Big Cat Country
And just like that, the preseason is over.
Less than 72 hours after the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 14-6 defeat to the Miami Dolphins in their final warmup game, the 53-man roster for the 2025 regular season is set. General Manager James Gladstone took to the podium on Wednesday to discuss a range of topics; here are some of the big takeaways:
Whilst Gladstone has ‘been in the room’ as part of the Los Angeles Rams front office the past few years, this was the first season where he was the man in charge. And no part of the season is tougher for a general manager than roster cuts on deadline day, where a franchise can be telling close to forty players their services are no longer required. Asked about the challenges of whittling down the roster to 53, Gladstone was candid:
“I know that for the first time actually to be the person to have to walk through that with guys, it was certainly eye-opening in a way that I just didn’t have the experience to point back to. So certainly, some lessons that I will be able to apply moving forward to continue to level up in that space, that I look forward to doing when that time comes again. But very much appreciate anybody who stepped into this building and participated over the course of the last few weeks in training camp to give ourselves a really good position here moving into the regular season, where we feel like we’re becoming the best version of the 2025 Jaguars at the right time.”
Gladstone referred to the ‘weight’ of having to release a player who had ‘put in a ton of effort and energy into giving their best to this organization’ and how seriously he took that responsibility. Nevertheless, he’s excited about the group that remains, frequently mentioning their physicality and mental fortitude.
There’s been a lot of change in Jacksonville since the end of last season. Gladstone was asked if it was intentional that half the final roster wasn’t on the team last year:
“That’s a cool question. I think it wasn’t something you intentionally set out on saying, hey, we’re going to turnover this percentage or this number of the roster. It was an organic approach. I think, when you have high demands for players and expectations and standards, it can become easier to sift through who makes the most sense moving forward and who makes the most sense being here. Certainly excited about the group we got at the moment, but can’t say it was with any intent to get to a certain number or percentage of roster turnover.”
Gladstone has also valued versatility when recruiting this offseason. This is evident in the makeup of the offensive line, which the GM acknowledged – but he’s also keen to point out the positional fluidity of other groups on the team too:
“Just like I pointed to wide receiver, the...
