UPDATE: Beachum signs with the Jags

[Shoes]

BY DAVE BRYAN (http://www.steelersdepot.com/author/davebryan/) MARCH 14, 2016 AT 07:11 PM
Pittsburgh Steelers free agent tackle Kelvin Beachum visited with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday and apparently they don’t want him to leave town unsigned.
According to Josina Anderson of ESPN, Beachum just told her that he’s currently at the airport but that the Jaguars are trying to convince him not to leave town just yet.
It would be interesting to know if the Jaguars want Beachum to play left tackle for them being as that job currently belongs to Luke Joeckel, who they drafted with the second overall selection in the 2013 NFL Draft.
Last season, Jermey Parnell played right tackle for the Jaguars and he’s currently under contract with them through the 2019 season. With that said, the Jaguars can easily cut Parnell without any dead money being involved.
Should the Jaguars sign Beachum, they would likely cut Parnell and move Joeckel over to the right side.
Beachum has reportedly already visited with the New York Jets. The Baltimore Ravens are yet another team that reportedly have some sort of interest in the Steelers former seventh-round draft pick out of SMU.
Beachum is currently rehabbing a left knee injury that landed him on the Steelers Reserve/Injured last year after Week 6.

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2016/03/report-jaguars-dont-want-steelers-free-agent-t-kelvin-beachum-leave-town/

[steelerkitty]

He might as well sign cause reports are the Steelers have no interest in even re-signing him for some reason.

[polamalubeast]

709532201357066240

[Born2Steel]

That's what agents are for. If his agent said don't leave town, he would still be there.

[ALLD]

I would play for the Jags if they offered me stupid $, but I would live in St. Augustine.

[dislocatedday]

I can only guess that Beachum must be asking for much more $$$ than teams are willing to pay. My guess is that he is asking for somewhere around $9M per season over 5 years, and no telling what he wants guaranteed. He is probably not going to get huge $$$ at this stage of FA, and will likely have to settle for much less than he thinks he is worth.

[SteelerFanInStl]

The Jags have $$$ to burn. They'll pay him what he wants. I think that he really just doesn't want to leave Pittsburgh.

[katmandu]

I can only guess that Beachum must be asking for much more $$$ than teams are willing to pay. My guess is that he is asking for somewhere around $9M per season over 5 years, and no telling what he wants guaranteed. He is probably not going to get huge $$$ at this stage of FA, and will likely have to settle for much less than he thinks he is worth.If that is the case, he must have amnesia about getting his knew all tore up or he's been hanging out with Martavis and fried his brain !

[Shoes]

Beach is gone!

Jaguars To Sign Kelvin Beachum
https://www.profootballrumors.com/breaking-jaguars-to-sign-kelvin-beachum/

[Mojouw]

Unless they pull an Okung signing out of their ass - this is going to bite big time. AV and Harris is nowhere near as good as Beachum and AV.

[steelreserve]

It'll be interesting to see how much he signed for. My guess is it's nowhere near the amount we could have afforded. Of course if money was no issue, you'd prefer to have Beachum, but guess what, money IS an issue, and a big one.

Spending $7M to $9M on one above-average offensive lineman with an unknown injury status is not the kind of thing that would help us win. It's a shame we couldn't use that money to land the big prize in FA. But the way I look at it, if we can even sign an average DB to replace Blake or Allen, that represents a far bigger upgrade than AV/Harris versus Beachum is a downgrade.

[smokin3000gt]

I hope he enjoys working his ass off just to lose in an empty stadium every week.. .

[katmandu]

I hope he enjoys working his ass off just to lose in an empty stadium every week.. .Plus he signed as a BACKUP !



Exact terms of the deal are not yet known. Beachum will likely serve as a backup in Jacksonville, per Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (on Twitter (https://twitter.com/EdBouchette/status/709853090283962369)).

[smokin3000gt]

Plus he signed as a BACKUP !

lawl!

That's even better. Must be one hell of a contract.

[ALLD]

He got $4 million x 3 years. I would get a place on the beach to enjoy watching the playoffs from the pool. Beach will never be heard from again.

[Mojouw]

And he might have to play guard AND center!

[teegre]

Only $4 million???

I'd have taken that over paying $2 million to this other scrub. Ugh.

[fansince'76]

Only $4 million???

I'd have taken that over paying $2 million to this other scrub. Ugh.

Maybe his ACL is still problematic(?)

[teegre]

Maybe his ACL is still problematic(?)

Ah... I hadn't considered that.

[fansince'76]

Ah... I hadn't considered that.

Otherwise, yeah, it certainly seems like a downgrade.

[Shoes]

Maybe his ACL is still problematic(?)

Could very well be.

[steelreserve]

Maybe his ACL is still problematic(?)

I was worried from the start about this turning into Willie Colon 2.0. If there was any real chance of that, having AV, Gilbert, maybe Adams and now some random LT is a far better option that gives me full confidence we made the right call.

[tube517]

He won't be ready for the start of the season?

[hawaiiansteeler]

Jaguars sign OT Kelvin Beachum (5 years, $40 million): A- Grade

Five years and $40 million for a tackle coming off an ACL tear? Are the Jaguars insane? You might think so, based on the overall value of this contract. However, NFL deals can often be very deceiving, and that's the case here.

This pact is actually a 1-year agreement worth $4.5 million, and the rest of it is a 4-year, $35.5 million team option. So, with that in mind, this is a great move by the Jaguars. In order to finally make a playoff push, they'll need to provide Blake Bortles with adequate protection, which Luke Joeckel hasn't been capable of producing. Kelvin Beachum, if healthy, should be a big upgrade. If he plays well, the Jaguars simply can exercise the option. If not, then they didn't really lose anything.

http://walterfootball.com/freeagentsigninggrades.php#shpXGttesLTLuL7a.99

[zulater]

I wish Beachum nothing but the best. I think he wanted to come back but the Steelers decided it was a better business decision to go the route they did. So how can you fault him for moving on? Also don't bet against the Jags being a playoff team soon. They got a very good young qb. and are an improving team in a mostly bad division.

[ALLD]

Steelers saved a a lot of money they can spend on one of the giant holes in the secondary.

[86WARD]

Steelers saved a a lot of money they can spend on one of the giant holes in the secondary.

Too bad there's nothing there to spend the money on.

[Mojouw]

Steelers saved a a lot of money they can spend on one of the giant holes in the secondary.

They didn't have the money to spend in the first place. What cap room the team had has almost totally been accounted for with the current signings. The Steelers need to get a few extensions and restructures done to free up any real money under the 2016 cap. Decastro, Timmons, Roethlisberger, and maybe AB could all get some alterations to their contracts that COULD free up the coin to sign almost anyone.

[hawaiiansteeler]

Jaguars planning competition between Beachum and Joeckel at left tackle

Posted by Josh Alper on March 21, 2016

When the Jaguars drafted tackle Luke Joeckel with the second overall pick of the 2013 draft, the expectation was that he’d become a fixture on their offensive line for years to come.

Joeckel moved right into the starting lineup at right tackle as a rookie and was set to take over at left tackle when the Jags traded Eugene Monroe to the Ravens, but Joeckel broke his ankle and missed the final 11 games of the year. He has started 30 games at left tackle the last two seasons, although he hasn’t played up to the level expected and General Manager Dave Caldwell made it clear Monday that the arrival of Kelvin Beachum as a free agent this offseason is meant to get better play from the spot.

“They’re going to compete and that’s been the central theme of our team since [coach] Gus got here, is competition,” Caldwell said, via the team’s website. “Wherever we can find somebody to come in and compete at a reasonable rate, we’ll do that no matter what the position is.”

[B]Beachum is coming off of a torn ACL and Caldwell said the team expects he will be ready to go early in training camp if not before. Beachum has played some guard in the past and Caldwell seemed to suggest that the loser of the competition could be an option to play guard when he said he was “sure both are going to play somewhere.” Asked specifically about Joeckel kicking inside, Caldwell said they’d see how things play out and gave a similar answer regarding the call on Joeckel’s fifth-year option that must be made in the next couple of months.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/03/21/jaguars-planning-competition-between-beachum-and-joeckel-at-left-tackle/