Audie Cole‘s “tenure” with the Jaguars has come to an end. According to John Oehser of Jaguars.com (via Twitter), the team has released the veteran linebacker.
Following five seasons with the Vikings, Cole joined the Jaguars back in March. While Jacksonville certainly wasn’t expecting the 28-year-old to start, he figured to serve as a dependable backup to middle linebacker Paul Posluszny. Now, the team will presumably be rolling with Blair Brown or Hayes Pullard for that role (although they could also turn to backup outside linebackers like Lerentee McCray, Josh McNary, and Andrew Gachkar).
The former seventh-rounder served mostly as a backup and special teamer during his time in Minnesota, and he finished last season with 12 tackles in 16 games. His best season came in 2013, when he compiled a career-high 45 tackles and one sack. There were reports during free agency that the Vikings had interest in retaining their former draft pick, but it’s uncertain if they’d be looking for reinforcement this late in the preseason.