Jaguars Trade Ronnie Harrison to the Browns For 2021 Draft Pick

Ronnie Harrison is the latest Jaguars player who has been moved in a trade.

It wouldn't be a weekday in 2020 without the Jacksonville Jaguars working the trade lines. On Thursday, the Jaguars made yet another move, shipping out third-year safety Ronnie Harrison to Cleveland. 

The trade, which was first reported by Tyler Dunne, will net the Jaguars a fifth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. 

Drafted in the third round (No. 93 overall) of the 2018 NFL Draft, Harrison was originally brought into Jacksonville to serve as the long-term replacement for veteran strong safety Barry Church. Church lost the starting job to Harrison in the middle of the season after it became clear he simply didn't have anything left in the tank, and Harrison would spend the two seasons as the starter at strong safety.

Overall, Harrison would start eight games as a rookie and record one interception, three tackles for loss and three pass deflections, but his time as a full-time starter would come in 2019. 

In 14 starts in 2019, Harrison recorded 71 tackles, two tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions, nine pass deflections and one fumble recovery. According to Pro Football Reference, he also allowed only a 55.3% completion rate in coverage -- and improvement from his 77.8% rate as a rookie.

With Harrison gone, the Jaguars will now have to turn to several internal options to start across from free safety Jarrod Wilson. This includes former second-round pick Josh Jones, who has impressed in training camp, along with second-year safeties Andrew Wingard and Brandon Watson and rookie safeties J.R. Reed and Daniel Thomas.

“I think we’re about four or five deep there, to be honest with you," defensive coordinator Todd Wash said on Wednesday. 

"So, I think we’ve got a really, really solid group. I think we’ve increased our depth back there, compared to where we were at a year ago. So, if somebody does go down, I think we’ve got quality guys to back that position up."

Harrison is the second Jaguars defender traded since Sunday, joining defensive end Yannick Ngakoue. Ngakoue was traded to the Minnesota Vikings for a 2021 second-round pick and a conditional 2022 fifth-round pick.