JACKSONVILLE, Florida – Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer knew the free agency would be different from hiring, but he wasn’t really prepared for one of the most obvious discrepancies: signing guys without knowing them.
Teams can contact players ’agents who will become free agents only for the two-day period before the league year officially begins. Because that’s when most offers come in, Meyer built his team without any contact and hated it.
“Yeah, it was terrible,” Meyer said Friday morning. “I don’t agree, but nobody asked me for my opinion. I guess in the past you could take them and meet them, have dinner with them, discover the footballing intellect, know their character. The thing you don’t [do], I found out, is to call someone who has the skin in the game because he won’t finish it; i don’t see it honest as very appropriate [word]. So we did a deep dive. All the guys we signed did. …
“To answer your question, it was horrible and I don’t think it has to be that way. Not when you make organizational decisions. I’m not sure how that rule came about, but for me it’s not good business.”
Meyer was one of the best recruiters in the country while in the state of Florida and Ohio. Since ESPN began tracking signature classes in 2006, Meyer has never signed a class that ranks below seventh place. He signed twice in the highest category and finished second three times more. He never signed any recruits with whom he did not speak at least before signing the day.
This was not the case with any of the eleven free agents who signed the Jaguars. Runner Carlos Hyde, who accepted pacts with the Jaguars on Monday, played Meyer at Ohio State, so he knew him, but Meyer could not speak to him until the new league year began at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Fortunately for Meyer’s peace of mind, his assistant coaches had some relationship with six of the 11 players, including receivers Marvin Jones Jr. and Phillip Dorsett and cornerback Shaquill Griffin. But none of the staff had any connection to defensive attack Roy Robertson-Harris, kickbacker Jamal Agnew, safety Rudy Ford, tight end Chris Manhertz or safety Rayshawn Jenkins.
But Meyer received help from former UF receiver Louis Murphy, who gave guarantees to Griffin and Jenkins. Murphy, who Meyer said could join the staff, is from St. Petersburg, Florida, which is where Griffin and Jenkins played high school football.
“He helped me with these guys, what kind of players they are, what kind of people,” Meyer said. “She feels very strong about the quality of football in the Saint Pete area, obviously, so she was a cheerleader more than anything, but she did help.”
The Jaguars did not achieve one of their main goals: defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson, who signed with Minnesota – and despite having the most money to spend on free agency, the Jaguars did not spend much money on multiple players . Griffin reached a three-year deal with an average of $ 13.33 million a year and a $ 29 million guarantee, but the next highest paid player was Jenkins. He signed a four-year deal for an average of $ 8.75 million annually and with $ 16 million guaranteed.
This was partly because Meyer and CEO Trent Baalke felt that the list needed to be fortified in several places and that the money distributed would be better spent.
“By recruiting, we would have our recruiting meeting and identify the best players and say we would look for them,” Meyer said. “And all of a sudden, I start to find out that this guy cost $ 28 million and this guy cost … I knew, to say I didn’t know, of course I knew, but in the same way puzzle together, here you have it the space in your cap, here’s your options, we can grab it, but we’ll get three of these guys to help.So I imagine once you create your list exactly the way you want, you can get one.get this $ 25 million athlete.
“We’re not in a position to do it right now. Just not. So it was a learning experience and I feel really good.”