The Jaguars will need a place to play their home games in 2027. Orlando’s Camping World Stadium hopes to land the assignment.
Via WESH-TV, the Orange County Tourist Development Tax Sports Incentive Committee has authorized spending at least $10 million to lure the Jaguars to Orlando.
Gainesville also is attempting to attract the Jaguars to the University of Florida’s stadium for all or part of the season. Per the report, however, there’s a belief that Orlando has the upper hand given its infrastructure, attractions, and accommodations.
A decision is expected this summer.
Florida Citrus Sports projects that the eight 2027 Jaguars home games (the ninth will be played in England) would generate a financial impact of $160 million.
As to the apparent possibility of splitting the games between multiple stadiums, remember this — any stadium in which NFL games are played must have the appropriate technical capabilities in place, from the real-time connection to the league office for replay review to the implementation of boundary cameras and all other related NFL technology.
For that reason, it makes plenty of sense for the Jaguars and/or the NFL to pick one stadium and stick with it.
The Jaguars have been overhauling their roster. It was obvious when they started dumping players, not long before the new league year began. It’s become even more obvious given their efforts, or lack thereof, to bring back their free agents.
As noted by Travis Holmes of BigCatCountry.com, the Jaguars are the only team to re-sign none of their unrestricted free agents.
The Browns hadn’t, either. But when Cleveland re-signed linebacker Devin Bush, the Jaguars were the last team left to not bring back one of their own.
The Jaguars had nine unrestricted free agents. Five have signed elsewhere. Four remain unsigned. (In December, left tackle Walker Little signed an extension. Without the new deal, he would have been an unrestricted free agent, too.)
The Jaguars initially fired coach Doug Pederson before later firing G.M. Trent Baalke. The new regime, with coach Liam Coen and G.M. James Gladstone, are doing what they can to make a break from the underachieving roster of the recent past.
The Bears have added a second free agent wide receiver to their roster.
They announced the signing of Devin Duvernay on Wednesday. It is a one-year deal with no other terms announced.
Duvernay was released by the Jaguars earlier this month. He had 11 catches for 79 yards and averaged 25.1 yards on kickoff returns during his only season in Jacksonville.
Duvernay spent four seasons in Baltimore before heading to the Jaguars and he was a first-team All-Pro returner during the 2022 season. Duvernay returned two kickoffs for touchdowns while playing for the Ravens and he also caught 94 passes for 898 yards and five touchdowns.
The Bears signed Olamide Zaccheaus last week and the newcomers join DJ Moore and Rome Odunze in the Chicago receiving corps.
The Steelers announced a new addition to their defensive line on Wednesday.
They have signed defensive tackle Esezi Otomewo to a one-year contract. No other terms of the deal were announced.
Otomewo was a 2022 fifth-round pick of the Vikings and played five games as a rookie before being waived in 2023. He spent that season on Jacksonville’s practice squad and played four games for the team in 2024.
Otomewo started two of those games and has nine tackles, a tackle for loss, four quarterback hits, and a fumble recovery across his nine overall appearances.
The Steelers have also added Daniel Ekuale to a defensive line that returns Cam Heyward, Keeanu Benton, Isaiahh Loudermilk, Dean Lowry, and Montravius Adams.
The Texans have found a new left tackle.
According to multiple reports, they have agreed to terms with Cam Robinson. Robinson will step into the spot on the Houston offensive line that opened up when they traded Laremy Tunsil to the Commanders earlier this month.
Robinson joined the Vikings in a midseason trade with the Jaguars and started 10 regular season games. He also started Minnesota’s postseason loss to the Rams, but had no spot with the team in 2025 with Christian Darrisaw due back from a knee injury.
Robinson was a Jacksonville second-round pick in 2017, so the Texans saw plenty of him before he made the move to the Vikings. Now they’ll be asking him to protect quarterback C.J. Stroud against his former team and the rest of Houston’s 2025 opponents.
The Jaguars are adding some depth to their offensive line.
Offensive tackle Fred Johnson will sign a one-year deal in Jacksonville, his agent told Adam Schefter of ESPN.
It will be a homecoming for the 6-foot-7, 326-pound Johnson, who was born and raised in Florida and played his college football for the Gators. Originally an undrafted rookie with the Steelers in 2019, Johnson also played for the Bengals and Buccaneers before signing with the Eagles’ practice squad during the 2022 season and playing in Philadelphia since then.
Last year Johnson played in all 17 games with six starts for the Eagles in the regular season, and then played in all four postseason games as well. Now he’ll compete for a job in Jacksonville.
Wide receiver Tim Jones will be joining a new team for the 2025 season.
The Vikings announced on Tuesday that they have agreed to terms with Jones on a contract. They did not disclose any terms of the agreement.
Jones joined the Jaguars as an undrafted free agent in 2021 and spent his rookie year on the practice squad. He has played a role on offense and special teams for the AFC South club over the last three years.
Jones appeared in every game the Jaguars played in those seasons and had 17 catches for 154 yards. He also had six tackles and a fumble recovery in his special teams work.
The Texans have agreed to terms with cornerback Ronald Darby on a one-year, $2.5 million deal, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
The Jaguars released Darby last week.
Darby joined the Jaguars last March on a two-year deal worth up to $10 million. He started 12 games and totaled 46 tackles, three tackles for loss and nine pass breakups.
Darby, 31, entered the NFL as a second-round pick of the Bills in 2015. He played two seasons in Buffalo, two in Philadelphia, one in Washington, two in Denver and one in Baltimore before joining the Jaguars.
In his 10-year career, Darby has totaled 447 tackles, eight interceptions, 106 pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He has played 6,222 defensive snaps.
Four years after the 49ers considered making him the third overall pick in the draft, quarterback Mac Jones has finally joined the 49ers.
Via multiple reports, the former Patriots and Jaguars quarterback has agreed to terms with the 49ers. It’s a two-year, $7 million deal, with $5 million guaranteed. Jones can earn up to $11.5 million.
When the 49ers traded up in the 2021 draft, some believed that they’d take Jones in that spot. Instead, the 49ers selected Trey Lance. Jones fell to No. 15.
He made the Pro Bowl with the Patriots as a rookie. His career was derailed when former Patriots coach Bill Belichick made one of the stupidest decisions in recent years, putting a career defensive coach in charge of the offense. It led to a schism between Belichick and Jones, who unlike most Patriots players was willing to push back against Belichick.
Jones was traded to the Jaguars in 2024. He became a free agent on Wednesday.
His arrival comes as the 49ers hope to extend Brock Purdy, the last player taken in the 2023 draft. With Jones under contract through 2026 and Purdy signed for only one more year, Jones gives the 49ers leverage in the event they choose to play hardball with Purdy.
Does he deserve an extension? Absolutely. The challenge becomes pegging the value of it. And there could be a gap that might prompt the 49ers to let it ride for $5.2 million in 2025, knowing that the franchise tag will be available for 2026. And that Jones will still be under contract.
Is it the player? Is it the system? Is it some of both? Those are the most critical questions as Purdy and the 49ers try to figure out what his long-term contract should look like.
Included last week in a purge of veterans from the Jacksonville roster, veteran tight end Evan Engram is looking for a new team.
His search continued on Tuesday, with (per NFL Media) a visit to the Chargers.
Engram visited the Broncos on Monday.
A first-round pick in 2017 from Mississippi, Engram has spent five years with the Giants and three with the Jaguars. He made the Pro Bowl in 2020 and 2023.
His best season came in 2023, with 114 catches for 963 yards. Injuries limited him to nine games in 2024. He caught 47 passes for 365 yards in his final season in Jacksonville.
Will Dissly is the top tight end on the L.A. roster. He caught 50 passes for 481 yards and two touchdowns in 2024, his first year with the Chargers.
