The Jacksonville Jaguars have been an NFL franchise for 25 years now, and throughout it's two and a half-decade of history, they fielded a tremendous amount of great players. Some of those players were acquired via free agency and made a huge impact on the team from its early days to its current iteration. A few of them stand out among the rest.
Here are the top 5 free agent signings in Jacksonville Jaguars history.
5. Leon Searcy
Offensive tackle Leon Searcy was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1992. After playing for Pittsburgh for four years, the Jaguars were able to lure him in free agency in 1996, where he was paired with Toni Bosselli and formed one of the best tackle duos in the NFL.
Searcy played for the Jaguars from 1998 to 1999 and only missed one game. During his time with Jacksonville, he played in two AFC Championship games, and earned a Pro-Bowl and an All-Pro selection in 1999 which was the final year of his career.
4. Calais Campbell
The Mayor of Sacksonville.
Campbell signed a four-year, $60 million deal with Jacksonville after having a nine year stint with the Arizona Cardinals where he earned two Pro-Bowl selections. With the Jaguars, Campbell terrorized offenses in his three-year stint, totaling 195 tackles with 31.5 sacks.
Campbell was named to three more Pro-Bowls and an All-Pro first-team selection in 2017, lining up alongside another Pro-Bowl defensive end Yannick Ngakouwe, and was a key piece in a resurging Jaguars team due to its defense.
3. Paul Posluszny
In July of 2011, the Jacksonville Jaguars signed middle linebacker Paul Posluszny to a six-year, $45 million contract.
In his first three years with the Jaguars, Posluszny had three straight seasons of 100 total tackles. In 2013, he led the league in solo tackles with 122, garnering a Pro-Bowl selection.
For the seven-season that Posluszny played, he had totals of 587 solo tackles, 45 of them resulting in loss of yardage, 11 interceptions, and 13 sacks. Posluszny also bridged the gap for younger Jaguars linebackers Myles Jack and Telvin Smith.
2. Keenan McCardell
After coming off a career-best year with the Cleveland Browns, wideout Keenan McCardell signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as a free agent in 1996.
In his first season, McCardell tallied 85 receptions with 1,129 yards and 3 touchdowns on his way to a Pro-Bowl selection, doing so alongside Jimmy Smith who together was dubbed as “Thunder and Lightning”.
McCardell played for five more seasons with Jacksonville and passed the 1000 receiving yard milestone three more times, ending up a part in two AFC Championship games. He left the Jaguars in 2002 and tallied totals of 499 receptions, 6,393 yards with 30 touchdowns.
1. Jimmy Smith
The other member of Thunder and Lightning.
In 1995, then expansion team Jacksonville Jaguars signed wide receiver Jimmy Smith after being released by the Philadelphia Eagles.
Having limited playing time under coach Tom Coughlin in 1995, it's not until 1996 when Smith would blow up as one of the premier receivers in the league. From 1996 to 2005, Smith will eclipse the 1000 receiving yards mark, with the only exception being the 2003 season when he missed four games. Smith also led the league in receptions in 1999.
From 1997 to 2001, Smith was named to five consecutive Pro-Bowl selection, making a mark of being one of the best free-agent acquisition in Jacksonville Jaguars history.
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