Jacksonville Jaguars Add Valuable Piece To Secondary With Prince Amukamara Signing

The Jacksonville Jaguars entered free agency with plenty of money to spend, and they’ve made notable additions by signing defensive lineman Malik Jackson, running back Chris Ivory and safety Tashaun Gipson in the first few days of free agency. They continued to fortify their secondary on Friday, agreeing to terms with cornerback Prince Amukamara on a one-year deal.

Former Giants CB Prince Amukamara is signing a 1-year deal with Jacksonville, per source.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 11, 2016

Amukamara was drafted No. 19 overall in 2011 by the New York Giants, but he has never quite lived up to being a first-round pick. Over five seasons with the Giants, he played all 16 games just once with a total of seven interceptions in 55 games played (45 starts). The Giants were not reported to have any interest in re-signing Amukamara, with the fact he missed 13 games over the last two seasons surely fresh in their memory.

In Jacksonville, Amukamara is in line to start opposite Davon House, who led the team with four interceptions last season. More importantly perhaps, Aaron Colvin (zero interceptions in 2015) can move to the slot and Dwayne Gratz (zero interceptions in 2015) can move down the depth chart as the Jaguars re-shuffle their secondary. A draft pick or two could also be added to the mix at cornerback, but Amukamara’s snap count should not be dramatically affected in that circumstance.

Despite a 5-11 record, the Jaguars showed a lot of promise offensively last season. General manager David Caldwell has clearly made it a priority to bolster the defense so far this offseason, and taking a one-year flier on Amukamara looks like a solid piece of that process.