The Jacksonville Jaguars were one of the biggest surprises during the 2022 season. After starting the year 3-7, they won six out of their last seven games to win the AFC South and earn a spot in the postseason. Jacksonville then had a miraculous comeback during Super Wild Card Weekend against the Los Angeles Chargers before falling just short in their matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round.
Heading into the 2023 offseason, the Jaguars didn’t have many glaring needs on their roster. They are loaded with young players on both sides of the ball and have foundational building blocks on both sides of the ball.
Part of the reason that the Jaguars experienced so much success was that players unexpectedly stepped up and outperformed expectations. One of those players was Roy Robertson-Harris.
Robertson-Harris was thought of as someone whose time in Jacksonville was going to be coming to an end soon. Heading into the season, he was on the chopping block as a cut candidate so that the team could save some money on the salary cap. After spending the first three seasons of his career with the Chicago Bears, he signed a three-year, $23.4 million deal with the Jaguars as a free agent in 2021.
Instead, Robertson-Harris put together arguably the best season of his career. He had a career-high 45 tackles, seven tackles for loss, 12 quarterback hits and four passes defended with 3.0 sacks, which tied a career-high.
Not only did Robertson-Harris avoid getting cut, but he also received an extension with the team. That three-year, $21.6 million deal is considered one of the best under-the-radar moves of the offseason.
Robertson-Harris emerged as a consistent producer in the middle of the Jaguars’ defensive line and was integral to their success. Locking him up long-term is a good investment, especially if he plays as well as he did down the stretch in 2022. As a former undrafted free agent, Robertson-Harris has done an excellent job carving out a role for himself and earning a nice chunk of change in the process.
