Seems like only yesterday the Jacksonville Jaguars were in the AFC Championship game. Now they're dumping talent and salary, to the benefit of teams favored to be in this year's championship game. Calais Campbell is the latest.
Jacksonville sent the veteran pass rusher to Baltimore for just a fifth-round pick, in a deal mostly about the Jaguars looking to clear some cap space by shedding the final year of Campbell's deal. He and Baltimore agreed on a new contract, that will make him a key part of their defense for the next two seasons. He's been a key part of Jacksonville's for the three seasons since signing with them as a free agent. He also just won the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, so he should quickly slot in as one of the team leaders on a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
Campbell has totaled 31.5 sacks over those three years, helping the Jaguars have one of the league's best pass rushes (3rd). Baltimore, meanwhile, has had a mediocre pass rush in those three years (14th).
TEAM SACKS, 2017-2019 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Team | 17 | 18 | 19 | Tot |
Pittsburgh | 56 | 52 | 54 | 162 |
New Orleans | 42 | 49 | 51 | 142 |
Jacksonville | 55 | 37 | 47 | 139 |
LA Rams | 48 | 41 | 50 | 139 |
Carolina | 50 | 35 | 53 | 138 |
Minnesota | 37 | 50 | 48 | 135 |
Washington | 42 | 46 | 46 | 134 |
Kansas City | 31 | 52 | 45 | 128 |
Arizona | 37 | 49 | 40 | 126 |
Tennessee | 43 | 39 | 43 | 125 |
Philadelphia | 38 | 44 | 43 | 125 |
Chicago | 42 | 50 | 32 | 124 |
Green Bay | 37 | 44 | 41 | 122 |
Baltimore | 41 | 43 | 37 | 121 |
New England | 42 | 30 | 47 | 119 |
Denver | 33 | 44 | 40 | 117 |
Dallas | 38 | 39 | 39 | 116 |
San Francisco | 30 | 37 | 48 | 115 |
LA Chargers | 43 | 38 | 30 | 111 |
Seattle | 39 | 43 | 28 | 110 |
Cleveland | 34 | 37 | 38 | 109 |
Buffalo | 27 | 36 | 44 | 107 |
Tampa Bay | 22 | 38 | 47 | 107 |
Cincinnati | 41 | 34 | 31 | 106 |
Houston | 32 | 43 | 31 | 106 |
Detroit | 35 | 43 | 28 | 106 |
Atlanta | 39 | 37 | 28 | 104 |
Indianapolis | 25 | 38 | 41 | 104 |
NY Jets | 28 | 39 | 35 | 102 |
NY Giants | 27 | 30 | 36 | 93 |
Miami | 30 | 31 | 23 | 84 |
Oakland | 31 | 13 | 32 | 76 |
Jacksonville might not be done shedding pass rushing talent. They placed the franchise tag on Yannick Ngakoue, but media reports have them looking to trade him. He'll cost more than Campbell to acquire, but clearly the Jaguars aren't driving hard bargains these days.
--Andy Richardson