Why the Jaguars Are the Best Destination For Any HC Candidate, Part III

The Jacksonville Jaguars have the best opening of any team in the NFL for more than a few reasons. Here, we go into reason No. 3.
Apr 28, 2022; Las Vegas, NV, USA;    The Pick Is In    is displayed before Georgia defensive end Travon Walker is announced as the first overall pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars during the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft at the NFL Draft Theater.  Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Apr 28, 2022; Las Vegas, NV, USA; The Pick Is In is displayed before Georgia defensive end Travon Walker is announced as the first overall pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars during the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft at the NFL Draft Theater. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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With the New England Patriots hiring Mike Vrabel on Sunday, there are now just five head coach jobs open.

For the Jacksonville Jaguars, there certainly appears to be a case for them to be ranked above the likes of the Chicago Bears, Las Vegas Raiders, New York Jets, and the New Orleans Saints.

"I think we have a very compelling case on what we can offer the head coach and you know that. I think the players, where we stand on our draft, our salary cap, the city, the bricks and mortar, the facility and our division," Jaguars owner Shad Khan said last week.

"It's a very compelling case, but like we did last time, the head coach needs to be comfortable with what we're doing. Our job is to be able to provide them with all the resources they want. So, we'll go through that process, and it's got to work for them.”

But what are the main arguments of that case, and what does it mean as the Jaguars continue to look for Doug Pederson's replacement? We break it down into a three-part series, continuing here with Part III.

Draft Capital and Cap Space

The Jaguars already have a solid roster in place for their next head coach, with a franchise quarterback, two defensive ends, two offensive tackles, and a No. 1 wide receiver all already on the roster and ready to go in 2025. That is more than most open jobs offer, and anybody who takes the Jaguars job should be able to compete quickly.

But beyond the pieces already on the roster, the Jaguars also have the required ammo to continue building for the future and to improve their 2025 roster right away.

According to Tankathon, the Jaguars have the second-most value of any team in the NFL when it comes to 2025 draft picks.

"This calculation assigns a value to every pick in the draft and ranks teams based on the sum of their pick values. The values for each pick are based off of the chart set by The Harvard Sports Analysis Collective," Tankathon describes their valuation.

Using this method, the Jaguars outpace most of the NFL thanks to having a top-5 pick and multiple picks in the third, fourth and sixth rounds. This includes six picks in the first four rounds, which should help the Jaguars improve immediately.

"Well I think it helps you a lot. The more assets you have, the more you've got to play with, the more decisions you can make. You can make trades," Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke said after last year's draft.

"You can use some of those in different ways. We may use them in a trade effort at some point, you never know. But the more you bank the better off you are.”

In addition to a stockpile of picks, the Jaguars' cap space is also in a healthy place despite big offseason contracts to Trevor Lawrence, Josh Hines-Allen and Tyson Campbell. According to OverTheCap, the Jaguars are currently projected to have $35 million in cap space in 2025 -- a number that could rise.

As previously discussed in Part I and II, here and here are other reason the Jaguars' job is the top on the market.

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John Shipley
JOHN SHIPLEY

John Shipley has been covering the Jacksonville Jaguars as a beat reporter and publisher of Jaguar Report since 2019. Previously, he covered UCF's undefeated season as a beat reporter for NSM.Today, covered high school prep sports in Central Florida, and covered local sports and news for the Palatka Daily News. Follow John Shipley on Twitter at @_john_shipley.