Despite a strong season, the Jaguars face offseason hurdles with limited draft picks and tight cap space.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are coming off a 13-win season and their first AFC South title since 2022. The roster looks pretty set to make another run in 2026.
Before they get a chance to make that run, they have to navigate an offseason in which they won't have as much free-agent and draft capital as other teams.
NFL.com's Zak Koeppel recently ranked all 32 teams by their offseason resources -- that is, how they stack up based on current available salary-cap space and draft capital. Draft capital is based on the Fitzgerald-Spielberger trade-value chart from Over the Cap.
Overall, the Jaguars tied with the Chicago Bears for 28th in Koeppel's rankings.
The Jaguars don't rank very high in draft capital, as they do not have a first-round pick, having traded that pick to the Cleveland Browns last year to move up for two-way star Travis Hunter. Jacksonville ranks 23rd in that department. While Jacksonville does currently own 10 picks in the 2026 draft, none are in the top 50 and only one is in the top 80.
The team with the highest-valued draft capital is the New York Jets, thanks to having to picks in the top 16 and four of the first 44 selections. The bottom-ranked team is the Atlanta Falcons, with only five picks and just two in the top 100.
As for salary cap space, in Koeppel's estimation, the Jaguars ranked 27th in cap space ahead of the new league year, which begins March 11. The Jaguars are at best an estimated $9.2 million over the cap.
The only teams Jacksonville ranked higher than in this survey were the Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills. Green Bay has one of the lowest-valued collections of draft picks, despite having eight picks, while the Cowboys and Bills are both over the salary cap. (Dallas is an estimated $31.5 million over the cap, while Buffalo trails the Jags with -$10.5 million in available cap.)
All this is to say Jacksonville will have some tricky navigating to do this offseason, with running back Travis Etienne, linebacker Devin Lloyd and cornerbacks Montaric Brown and Greg Newsome all set to become free agents. It's possible all four will put on different teams' jerseys in 2026, forcing Jacksonville to look find and sign replacements even as its cap belt tightens.
How general manager James Gladstone and the Jaguars will meet these challenges remains to be seen.
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