To bolster a banged-up safety room, Trent Baalke and the Jacksonville Jaguars sign Adrian Amos, a veteran safety who has been active in the NFL since 2015, to a one-year deal. The veteran safety is coming off a 2023 season where he split time with the Houston Texans and the New York Jets.
The Jacksonville Jaguars Sign Adrian Amos
Amos is a veteran safety who now is helping to strengthen the Jaguars’ safety room. The 31-year-old is coming off a 2023 season where he split time between the Texans and Jets and had a total of 28 tackles, one fumble recovery, and one pass defended. The long-time Green Bay Packers safety had a strong tenure in the NFC North, accumulating 10 interceptions between 2017 and 2022 between the Chicago Bears and the Packers.
As a member of the Packers, Amos is reuniting with Jaguars defensive back Darnell Savage. Amos comes into this Jaguars defensive backfield not as a starter, but as a backup to help replace the injury to safety Andrew Wingard. The knee injury that Wingard suffered was described by head coach Doug Pederson as ‘significant’ and that Wingard will miss training camp, and potentially the beginning of the season. Amos fills in nicely behind the starters as a veteran depth presence in the defensive backfield.
With the addition of Amos, the Jaguars also made three other roster moves. At the same time, the Jaguars signed defensive tackle Jonathan Marshall. To make room for both Amos and Marshall, the Jaguars waived defensive tackle Adam Gotsis and waived/injured Defensive Back Gregory Junior. In a scenario where Junior is not claimed by another team, he would be placed on the Jaguars injured reserve.
The State of the Defensive Backfield in Jacksonville
When the decision was made to bring in more help in the secondary at the beginning of the offseason, the depth became an apparent issue. With Darious Williams being released, and Rayshawn Jenkins signing with the Seattle Seahawks, the Jaguars needed to address the secondary.
To address the cornerback position, the Jaguars added Ronald Darby and Amani Oruwariye in free agency, and Jarrian Jones in the 2024 NFL draft. To aid their safety issues after the departure of Rayshawn Jenkins, the Jaguars have made multiple moves. They signed Terrell Edmunds, who played part of the 2023 season with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Tennessee Titans, one of the teams people shouldn’t be sleeping on heading into 2024, as part of the trade that sent Kevin Byard to the Eagles. But the big ticket move they made was acquiring Darnell Savage, a veteran safety who played for the Packers and has had nine interceptions since 2019. When the Jaguars signed Amos, the team further added depth to their safety room.
As the Jacksonville Jaguars prepare for their first preseason game of the 2024 NFL season, the safety room has taken shape. Star safety Andre Cisco leads the group, with second-year late-season breakout Antonio Johnson and big free agency signing Darnell Savage rounding out the starting group of safeties. As backups, Daniel Thomas, Wingard, Edmonds, and recent signing Amos round out the group. With the knee injury to Wingard, Amos became a necessity to bring in, as the Jaguars would be getting low on depth at a key position on the defense.
What to Expect From Adrian Amos as a Jaguar?
As with most free agent signings this late into the offseason, there isn’t a lot of room for Amos to get work. However, with the injury to Wingard, and Cisco and Savage most likely not playing a lot of the preseason, Amos will get plenty of chances to see the field in the preseason. As a veteran with nearly a decade of experience, Amos provides solid, capable depth behind a great group of safeties. Plenty of other teams in the NFL have their backups, but Amos being available is a nice acquisition for the Jaguars this late into the process.
Another thing that should be kept in mind, is that with additions this late, there is a chance for them to make a huge impact. There have been plenty of success stories this late into the season. Justin Simmons, one of the NFL’s best safeties in the league, is still unsigned heading into the first weekend of NFL preseason games. There are still plenty of free agents available that can make a big impact heading into 2024, and the Jaguars addressed one of their needs by adding a veteran presence in Amos as the offseason comes to a close and the preseason begins.
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