PFF<\/a> projects him to earn $16 million annually across three seasons.<\/p>\nA three-year investment makes sense because Lloyd\u2019s contract-year stats dwarfed his previous production. Plus, despite not playing on a fifth-year option as a former 1st-round pick, he isn\u2019t exactly young for someone seeking a second contract.<\/p>\n
My best guess: Lloyd signs a three-year deal worth $54 million ($18 mil\/yr) with a sizeable chunk of guaranteed money \u2014 say, $35 million \u2014 to offset the short-ish contract length. That\u2019d be an appropriate amount of cash for a top 10 NFL linebacker in his prime without injury or character concerns. Though some will balk at the idea of paying near-top-of-market money for a non-premium position player, others will recognize Lloyd\u2019s value in providing multiple answers against modern offenses. He can serve as a triple threat (blitz, run defense, pass coverage) from a variety of alignments.<\/p>\n
Jacksonville Jaguars: The best on-paper landing spot has to be where Lloyd developed into a top free agent in the first place. He played his best pro season in 2025 under former NFL LBs coach and current Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile. Lloyd may be on the older side for a first-time free agent, but it\u2019s fair to say he could grow further with Campanile. Jacksonville would have a massive hole at the position if Lloyd leaves, as the team is already considering succession plans for Foye Oluokun (turns 31 in August). Re-signing Lloyd could be the Jaguars\u2019 top \u201cwin-now\u201d move of the 2026 offseason.<\/p>\n
Dallas Cowboys: The \u2019Boys recently waived linebacker Logan Wilson (whom they traded for last year (lmao)) to save some cash. Kenneth Murray and Jack Sanborn are also free agents. Linebacker is a need in Jerry World, and it\u2019s easy to imagine the Joneses exaggerating Lloyd\u2019s value. Thing is, whether intentional or not, they\u2019d have a point\u2026 New defensive coordinator Christian Parker spent three of the past five seasons coaching defensive backs under the legendary Vic Fangio. The Cowboys are a popular landing spot in mock drafts for Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles \u2014 who projects as an off-ball linebacker who can also rush the passer from an on-ball alignment \u2014 because Parker could deploy him the way Fangio uses Baun in Philadelphia. Maybe they should just sign Lloyd to do the same thing.<\/p>\n
New York Giants: Like the Jaguars and the Cowboys, the Giants may not carry the requisite cap space to go big-game hunting for linebackers in free agency, but there have been rumblings that New York could reallocate resources after spending large to build a formidable defensive line. A restructure here and a trade there could free up enough room for the Giants to add Lloyd. They need bodies at the position, especially with veteran Bobby Okereke widely expected to be a cap casualty, and Lloyd would be a fun piece for new defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson. He has ties to the Mike Macdonald tree and recently called plays for the Tennessee Titans. Front offices are often swayed by how free agents performed against their own teams in the past; maybe Wilson will push for Lloyd after watching him play in person over the past two seasons.<\/p>\n
It was tough to find good landing spots for Lloyd. Even for teams with a need at linebacker, contenders could prioritize other positions, and rebuilders might prefer developmental projects or veteran voices over someone in the middle. Lloyd\u2019s position and age put him in a bit of no man\u2019s land.<\/p>\n
The notion that this year\u2019s draft class is particularly strong at linebacker does no favors for Lloyd\u2019s market. The crop is strong at the top and has plenty of depth to allow for mid-to-late-round darts.<\/p>\n
The writing has been on the wall for Lloyd to depart Jacksonville. His fifth-year option was declined, the current regime is not the same as the one that drafted him, and there have been zero rumors of any contract negotiations. Lloyd said in early February<\/a> that he\u2019d had \u201cno talks\u201d with the Jaguars about a new deal.<\/p>\nHere\u2019s to hoping Lloyd gets the bag he deserves\u2026 somewhere in the NFC. In my opinion, his combination of athleticism and instincts is great, but not as special as his expected price tag would indicate. Let a different team make that overpay. I\u2019d rather see if Campanile can work his magic with more cost-effective options.<\/p>\n
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Jacksonville Jaguars are entering their first full offseason under their new leadership unit of head coach Liam…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,58330,6620,48301,15359,48302,117],"class_list":{"0":"post-175301","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-jacksonville","9":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","10":"tag-jacksonville-jaguars-analysis","11":"tag-jacksonville-jaguars-depth-chart","12":"tag-jacksonville-jaguars-free-agency","13":"tag-jacksonville-jaguars-roster","14":"tag-jacksonville-jaguars-salary-cap","15":"tag-jacksonville-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}