Jaguars Mailbag: James Gladstone Era Begins

In today's Jacksonville Jaguars mailbag, we take questions on James Gladstone, the combine and more.

The Jacksonville Jaguars introduce General Manager James Gladstone as he smiles during a press conference Monday morning February 24, 2025 at the Miller Electric Center in Jacksonville, Fla. He was joined by owner Shad Khan, his son Director of Football Strategy Tony Khan, Head Coach Liam Coen Executive Vice President of Football Operations Tony Boselli and team president Mark Lamping. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union]2025 / Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Throughout the offseason, we will be taking questions on the biggest questions facing the Jacksonville Jaguars.

You can submit your questions every week by tweeting them to the Jaguars On SI Twitter handle or by submitting them here.

This week we take questions on James Gladstone, free agency and more.

Q: Best offseason ever so far?

A: It has certainly been an energizing one. With no players added yet, though, I would be a bit more patient before judging it. There is certainly a refreshing energy around the franchise now, though.

Q: Have you heard anything about new uniforms ie throwbacks being the primary?

A: No. I do not have uniform juice, I am afraid.

Q: My biggest Jaguars “what if” is what would have happened if they lost to Buffalo in the playoffs in 2017. Do they sign Cousins? Draft Lamar?

A: My guess is they would have went hard after Kirk Cousins. Lamar Jackson should have been the pick even after they made the mistake of extending Blake Bortles, but I don't think the Tom Coughlin front office would have been willing to stick their neck out on Jackson either way. Cousins would have been better than the Nick Foles, though.

Q: What do you know/believe occurs or is discussed during a GM interview?

A: A lot of the initial stuff is backgrounds; who are your influences? What is your story? And then from there, general questions on their philosophy, their assessment of the team's roster and draft/cap capital, how they envision structuring the scouting department, and things like that.

Q: Who are “your guys” heading into free agency and the draft?

A: I think Jevon Holland, Ben Bredeson, Will Fries, Julian Blackmon, and Milton Williams are the five free agents I am most intrigued by. For draft purposes, it is still early but I am a fan of Tyler Warren, Will Campbell as a RG option, Travis Hunter, and then guys further down the list like R.J. Harvey, Jalen Rivers, and Shavon Revel.

Q: How different will this year's draft process look from last year's given all of the scouting work for the year was done under Baalke? Obviously it will be Gladstone's board, but how much does the previous regime impact this draft?

A: I think James Gladstone made it clear that he will implement his own processes slowly and surely, but you are more likely going to see the Jaguars make changes to their scouting process in future years and drafts. So a lot of the work for this draft has been done already outside of final decisions and how the board may be stacked, but that will change next year.

Q: John, how active do you think the Jaguars will be this free agency? Who would you like to see them target?

A: If this was the old regime, which spent big in the 2022 and 2024 offseason, I would say no. It sure seemed like Shad Khan wanted to put an end to the spending. With that said, I think he will give some grace to a new regime, especially with the cap going up. I think they will be aggressively selective and go after some key players/needs, but not open up the entire checkbook.

Q: Now that Gladstone is the GM, how vital is it to see him retain Waugh or bring a veteran front office guy with him (from LA)?

A: I think it is important. Not just because Gladstone is a young general manager who is stepping into a role for the first time, but also because the Jaguars have frankly needed to add more front office talent for years. Keeping Ethan Waugh in place would be a good start, but I do think they should go beyond that as well.

Q: The Jaguars football strategy officer manages a wresting league on the side. Is there concern that this could be a distraction?

A: No.

Q: Do you think Gladstone will have trouble filling out his front office staff since he has only ever worked for the Rams?

A: This is a fair question, but I would think/hope that after nine years in the NFL, Gladstone has made his own connections that go past the Rams' franchise.

Q: Say hi to a Fan here in Brazil, as the most prominent team of the NFL offseason, what are the chances of the Jaguars being a candidate for Hard Knocks?

A: Hello my friend! Since the Jaguars have a first-year head coach, they are actually not eligible for Hard Knocks.

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @JaguarsOnSI and @_John_Shipley and never miss another breaking news story again.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.