There aren’t many benefits to finishing 2-14, but one of them is prime position when it comes to waiver claims and the Jaguars are using theirs to pluck players trashed by other teams in hopes of finding treasures for themselves.
The Jags have claimed four players who were dropped by their former teams on Saturday, including two former members of the Eagles. Tight end Clay Harbor and defensive end/outside linebacker Chris McCoy are following the same path to Jacksonville that defensive end Jason Babin took late last season. Adam Caplan of ESPN reported the Harbor claim while McCoy made his own announcement on Twitter.
Harbor saw time at wide receiver in addition to tight end in Philly this summer, so the Jags could try something similar in hopes of shoring up a thin receiving corps. McCoy, a 2010 seventh-round pick by the Dolphins, hasn’t played in any regular season games. The Jaguars got a look at both players when they faced the Eagles in a preseason game a couple of weeks ago.
Harbor isn’t the only addition at tight end. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports that former Packers tight end D.J. Williams is also heading to Jacksonville. The 2011 fifth-round pick has nine career catches, but has flashed pass-catching potential that could blossom if he gets more opportunities in Jacksonville than he got in Green Bay.
The Jaguars also added safety Winston Guy, via Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun, who played for Jags coach Gus Bradley when Bradley was the defensive coordinator in Seattle. That should give Guy a leg up when it comes to picking up the defense in Jacksonville.
UPDATE 2:03 p.m. ET: Caplan adds that the Jaguars have also claimed wide receiver Stephen Burton off of waivers from the Vikings. Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times Union reports that the team was awarded seven players off waivers overall, so there are more names to come as the Jaguars shuffle up their roster.