Josh Pederson, son of head coach Doug Pederson, to sign with the Jaguars

Well, this could be interesting.

According to a report from NFL Draft Diamonds, the Jaguars could be about to sign tight end Josh Pederson. The former ULM tight end, who has previously spent time in the league with the 49ers, Saints, and Chiefs, was recently released by the Houston Gamblers of the USFL - in anticipation of him signing a contract with an NFL team.

Damond Talbot of NFL Draft Diamonds first broke the story shared by NFL insider Dov Kleiman and circulated further by Connor Nahrgang, Network VP of Content for the USFL and representative for the Gamblers. To further back up this claim, Nahrang’s tweet was liked by none other than Pederson himself:

Josh Pederson will team up with his father and current Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson. Outside of having a direct line to his new boss, he may already be familiar with the scheme or playbook verbiage, having worked with the elder Pederson’s mentor Andy Reid in Kansas City last offseason.

Nepotism notwithstanding, the younger Pederson has an uphill task to make the roster in the upcoming training camp. Evan Engram, rookie Brenton Strange, and Luke Farrell appear to be entrenched at the top of the depth chart, whilst Gerritt Prince has impressed this coaching staff over the last twelve months. Sammis Reyes and Leonard Taylor complete a rather busy tight end room.

That said, Pederson has put enough on tape in the USFL to have earned another crack at the NFL. Playing in all 10 games for the Gamblers this year (and starting six), Pederson recorded 325 yards - third best in the league, despite having 13 less targets than those with more yards at his position.

Despite never recording a regular season snap in the NFL, he has continued to attract attention from the league since his time at Louisiana-Monroe. During his collegiate career with the Warhawks, Pederson put up nearly 1,200 yards and 11 touchdowns - 9 of which came in an impressive COVID-affected 2020 campaign.

Pederson saved his best performances for games against Power 5 opponents, and Jaguars can expect to see play like this when preseason begins for real on July 21st:

Update: the signing is official.