By Jordan Long
The NFL Draft starts on Thursday and ends on Saturday. The Jacksonville Jaguars are trying to deal running back Leonard Fournette. The trade market hasn’t been great for him so far. The Jaguars would like to receive draft picks for him to add depth to the team.
Fournette was the 4th player drafted in 2017. He became the Jaguars’ starting running back. In his rookie year, Fournette rushed for 1,040 yards and 9 touchdowns with an average yards per rush of 3.9 yards. He was careful with the football and held onto it with two hands. Fournette fumbled 2 times but didn’t lose a fumble.
The Jaguars used him in passing plays. He would sneak out of the backfield to be wide open on short passes. Defenders had a tough time bringing him down. Fournette had 302 receiving yards with 1 touchdown. His average yards per catch was 8.4 yards.
In 2018, Fournette dressed in 8 games. He missed half the season dealing with a hurt hamstring. Fournette was still productive with 439 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns.
Last season, Fournette’s injuries were behind him. He ran for a career high 1,152 yards with 3 touchdowns. In the passing game, he totaled 522 receiving yards. Jacksonville finished 2019 at 6-10. They own the #9 pick if they decide to keep it.
Fournette might be the odd man out. If Jacksonville trades Fournette, they have plenty of depth at the running back position with 5 running backs on the roster. They would miss his production in the backfield.
A franchise might be interested in Fournette because he can do everything asked of him. This includes blocking, running the football, and catching the football. Those can help a team win football games.
The only hold up in a trade is his contract which is set to expire in 2022. He is due to make around $8.6 million which is a lot for a team to take on. If a team decides to acquire him, Fournette will need to rework his contract so the cap space is less.
Jacksonville may not find a trade partner depending on the asking price. If it is too high, they have two options, keep him or cut him. Fournette has proven he can handle being the #1 running back for the Jaguars. He moves the chains for them for first downs and is valuable to the team. Jacksonville can always let him go. That option would cost them around $4.47 million in dead cap space for this season. Jacksonville will do what they think is best for the team moving forward even though trading Fournette doesn’t make sense at this point.
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