core muscle surgery). It only took four days for Spence to resurface after being let go by Philadelphia earlier this week. He should be a useful depth option up front.

Dareus is undergoing surgery Thursday. He’s played at least 40% of the defense’s snaps in every game this season. Dareus’ absence is bad news for the Jaguars’ 27th-ranked defense in rush DVOA. Perhaps Week 8 will be the get-right spot that Le’Veon Bell has been looking for.

He logged one tackle prior to exiting in the third quarter. Taven Bryan will sub in at defensive tackle for Jacksonville.

It’s an upgrade for Damien Williams and LeSean McCoy. Dareus is week to week. Also inactive for the Jaguars are WR C.J. Board, RB Devine Ozigbo, LB Austin Calitro, OL Cam Robinson, OL Cedric Ogbuehi and TE Josh Oliver.

Dareus’ initial base salary was slated to be $8.335 million. He now gets a $5 million bonus up front in exchange for lowering his base salary, and this move clears $5 million in cap space for the strapped Jaguars. Dareus also knocked the final year off his deal and is now signed through 2020 but is on a year-to-year basis in Jacksonville at this point. Next order of business for the Jaguars is releasing DT Malik Jackson and Blake Bortles.