The Jacksonville Jaguars have parted ways with GM Trent Baalke. They made the announcement official Wednesday on X with a message from team owner Shad Khan that read:
“Following several discussions with Trent Baalke this week, we both arrived at the conclusion that it is in our mutual best interests to respectfully separate, effective immediately”
Khan later states that Ethan Waugh will serve as the interim general manager. The interim tag insinuates that the team will look for a full-time replacement for Baalke while also interviewing for their head coaching vacancy.
Baalke’s firing doesn’t come as a surprise to many. He oversaw multiple coaching hires that didn’t work out. Baalke joined the Jaguars in 2020 and was promoted to GM the next year. In his first season as general manager, the team hired Urban Meyer as head coach and drafted QB Trevor Lawrence with the first overall pick.
Meyer was gone after just 13 games (2-11), and the team hired Doug Pederson the following offseason. Pederson’s initial run looked promising. The team won the AFC South in Pederson’s debut season and Lawrence was named a Pro Bowler. The cracks began to form midway through Pederson’s second year. After an 8-3 start, the Jaguars lost five of their last six games to miss the postseason.
The Jaguars finished 4-13 this year, and ranked 26th in points scored and 27th in points against. From a roster perspective, Baalke had done a respectable job acquiring talent. However, teams around the league are promoting synergy between the head coach and general manager more and more. Having Baalke attached to a third coach in five years wasn’t something the Jaguars could ultimately agree to.
Its the timing of Baalke’s firing that comes as a bit of a surprise. Jacksonville fired Pederson three weeks ago. They’ve already interviewed several head coaching candidates, and half of the openings around the league have already been filled. They may have been able to increase their chances on somebody like Ben Johnson — who agreed to become the Chicago Bears head coach — if they agreed to let go of Baalke earlier.
In terms of potential candidates to fill the head coaching role, an offensive-minded coach could be intrigued in joining the Jaguars. Lawrence is coming off a down year, but he’s played at a high level previously and is still just 25 years old. WR Brian Thomas Jr. finished third in receiving yards (1,282) as a rookie and looks like a future superstar. Add in complementary pieces like Evan Engram, Christian Kirk, Tank Bigsby, Travis Etienne Jr., and Gabe Davis, and this offense has plenty of talent to work with.
Defensively, Josh Hines-Allen and former No. 1 overall pick Travon Walker are one of the stronger edge-rushing duos in the NFL. The Jaguars also own the No. 5 pick in April’s draft to further bolster this roster.
With the GM spot opened up, a solid roster in place, and no juggernaut within their division, the Jaguars shouldn’t have too much trouble finding worthy candidates to form their leadership team.
