🔥 The late heartbreak: Jacksonville led with four minutes left, but a late Bills touchdown drive (with just over a minute to go) sealed the upset and sapped their momentum.
🏅 Devin Lloyd in the spotlight: The former first-round pick blossomed into a 2nd-team All-Pro season, excelling in both run defense and pass coverage. But Jacksonville didn’t pick up his fifth-year option, making him a free agent after the season.
📊 Where Lloyd could land: Pro Football Focus tabs Lloyd as one of the top linebackers in the league and suggests the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a prime fit, given TB’s LB struggles and the potential for Lloyd to be a major upgrade.
💰 Cap space crunch: The Jaguars sit in the bottom tier of NFL cap space, making re-signing Lloyd or pursuing big upgrades tricky without additional moves.
🏷️ Franchise-tag or cap decisions: A linebacker franchise tag could loom around $27.5 million, which would be the team’s biggest cap hit and could complicate plans, especially with Lloyd eyeing a big payday after a $4 million cap hit this season.
🏁 Takeaway: Big decisions ahead as Jacksonville balances retooling around a star run and pass defender with the need to manage a tight salary cap. Lloyd’s future with the Jags is a major storyline to watch. 🏈💥📊
