The NFL free agency period is always chaotic and deals materialize quickly. New Jaguars head coach Urban Meyer is not a fan.
Meyer, who was one of the best recruiters in the country at the college level, explained that signing free agents without meeting them is bad business.
“Yeah, that was awful,” Meyer said, via ESPN. “I don’t agree with it, but no one asked my opinion. I guess in the old days you could bring them in and meet them, have dinner with them, you find out the football intellect, find out their character. To answer your question, that was awful, and I don’t believe it should be that way. Not when you’re making organizational decisions. I’m not sure how that rule came about, but to me that’s not good business.”
Officially, teams are only allowed to start negotiating during the “legal tampering period” (no one follows that rule) but the process forces teams and agents to move quickly.
Rarely do players take visits. Kirk Cousins did it a few years ago before officially signing with Minnesota. Kenny Golladay just did it with the Giants as they wanted to check out his hip. But the sought out players almost never take visits.
Despite having the most cap space in the league, Urban Meyer and the Jaguars weren’t overly aggressive. They agreed to terms with 11 new players so far: Shaquill Griffin, Rayshawn Jenkins, Carlos Hyde, Marvin Jones, Jamal Agnew, Phillip Dorsett, Chris Manhertz, Roy Robertson-Harris, Jihad Ward, Tyson Alualu, and Rudy Ford.
Hyde played for Meyer at Ohio State and was drafted by Trent Baalke in San Fransisco. Six other players, including Marvin Jones and Shaquill Griffin, have connections to coaches on the staff.
Meyer might not be a fan but the rule isn’t changing. That’s life in the NFL.
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