Jaguars not Picking Up the Fifth-Year Option For Leonard Fournette

The signs that Leonard Fournette would be leaving the Jacksonville Jaguars in the near future are becoming more and more obvious. The last one saw the franchise from Florida declining to pick up a fifth-year option for the player, even though any other team would do that without any question.

Fournette has been one of the best running backs in the league. With 25 years of age, he could carry the team for several years more, also improving while doing the same.

Jaguars are not picking up the fifth-year option of former first-round pick Leonard Fournette, per source.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 1, 2020

The entire situation with the Jags trying to trade him away started last month once he publicly suggested that his team should sign Cam Newton. He wouldn’t say anything about Super Cam taking over Gardner Minshew’s place but instead told that it would be good to have them competing for the starting QB spot.

“It’s no disrespect to [Gardner Minshew],” Fournette stated. “I’m just trying to get in the best position as a team as we can [to] win.”

Minshew was left to be the No.1 QB in Jacksonville per various sources, and the management even traded away Nick Foles, one year after giving him a four-year $88 million contract. Truth to be told, the former Super Bowl MVP was injured most of the season, and Minshew was the one who replaced him, posting very good numbers.

Now, what might have been the reason for Jags’ furious reaction following Fournette’s comments, was that they didn’t want to allow anyone to interfere with their strategy. The franchise needed to show muscles and who is in charge, which is why they didn’t want to let go of this and move on.

Fournette is no doubt one of the best running backs in the NFL. He posted 1,152 yards last year in 15 starts, for three touchdowns, and also caught 522 receiving yards. He became an immediate contributor after arriving from college. The Jags picked him fourth overall in the 2017 NFL draft, and he exploded in the rookie season with 1,040 yards and nine touchdowns. Apart from that, he and the team reached the AFC Championship Game but were stopped against the Patriots.

Fournette was very good in the playoffs that year, with four TDs in three games, and 242 yards. He was especially impressive in the Divisional Round once Jags eliminated Steelers in Pittsburgh.

Jacksonville is in problems, as they try to make up for all the mistakes made in the past. At first, they got rid of a massive deal given to Foles, and after that released Marqise Lee, who also had a big contract. The wide receiver signed a four-year contract in 2018, worth $38 million but recorded only 18 yards ever since, due to the chronic injuries.

All this, and many other things force the management to start a big rebuild, and it seems that Fournette won’t be a part of the team’s future.

Jags went 6-10 last year, finishing last in the AFC South, the second time in a row. After loading themselves with talent on the defensive side during the recent NFL draft, we might expect them to be aggressive on the market in search of additions on the offense. And Fournette could be used in some sort of a trade which might benefit Doug Marrone’s crew.