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3 ways Jaguars can create more salary cap space before free agency
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- 3 ways Jaguars can create more salary cap space before free agency
The Jacksonville Jaguars made two salary cap maneuvers on Friday to create some needed cap space.
However, there is still work to be done.
Restructuring the contracts of Patrick Mekari and Eric Murray freed up nearly $11 million in cap space for the 2026 season. But, according to Over the Cap , the Jaguars are still in the red by $6.04 million.
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Jacksonville has to be cap compliant by March 11th, when the new league year begins, but they'll also want some additional space to make any additions.
Here are three ways to create some salary cap room.
Extend Travon Walker
Last offseason, the Jaguars picked up Walker's fifth-year option for the 2026 season. This is effectively a one-year deal and comes with a pre-determined salary of $15.19 million, and that entire amount must be absorbed on the 2026 salary cap books.
An extension, however, would help create more cap room. Although a lot more money is added to the deal, there are more years added as well, providing a longer runway for current cap charges to be pushed towards -- thus creating cap space in 2026.
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By OTC's calculations , the Jaguars could create a maximum of $11.18 million in cap space this offseason by extending Walker.
Find a trade partner for Walker Little
Cole Van Lanen seized control of the starting left tackle job last season and was rewarded with an extension. Little was then forced to come off the bench and even filled in at right guard when needed.
As of now, it doesn't look like his role in 2026 is going to change and with a base salary of $11 million and a cap hit of $14.49 million, that's a lot to be paying a backup.
If the Jaguars could trade him, it would free up $7.26 million in cap space. That, however, could be difficult. Again, Little has an $11 million salary that the new team would have to pay, and his play last season was up and down.
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Releasing Little doesn't save the Jaguars much in cap space.
Restructure Foye Oluokun's deal
Oluokun comes with a $17.11 million cap hit this season. With two years left on his deal, plus two void years already added to the contract, there is a three-year runway for the Jaguars to push some of the current year's cap charges into a restructure.
Oluokun's current cap number in the void years is just $549,000, which could make it more enticing to rework his deal. A max restructure would open up $6.33 million in cap space.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: NFL free agency: How Jaguars can create $25 million in salary cap space
