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The Jacksonville Jaguars desperately need to upgrade their pass rush in free agency, but with the New York Giants reportedly close to locking up Jason Pierre-Paul with the franchise tag they might have to look towards the 2017 NFL Draft for a solution to their problem at defensive end.
Here’s Spotrac’s full listing of all free agent defensive ends in 2017:
2017 free agent defensive ends
| Name | Age | Team | Games | Tackles | Sacks | QB Hits | Forced Fumbles | Interceptions | 2016 AAV | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Age | Team | Games | Tackles | Sacks | QB Hits | Forced Fumbles | Interceptions | 2016 AAV | Status |
| Calais Campbell | 30 | ARI | 16 | 53 | 8 | 20 | 2 | 1 | $11,000,000 | UFA |
| Jason Pierre-Paul | 28 | NYG | 12 | 53 | 7 | 17 | 3 | $10,000,000 | UFA | |
| Jared Odrick | 29 | JAC | 6 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 1 | $8,500,000 | UFA | |
| Mario Williams | 32 | MIA | 13 | 13 | 2 | 5 | $8,500,000 | UFA | ||
| Jabaal Sheard | 27 | NE | 15 | 32 | 5 | 9 | $5,500,000 | UFA | ||
| Glenn Dorsey | 31 | SF | 12 | 24 | 1 | 3 | $4,362,500 | UFA | ||
| Chris Baker | 29 | WAS | 16 | 48 | 5 | 11 | 2 | $3,000,000 | UFA | |
| Charles Johnson | 30 | CAR | 13 | 26 | 4 | 13 | 3 | $3,000,000 | UFA | |
| Andre Branch | 27 | MIA | 16 | 49 | 6 | 13 | 2 | $2,750,000 | UFA | |
| Chris Long | 31 | NE | 16 | 35 | 4 | 12 | 1 | $2,375,000 | UFA | |
| Vance Walker | 29 | DEN | 4 | $2,000,000 | UFA | |||||
| Stephen Paea | 28 | CLE | 13 | 14 | 1 | 3 | $1,900,000 | UFA | ||
| Lawrence Guy | 26 | BAL | 16 | 28 | 1 | 9 | 1 | $1,150,000 | UFA | |
| Jack Crawford | 28 | DAL | 16 | 25 | 3 | 6 | $1,100,000 | UFA | ||
| Tony Jerod-Eddie | 26 | SF | 9 | 3 | $1,000,000 | UFA | ||||
| Cullen Jenkins | 36 | WAS | 15 | 15 | 1 | 1 | $985,000 | UFA | ||
| Antonio Smith | 35 | HOU | 13 | 4 | 1 | 6 | $985,000 | UFA | ||
| Darryl Tapp | 32 | NO | 16 | 17 | 1 | 9 | $985,000 | UFA | ||
| Evander Hood | 30 | WAS | 16 | 33 | 1 | 5 | 1 | $935,000 | UFA | |
| Margus Hunt | 29 | CIN | 15 | 16 | 3 | $917,776 | UFA | |||
| Wallace Gilberry | 32 | CIN | 9 | 15 | 3 | 8 | $885,000 | UFA | ||
| Justin Trattou | 28 | MIN | 16 | 3 | $810,000 | UFA | ||||
| Billy Winn | 27 | DEN | 16 | 19 | $760,000 | UFA | ||||
| Cam Thomas | 30 | LA | 16 | 15 | 1 | 2 | $760,000 | UFA | ||
| Kendall Reyes | 27 | KC | 12 | 20 | 1 | 4 | $760,000 | UFA | ||
| C.J. Wilson | 29 | CHI | $760,000 | UFA | ||||||
| Jarvis Jenkins | 28 | KC | 16 | 14 | 1 | $760,000 | UFA | |||
| John Hughes | 28 | TB | 6 | 6 | $760,000 | UFA | ||||
| Damion Square | 28 | LAC | 15 | 13 | 3 | 3 | $725,000 | UFA | ||
| Damontre Moore | 24 | SEA | 4 | 7 | 1 | 1 | $675,000 | UFA | ||
| Greg Scruggs | 26 | NE | 3 | $667,500 | UFA | |||||
| William Gholston | 25 | TB | 14 | 50 | 4 | 8 | 1 | $640,136 | UFA | |
| Devin Taylor | 27 | DET | 16 | 28 | 5 | 10 | 1 | $615,146 | UFA | |
| Cornelius Washington | 27 | CHI | 15 | 21 | 2 | 4 | $565,947 | UFA |
Like I said, with Pierre-Paul gone, it might be time to look towards the draft.
Calais Campbell, while productive, isn’t a fit for the Jaguars’ scheme. He’s a 3-4 defensive end — weighing about 300 pounds and standing tall at 6’8”. He’s not who you want opposite Yannick Ngakoue.
Mario Williams would’ve been a good Plan B signing a year ago, but he just turned 32 and he’s on a downward trend in his career.
That leaves (oh my God) Andre Branch as the most productive defensive end left who fits into this team’s defensive scheme.
*lights self on fire*