JACKSONVILLE, Florida – Urban Meyer, coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, knew that free agency would be different from recruiting, but he was not really prepared for one of the most striking contradictions: signing guys without meeting them.
Teams are allowed to contact players’ agents who will only become free agents during the two-day period before the league year officially begins. Because that’s when most deals are made, Meyer builds his team without any contact – and he hates it.
“Yeah, that was awful,” Meyer said Friday morning. “I do not agree with that, but no one asked my opinion. I think in the old days you could bring them in and meet, eat with them, invent the football intellect, discover their character. The thing you do not [do]I found out is someone who has a skin in the game because they do not go completely – I honestly do not see as a very appropriate. So we dived deep. Every guy we signed did us. …
“To answer your question, it was terrible, and I do not believe it should be so. Not when you make organizational decisions. I’m not sure how the rule came about, but for me it is not.” not a good thing. “
Meyer was one of the best recruiters in the country while in Florida and Ohio. Since ESPN began tracking signature classes in 2006, Meyer has never signed a class that was in seventh place. He signed the top class twice and finished second three more times. He never drew a site he at least did not speak to before signing day.
That was not the case with any of the 11 free agents the Jaguars signed. Carlos Hyde, who agreed with the Jaguars on Monday, played for Meyer in Ohio State so he knew him, but Meyer could only speak to him after the new league year began Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET.
Luckily for Meyer’s peace of mind, his assistant coaches had some connection 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 with defensive attack Roy Robertson-Harris, kick-back Jamal Agnew, safety Rudy Ford, tighthead Chris Manhertz or safety Rayshawn Jenkins.
But Meyer enlisted the help of former UF receiver Louis Murphy, who agreed with Griffin and Jenkins. Murphy, who according to Meyer may be joining the staff, is from St. Petersburg, Florida, where Griffin and Jenkins played high school football.
“He helped me with these guys, just what kind of players they are, what kind of people,” Meyer said. “Obviously he feels very strongly about the quality of football in the St. Pete area, so he was more than anything a cheerleader, but he did help.”
The Jaguars did not meet any of their top targets – defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson, who signed with Minnesota – and although he had the most money to spend in free agencies, the Jaguars did not spend much money on multiple players. . Griffin got a three-year deal that averaged $ 13.33 million annually and guaranteed $ 29 million, but the next-highest paid player was Jenkins. He signed a four-year deal that averaged $ 8.75 million annually and a $ 16 million guarantee.
This was partly because Meyer and Trent Baalke, general manager, felt that the roster needed to be strengthened in various places and that money would be better distributed.
“In the recruiting we will have our recruiting meeting and identify the best players and say go pick them up,” Meyer said. “And then I suddenly started finding out that this guy costs $ 28 million and this guy costs … I knew it, to say I did not know it, of course I knew it, but just like you put it puzzles together over here is your hood space, here are your choices, we can take him but we get three of these guys to help.and so I imagine that once you set up your roster exactly the way you want it, then you can take one guy and go get that $ 25 million athlete.
“We are not able to do it now. We just are not. So it was a learning experience, and I feel good about it.”