The Jacksonville Jaguars completely revamped their secondary this offseason, and that includes the safety position. They have a stud in Andre Cisco, who’s now entering his fourth season, and an intriguing situation with longtime Green Bay Packer Darnell Savage, who’s expected to start at safety while doubling at nickel in a hybrid role.
But the team’s latest unofficial depth chart is a bit concerning entering Week 1 of the regular season. The only backup safeties listed are Antonio Johnson, a fifth-round pick last year who’s shown some promise, and veteran Daniel Thomas. Andrew Wingard is opening the season on injured reserve, and Tashaun Gipson Sr., a 13-year vet who played with the Jaguars from 2016-2018, is back on the 53-man roster but suspended for the first six games of the season for performance-enhancing drugs.
With the position clearly in a state of flux, Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report is eyeing an upcoming 2025 free agent target for the Jaguars that not only will fill a void, but also hurt a division rival.
Ballentine believes Jacksonville’s top target in free agency next year should be star Indianapolis Colts safety Julian Blackmon. Here’s his reasoning:
The secondary has potential holes right now, but the Jaguars have work to do to even retain the good talent they have right now. They already extended Tyson Campbell, but Andre Cisco is set to become a free agent right now. If they were to lose him, it would make sense to try and poach Julian Blackmon from a division rival.
Blackmon has done some good things in Indy and he’s only 26 years old.
Blackmon, who was recently named a starter for the Colts, was a standout last season at strong safety, playing a career-high 15 games and 986 snaps. In a contract year, he led the Colts with 88 tackles, four interceptions and eight pass breakups. With the safety market crumbling around him in free agency, he returned to the Colts this offseason on a one-year deal worth $ 3.7 million.
Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke is not finished revamping the secondary. The team has depth issues at the cornerback position, too. Blackmon represents a 2025 free agent who would make a ton of sense for the Jags.
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