The Jacksonville Jaguars started a new era in January when they named Doug Marrone their permanent head coach. The Jags officially put the disastrous Gus Bradley era in the rearview with the hire after the mid-season firing of their head coach and added a further change with the return of former head coach Tom Coughlin to the front office.
Now, the Jaguars have made yet another change towards a new era by cutting ties with a free agency bust in tight end Julius Thomas in a pre-free agency trade blockbuster with the Miami Dolphins that will swap two starters and two late round draft picks. Left tackle Branden Albert headed from the ‘Phins to the Jags in a deal that Jacksonville made to ship out an underperforming pass catcher in Thomas for a reliable pass blocker that could provide valuable protection for young quarterback Blake Bortles.
After a few days of speculation over the weekend, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported the deal as separate swaps of late round picks for Thomas and Albert respectively. The Dolphins are sending a 2017 seventh round pick for Thomas while the Jags will send a 2018 late round pick over for Albert if the deal for the left tackle is completed.
#Dolphins expected deal for Julius Thomas is for a 7th in '17. #Jaguars expected deal for Branden Albert if completed is for a '18 late pick
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 20, 2017
With both players re-working their contracts with their new teams should this reported trade finalize in the next few days, the move gives new starts for two players that had reached the end of the road with their respective teams. Thomas will most notably get a new start with his old offensive coordinator in Adam Gase, who is now the head coach of the Miami Dolphins and likely had a substantial interest in the chance to bring in a player who was once dangerous in his offensive gameplans for the Denver Broncos.
Thomas was a disaster after he parted ways with Gase and the Broncos with a spell in Jacksonville that clearly was over after a second straight year of regression from his peak years in Denver. After back to back 12 touchdown seasons with Gase and quarterback Peyton Manning, Thomas only caught nine touchdowns over two years with the Jags and failed to reach the 500-yard mark in both of those years in Jacksonville. That production drop was more than enough to justify the Jaguars departure from Thomas, especially with the amount of cap space they have to replace or upgrade their situation at the tight end position this March.
The return piece for Thomas does come with some risks for Jacksonville after Albert had a similar season of regression in 2016 with the Dolphins to force his way out of Miami. Pro Football Focus ranked Albert as one of the worst tackles in the league and his pass protection percentage was far below the league average per PFF’s Jeff Ratcliffe.
Branden Albert gave up a sack/hit/hurry on 7.9% of his 2016 pass block snaps. League average was 5.3%
— Jeff Ratcliffe (@JeffRatcliffe) February 20, 2017
Albert’s poor play at left tackle last season for the Dolphins should be a primary concern for the Jaguars, but at the same time they are getting a versatile offensive lineman who is likely to re-structure his deal at a bargain in exchange for dumping a massive salary on a free agency bust of their own. That factor is what makes this deal an enticing move for the Jaguars, who can now look for an upgraded offensive weapon at tight end with Thomas now out of the picture and can work Albert into the fold at either tackle or guard.
Albert’s experience at both the tackle and guard positions makes him valuable, and the fact he will be replacing Kelvin Beachum makes this deal look even better from the Jaguars perspective considering Beachum would be coming off an ACL injury after an equally mediocre 2016 season. PFF was also not kind to Beachum with a ranking of 63rd amongst tackles compared to Albert’s ranking of 65th, which is a major factor when grading this deal. The Jaguars may give up the potential of Thomas rediscovering his past production, but they will get a cheap veteran offensive lineman who will fill either the left tackle or left guard role at a discount in 2017. That value appeared to be too much for the Jaguars to pass up and is a major factor in letting a former free agency splash in Thomas return to play with his old offensive coordinator.
In the end, this is a move that benefits both teams who get a piece they feel will help improve their rosters at a position of need that the Jaguars needed to make to move on from a disappointment in Thomas. Getting a proven offensive lineman in Albert back – even if the Dolphins were likely to cut him anyways – is a promising sign indicating the Jaguars are committed to a new identity after a failed rebuild with head coach Gus Bradley. Even if Thomas experiences an uptick in production with Gase and quarterback Ryan Tannehill next season, the Jaguars should have no regrets in shipping out a player who failed to deliver on the blockbuster $46 million deal he signed.
With over $67 million in cap space before they parted ways with Thomas, the hope for the Jaguars will be to have better luck with their new crop of free agents this spring now that they have dropped a player who was a massive free agency miss. As of late February, it appears that the Jaguars at the very least have the vision to make sure that the same mistakes won’t be made this offseason while they continue a long climb out of the AFC South’s cellar.
