3 Observations on Jaguars Releasing Malcom Brown

The Jacksonville Jaguars surprised quite a few when they released veteran defensive lineman Malcom Brown on Wednesday afternoon, just one year after trading for the former first-round pick.

Brown started 17 games for the Jaguars under former head coach Urban Meyer and defensive coordinator Joe Cullen, playing 61% of the defensive snaps. He recorded 57 tackles, four tackles for loss, two sacks, three quarterback hits, 13 pressures, and a 4.4% pressure rate.

But why did the Jaguars actually move on from Brown at this point in training camp, and what could it mean moving forward? We break it down below.

The emergence of DaVon Hamilton and development of Jay Tufele made Brown expendable

The biggest reason the Jaguars moved on from Brown didn't have to do with the $3 million in cap savings they got from his release, though that likely didn't hurt. Instead, the Jaguars were able to move on from Brown because of a pair of emerging young defensive tackles in DaVon Hamilton and Jay Tufele.

Hamilton has been Jacksonville's starter at nose tackle throughout camp and has had a strong month of practice. The third-year defensive lineman and former third-round pick flashed in a big way in last week's preseason game against the Browns, solidifying his place as the Jaguars' starting nose.

"When you look at him, you watch the film, you see his presence in the middle along with Foley," Jaguars defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell said on Wednesday. He's a big, powerful man, and his pass rush is something that you didn't expect. You expect a nose to handle the middle, be a run stopper, get off the field, but he has pass rush ability, so yeah, we're pleased."

In addition to Hamilton, the Jaguars have also seen second-year veteran and former fourth-round pick Jay Tufele pick up his game in recent weeks, earning a spot on the second-team defense. He has upside worth tapping into and it looks like the Jaguars are determined to try to get it out of him. At this point in his career, Brown is what he is; if he isn't a starter, then he's not providing much developmental upside as a backup. With two young nose tackles on the roster, the Jaguars could afford to move on.

Jaguars should be expected to be players in free agent defensive tackle market

The Jacksonville Jaguars already had some of their potential interest in defensive tackles made clear even before Brown was released. Free agent nose tackle Danny Shelton signed with the Kansas City Chiefs this week and said his choices came down to the Chiefs and the Jaguars, showing the Jaguars had serious interest in making a move along the line.

With Shelton now in Kansas City and Brown still released, it would make sense for the Jaguars to continue to look at free agent defensive tackles. While there does not appear to be an imminent signing, there are options who make sense such as Larry Ogunjobi, Adam Butler, Brandon Williams, and Ndamukong Suh. Suh played in the same scheme in Tampa Bay while Caldwell was their inside linebackers coach, so there is one connection that makes sense.

Jaguars are offering few roster surprises this year, showing more transparency in practice

While the release of Brown surprised fans and those outside of Jacksonville, it didn't come as a surprise to those who have been watching the Jaguars at training camp; and that is the difference for the Jaguars this year. In the past, the Jaguars might not have had the writing on the wall like they did with Brown this year, a sign of improved transparency from the coaching staff to the locker room.

While in past years moves such as the Leonard Fournette and Collin Johnson releases weren't telegraphed in camp since each still got significant reps, that wasn't the case with Brown. He had been running with the second-team and third-team defense all of camp and always looked like he was on the outside looking in. Doug Pederson has consistently said he wants players to know where they stand, and that certainly appeared to be the case with Brown.