Jaguars have the blueprint to mastering free agency

Sporting News, The, Feb 14, 2000 by Dan Pompei

While free agency has created more holes than it has patched, the Jaguars have found a way to make the system work to their benefit. In fact, what the Jaguars have done in free agency could serve as a blueprint for other teams.

Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin and senior vice president of football operations Michael Huyghue play the free-agent game the way Bobby Fischer played chess. They are aggressors, not reactionaries. Kings and queens are protected at all costs, while bishops, knights and pawns only are sacrificed for a greater return. Each move is considered within the context of the whole board.

The Jaguars' yearly goal has been to sign three quality free agents from other teams. Last year, for instance, they signed defensive tackle Gary Walker, tight end Kyle Brady and safety Carnell Lake. Some of the Jaguars' best players, such as right offensive tackle Leon Searcy and receiver Keenan McCardell, have been free-agent signees.

This is how the Jaguars do it.

Prepare for every possibility. "They probably spend more time on free agency than any team," Bucs player personnel director Jerry Angelo says. "Their attention to detail goes way beyond anybody else's."

The Jaguars study trends, like how much money each team spends on each position. In addition to Coughlin, who pulls the trigger, and Huyghue, who coordinates everything, four staff members--three lawyers and a Ph.D.--devote most of their time to the process, investigating possibilities and running numbers. For each player the Jaguars want to sign, a book is produced that is between 50 and 100 pages in length. It includes psychological profile work on the player, his bargaining history, his agent's history, a study of signing bonuses for his position, grades of comparable players, a comparison of similar deals and a market value analysis.

Additionally, before the Jaguars ever call an agent, they will conduct about 12 hours of in-house, mock negotiations in order to prepare them for everything they may face. "We want to be at least twice as prepared as the agent," Huyghue says.

Be aggressive. The Jaguars have done more on the first day of free agency each year than some teams have done on all the other days combined, making contract offers to players such as Searcy, Walker and now-retired defensive end Jeff Lageman. All of their major offers have been made in the first four days of free agency. They don't allow other teams or agents to influence what happens to their roster; they control it themselves.

"Striking quickly has helped us to set the market and structure better deals," Huyghue says. "A lot of teams don't decide what to do about a free agent until he goes out and gets a better offer. We forestall the competition."

Keep your own players. Huyghue says the Jaguars never have lost a free agent they really wanted to retain. They let quarterback Steve Beuerlein sign with the Panthers because they simply couldn't keep him along with Mark Brunell and Rob Johnson. They lost Natrone Means, but drafted Fred Taylor in his place. They let free safety Chris Hudson walk, replacing him with Lake, a far superior player. They cut their ties with light end Pete Mitchell but that was after signing Brady.

The Jaguars have extended the contracts of their best players--Brunell, Tony Boselli, Jimmy Smith and McCardell--before they became free agents, never risking a potential loss or an adversarial negotiation.

They also never have used their franchise tag to keep a player, although that may change this year if they can't sign defensive end Tony Brackens before the start of free agency. "The franchise tag is most powerful as a threat," Huyghue says. "A lot of teams misuse it. If there is no alternative, you have to use it, but you shouldn't use it in lieu of negotiating because it creates hostility."

Only pursue free agents that fit your blueprint. For a free agent to appeal to the Jaguars, he has to fit a profile, though they have made an exception or two. They want a free agent to have no injury questions. In 1998, they actually agreed on a deal with fullback Sam Gash, but then backed off because they had medical concerns about him. They want the player to be young (preferably no older than 26) and still ascending. They want him to be of high character. They want him to fill a need.

It also helps if he plays for another AFC Central team. Among the free agents the Jaguars have signed are Lake, Searcy and Deon Figures from the Steelers; Walker and Eddie Robinson from the Titans, and McCardell and Quentin Neujahr from the old Browns/Ravens. Acquiring each of these players did more than strengthen the Jaguars; it weakened a division rival.

The Jaguars also have avoided bad signings. The exceptions are Robinson, who was cut after two years in Jacksonville, and linebacker Bryce Paup, who is expected to be cut this offseason. The Jaguars tried to sign others who subsequently underachieved, including defensive end Alonzo Spellman, linebacker Quentin Coryatt and cornerback Doug Evans. Luckily for them, those players ended up elsewhere.