2:13pm: The Jaguars have indeed traded Harrison to the Browns, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). In exchange, Jacksonville will receive a fifth-round choice, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
Cleveland recently lost rookie safety Grant Delpit for the season due to an Achilles tear, so the team has been connected to players like Logan Ryan and Earl Thomas in recent days. Instead, the Browns opted for a younger player who entered the league in 2018 as one of the best-regarded safety prospects and who has likely not yet hit his ceiling. Harrison may bump Andrew Sendejo out of the starting lineup and will look to team with Karl Joseph in Cleveland’s defensive backfield.
The Jags, meanwhile, continue to stockpile picks. They already have two first-rounders, two second-rounders, and two fourth-rounders in 2021, and now they will have two fifth-round choices as well. If they want to move up the board for a top QB prospect in 2021, they will probably be able to.
1:35pm: The Jaguars have done plenty of unloading this offseason, trading players like Yannick Ngakoue, Calais Campbell, and A.J. Bouye while waiving former No. 4 overall pick Leonard Fournette. And according to NFL features writer Tyler Dunne, Jacksonville is also preparing to deal safety Ronnie Harrison (Twitter link).
Given where Jacksonville is in its rebuild — and given Ngakoue’s determination to get away from the Jaguars as quickly as possible — the earlier trades made plenty of sense, as they involved shedding the contracts of veterans who were unlikely to be on the next competitive Jaguars team in exchange for draft capital. Harrison, though, was a third-round pick in the 2018 draft and started all 14 of the games in which he appeared last season.
Per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics, Harrison was the league’s 65th-best safety out of 83 qualified players in 2019, and PFF was especially harsh in assessing his run defense. Though he did score well in pass coverage, the Jags apparently aren’t fond enough of his play to keep him around for his third professional season. Instead, the team may look to fifth-round rookie Daniel Thomas to play a big role right away.
At this time, it’s unclear who the Jags’ trading partner might be. Teams like the Ravens and Browns make sense given their recent turmoil at the safety position, and Jacksonville and Baltimore already did some business earlier this year in consummating the Campbell trade.
Last season, Harrison recorded 71 tackles, two sacks, and two interceptions. Despite his middling PFF marks, he certainly looks like a player with plenty of upside, so it’s interesting to hear that the Jags are looking to move on.
Hopefully JAX wins enough of games to miss out on Trevor Lawrence. That would be Karma for tanking
Carolina will be lucky to win 2 games this year and will be in the Trevor Lawrence sweepstakes.
Rhule is making certain of it.
Carolina isn’t nearly that bad. I’m not saying they’re great by any means, but Bridgewater is an accurate quarterback surrounded by some explosive weapons in McCaffrey, Anderson, Moore, and Samuel. That alone should be worth about four or five victories
I’m surprised the league doesn’t say something to them. I remember years ago the commissioner in MLB rescinded trades from the A’s using the ‘best interest of the game’ clause because he felt they were tanking. Wonder if NFL can do the same to the Jaguars?
To be fair, this isn’t that egregious. Harrison has been a pretty pathetic tackler and the Jaguars aren’t exactly set to compete. There’s nothing wrong with gaining draft capital if you’re likely to struggle anyway.
The Fournette release on the other hand… There’s no defending that one
They also traded Foles
Minshew outplayed Foles.
Why would they keep Foles on the bench of a bad team when they could gain picks and save millions?
I’m not advocating for keeping Foles. I personally feel that he is only good as an Eagle, and he’ll be back on the team next year, but I haven’t looked up stats to back up my first assertion.
I mention Foles because I find it odd to not include him in the article where it’s mentioning players they’ve traded or cut.
Ronnie Harrison has been somewhat of a disappointment in Jacksonville. He’s not very reliable and misses a fair amount of tackles which is why he is suspect against the run. He was benched last year because of his poor play, but then got the starting job back do to all the injuries on our defense, but anyway, I hope he does well with the Browns. Oh, and by the way to all readers who are reading this: THE JAGS ARE NOT TRYING TO TANK!
SERENITY NOW!
LMAO! I loved him in Seinfeld and The King of Queens.
Irony would see Lawrence stay in college for his senior season.
Or quit football.