Marcedes Lewis is hitting the free agent market. The Jaguars will release the tight end after 12 seasons with the team, according to Mark Long of the AP (on Twitter).
[RELATED: Jaguars Release WR Allen Hurns]
The moves comes as a surprise since the Jaguars exercised their 2018 option for Lewis in late February. Then again, their March signing of Austin Seferian-Jenkins made Lewis less of a priority and new pickup Niles Paul crowds the depth chart somewhat. Paul now figures to serve as ASJ’s primary understudy with Ben Koyack, James O’Shaughnessy, and David Grinnage vying for the No. 3 TE role.
“I think I deserved a little better than I got,” Lewis said of the release (Twitter link). “I wish they would have done it sooner.”
Lewis’ $3.5MM salary for this season was not guaranteed, so the release will not leave any dead money on Jacksonville’s cap. He leaves the team with the third most games played in franchise history. It wasn’t always fun times for Lewis as the 2017 campaign marked just the second winning campaign he’s experienced in his career.
Even though he’ll turn 34 in May, Lewis figures to find a healthy market for his services. Last year, Pro Football Focus ranked him as the league’s best run blocker, edging out Patriots star Rob Gronkowski.
Sounds perfect for the Jets!!!
Why would he go to the Jets? Guy is 34 he more than likely wants to win
Perhaps New England, then.
Bottles sucks enough as it is and now their getting rid of all of his weapons what are they doing.
I don’t think bortles is that bad there offensive line wasn’t great and he just inconsistent some times.
ASJ and Paul are definitely upgrades in the passing game..
However id still bet against Jags making playoffs again with Watson and Luck back in the picture.
So the lesson here is that when your Marcedes is out of gas you should invest in an Austin.
Or just try and trade for a new Carr.
Pretty bad way to deal with one of your teams longest serving players in history.
Building a better roster > worrying about Lewis’s feelings.
Hes not a HOF nor even a top tight end in tge league at any point. Not sure what your point is.
Actually he was rated the best run blocking tight end in the NFL again, above even gronk, so that’s likely the point. Oh and he also is cheap, a leader in the locker room, etc…
“Not sure what your point is.”
Um, that maybe people should be treated with respect, instead of like a piece of meat. You know, the Golden Rule: treat others as you would want yourself – or your kids, your family, your aged parents – to be treated. And that maybe everyone should be treated fairly, not just the stars and future Hall of Famers.
Anyway, I hope the Vikings take a good look at him. Aside from the excellent run blocking, he’s averaged 13 or 14+ yards per reception in three of the last five seasons and scored five TD’s on 24 catches last year. He seems to still have some gas in the tank as a receiver, and Kirk Cousins works best in two-TE sets according to the assessments I’ve seen.
You can also be certain that players around the league take notice of what franchises show their long serving veterans respect and which don’t.
The Steelers have been very inactive in free agency but after the way they treated James Harrison, you have to wonder who would be in a hurry to sign with them anyway.