Jaguars to sign Pro Bowl guard Brandon Scherff, WR Christian Kirk, TE Evan Engram

The Jaguars have money to spend and a long road back to contention. They aren’t wasting time using the former to help expedite the latter.

Jacksonville has agreed to terms with a collection of free agents in the first day of the negotiating window. Guard Brandon Scherff – a first-team All-Pro in 2020 – Headlines the group, agreeing to move from Washington to Jacksonville on a three-year, $ 49.5 million deal with $ 30 million guaranteed, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported.

Scherff arrives as a desperately needed reinforcement to an offensive line that surrendered 32 sacks of rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence. When healthy, Scherff has proven to be a premier guard and should help protect Lawrence, who is going to need such support in order to develop at a rate expected of the former No. 1 overall pick.

Following Scherff to Duval County: receivers Christian Kirk and Zay Jones, linebacker Foye Oluokun, defensive tackle Foley Fatukasi and tight end Evan Engram.

Kirk is next in the notability rankings among these additions, bringing big-play speed that the Jaguars lacked without DJ Chark available for now of the 2021 season. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Pelissero reported the deal is four years in length and worth $ 72 million with a max value of $ 84 million. Kirk’s contract includes a $ 20 million signing bonus, $ 37 million fully guaranteed and $ 39 million over the first two years with $ 12 million available in incentives, per Pelissero.

Oluokun is a signing that might end up Flying under the Radar more than the other two primarily because of a lack of significant name recognition. Oluokun has been a rising defender in Atlanta in the last couple of seasons and is being paid accordingly, moving to Jacksonville on a three-year deal with an average annual salary of $ 15 million.

That’s significant money for a defender who was selected in the sixth round of the 2018 draft out of Yale and made just over a little over $ 2 million in 2021. With Atlanta in a tight cap situation, the Falcons couldn’t afford to retain him. Jacksonville pounced on the opportunity, adding a promising player to a defense that was disappointed by its last significant free-agent linebacker, Joe Schobert, whom the Jaguars traded to the Steelers for a sixth-round pick one year after signing him to a five -year deal worth more than $ 53 million.