Jaguars cornerback Chris Claybrooks placed on Exempt List

Jaguars veteran reserve cornerback and special teams contributor Chris Claybrooks has been placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt List, the league announced today.

The transaction opens up a spot in Jacksonville as it trims its roster to 53 players.

After multiple offseason arrests, the NFL seemingly had little choice but to place Claybrooks on the list while the courts investigate any wrongdoings.

Claybrooks' rocky offseason began with an arrest in April in Nashville, Tennessee for reportedly breaking a different woman's phone during an argument. Per TMZ, the woman approached Claybrooks and his girlfriend claiming to have evidence of infidelity on her phone. That case was later settled out of court, with the charges eventually dropped.

The most recent arrest in Duval County reportedly stemmed from a prior September 2022 domestic violence incident. Allegedly, video evidence may exist for the September incident, which resulted in the arrest. Claybrooks was booked for misdemeanor domestic battery and felony false imprisonment in this case.

More details were later revealed about the most recent arrest, as reported by Demetrius Harvey of the Florida Times-Union.

The woman says that at around 12:10 AM, the two argued after she confronted Claybrooks about cheating on her again, according to the arrest report. She said she wanted to go back to California. At that point, when she attempted to leave, Claybrooks blocked the front door with his body, the report said.

When the woman went to leave via the backyard gate, the report said he confronted her again, not letting her leave and grabbing her against her will.

Claybrooks, who is entering his fourth season in the NFL, has played only for Jacksonville. He was drafted in the seventh round in the 2020 draft by the Jaguars. Over the past three seasons, Claybrooks had six starts with 13, 16, and 17 games played. In 2022, he was most exclusively used in a special teams coverage role, amassing zero starts, 10 solo tackles, and three assists.

It may be possible that the team was aware of this possibility before today's announcement. It was previously reported that the Jaguars were one of two teams inquiring on free agent slot corner Arthur Maulet the day before Claybrooks' second arrest. That report's timing could have simply been a coincidence or the team just doing their normal due diligence.

Nevertheless, Claybrooks being placed on the list, and having it announced on the eve of roster cuts could solidify the roster status of guys like Christian Braswell or others to potentially carve out early special teams or reserve nickelback roles.