Jaguars' Trent Baalke Explains Status of Brandon Linder, Departures of Myles Jack and DJ Chark

When one is walking into TIAA Bank Field, it is hard to miss the faces of several players plastered around the stadium. Trevor Lawrence is obviously one, but then others have followed; including DJ Chark, Myles Jack and Brandon Linder. 

After the first few days of free agency, both Chark and Jack are now signed to play elsewhere. And soon, Linder could follow. Such is life in the NFL, especially for a team in transition such as the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke explained and defended each of the moves and soon-to-be-made moves when meeting with local media on Wednesday. Jack and Linder have been mainstays on the team for years and served as core pieces during the 2017 season, while Chark has been the team's top playmaker for each of the last three seasons. 

But times are changing in Jacksonville. It began as the Jaguars and Baalke deemed their receiver room as insufficient, leaving Baalke to decide to sign Christian Kirk, Zay Jones and Evan Engram in free agency and letting Chark walk in free agency, which ended with the former second-rounder signing a one-year deal with the Detroit Lions.

"I think it’s a two-way street, right. I mean, you can want someone and they can maybe not want you, or you can’t come together on what that looks like. And I think in DJ’s case, and I’m not going to speak case by case by case, but it was just a situation where we couldn’t come together," Baalke said.

"And DJ’s a fine football player and he’s a fine person and he’s going to go to Detroit it looks like -- what’s been reported, anyway -- and he’s going to go there and hopefully have a lot of success. And we’ve moved on as well.”

The Jaguars have indeed moved on. They made Kirk one of the highest-paid receivers in the league and signed Jones to a three-year deal that ensures he is on the roster through at least the next two seasons. 

Whether Baalke and the Jaguars will be proven right on the Chark front will be determined by the offense's success moving forward. But for the Jaguars, it was time to move on from the 2018 second-rounder and former Pro Bowler. 

But what about Jack? Jack, a 2016 second-round pick, had long been seen as the face of the Jaguars' defense. After the departures of Jalen Ramsey, Yannick Ngakoue, Calais Campbell, and many others, Jack was the last man standing from arguably the best defense in franchise history.

But even Jack couldn't survive the changing winds that have hit Jacksonville, and on Tuesday the Jaguars officially released the long-time linebacker and fan favorite.

In six seasons with the Jaguars, Jack started 82 games and appeared in 88, while also starting three playoff games. Jack recorded 513 tackles, 6.5 sacks, 17 quarterback hits, two forced fumbles, four forced fumbles, three interceptions, and 15 pass deflections.

The release of Jack came one day after the Jaguars signed former Atlanta Falcons linebacker Foyesade Oluokun to a three-year deal worth between $45 million to $46.5 million and carries a guarantee of $28 million at signing. And one day after the release, Jack signed a two-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

But why did the Jaguars and Baalke release Jack before seeing how he fit in defensive coordinator Mike Caldwell's system?

"Well, I keep the conversation with Myles between us but we had a great talk. In fact, we met twice yesterday. He understood where we were at," Baalke said. "And Myles has done an awful lot for this organization, an awful lot for this community. He deserves, he deserves an opportunity to go out there and he will I mean, he's gonna go out there and test the market."

The release of Jack will save the Jaguars $8.35 million on the cap, while the team will take on $4.8 million in dead money. Jack, who was set to earn $10.5 million in 2022, was set to have the third-highest cap hit on the Jaguars' roster this season at $13.15 million.

"And we just felt this was the right time to do it. And these aren't easy decisions. A lot goes into these decisions and but I will say this, we had a great talk several conversations and we're in a good place there."

That leaves Linder. The Jaguars have cut ties with one key veteran for cap reasons in Jack, but Linder is the next obvious candidate. 

Linder, who became the team's first-ever gold star captain in 2021, has been the anchor of the offensive line since drafted in 2014. But Linder has also dealt with injuries, and his contract is one Baalke and the Jaguars can clearly move on from.

Linder is set to count for $9,529,412 against the Jaguars' 2022 cap. If released, the Jaguars will save all of that money and take on zero dead money. In short, the Jaguars can make a clean release of Linder and save nearly $10 million dollars with zero financial downsides.

While Baalke did not commit to leaning one way or the other when it comes to Linder, he did make it clear that a decision will come down the pipe sooner than later.

"Brandon and I in fact just had a great conversation. We're working through that as we speak," Baalke said. "No decision has been made relative to Brandon as of right now. You know, we're moving forward"