The best of Asked and Answered: June 28

May 29, 2022
JACK FOSTER FROM ROUNDUP, MT: I’m getting excited for the upcoming season. I love it when no one gives us a shot, and we are working quietly behind the scenes with some good additions during free agency. But I just read on Steelers.com that Myles Jack was not an unrestricted free agent and that Jacksonville had released him. Do you know why they may have? Was it injury or a cap issue for them?
ANSWER: In 2017, the Jaguars advanced to the AFC Championship Game with a defense that ended the regular season ranked second in the NFL in points allowed, second in yards allowed, and first in passing yards allowed, and after Myles Jack was released, there is only one player on the team remaining from that defense, a unit judged by some to be the best in franchise history. Money, salary cap space, was a factor. The release of Jack will save the Jaguars $8.35 million on the cap, while the team will take on $4.8 million in dead money. Jack, who was set to earn $10.5 million in 2022, was set to have the third-highest cap hit on the Jaguars’ roster this season at $13.15 million, behind only Cam Robinson and Shaquill Griffin. And the coach who drafted Jack is now two coaches ago in Jaguars franchise history.

November 8, 2021
ZACH RAVES FROM SCOTTSDALE, AZ: I don’t understand why a team wanting to sign a released player has to absorb their previous contract. If the money isn’t guaranteed and the player is released for cause wouldn’t that void the contract allowing a different team to negotiate a new deal?
ANSWER: When it comes to a team having to assume a player’s existing contract vs. when a team can negotiate its own deal with a player has to do with the category through which the team acquires the player. When a player is acquired by a team via a trade or claims a player on waivers, the team must assume the player’s existing contract. If a player is released, or if a player is waived and then clears waivers to become a free agent, the player and any interested team…