The Jaguars held their State of the Franchise event today at EverBank Field, and while owner Shad Khan and team officials didn’t offer many noteworthy comments on the roster during that address, GM Dave Caldwell spoke to Hays Carlyon of the Florida Times-Union at the event and offered up a few interesting nuggets. Let’s dive in….
- The team has spoken to the reps for wide receiver Cecil Shorts, who is entering the final year of his contract. “Obviously, we want him here for the long haul,” Caldwell said. “He’s a valuable part of our organization and we’d love to at some point in time take care of Cecil.”
- Explaining the Jags’ decision to release 2013’s starting left guard, Will Rackley, Caldwell suggested that the veteran didn’t really fit the team’s scheme. The club wanted to give him an opportunity to catch on in a better situation elsewhere, per Caldwell.
- Caldwell said Jacksonville is “not done adding talent to the roster” and will be watching closely to see how its young players develop, so it’s too early to tell which positions the club may be focusing on upgrading a year from now.
- Caldwell is “really pleased” with the work his staff did to add the 17 undrafted free agents the team signed: “We got size on the d-line. We got some athletic offensive linemen. We got two really good receivers. We got a good safety [Craig Loston], a physical guy that played in the SEC. A good nickel cornerback in Rashaad Reynolds.”
- The Jaguars are hoping to sign their draft picks earlier this year than they did last year.
- Connecticut edge defender Tim Wellman is among the players invited to Jacksonville’s rookie minicamp, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun.