Jaguars Sign Veteran Pass-Rusher

The Jacksonville Jaguars have made a much-needed move.

The Jaguars are set to sign veteran defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah, giving the Jaguars their first form of a veteran backup pass-rusher in years.

"Former Dolphins free-agent defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah is signing a one-year deal worth up to $5 million with the Jacksonville Jaguars, per his agent Drew Rosenhaus," ESPN's Adam Schefter said on X.

Jaguars general manager James Gladstone made it clear following the 2025 NFL Draft that the Jaguars would look to free agency to boost their defensive front. The Jaguars only added one potential defensive trench player with their nine picks (sixth-rounder Jalen McLeod), which meant the Jaguars were always set to look into a veteran addition.

“Yeah, I think short answer to that is the board always falls certain ways. You're not going to reach because of what might be a perceived need. So you are always going to take the players that you feel like are going to put the team in the best interest moving forward," Gladstone said on Saturday after the draft concluded.

"You don't want to ever sort of lean heavily into just one idea of best player available and need. It's some version of balanced dynamic that comes with that. So I do think you'll see us make some moves here in the near future that will, in fact, address that. Obviously our undrafted college free agents haven't been announced, but those positions were certainly close to filled there, and we'll look towards the pro free agent landscape as well.”

Ogbah, 31, recorded five sacks last season and has recorded 10.5 sacks over the last two seasons.

This is a move that has made sense to us for some time. Here is what we said in February when we first listed Ogbah as a likely Jaguars fit moving forward.

"The Jaguars have needed a No. 3 edge rusher for each of the last two seasons, and it would make sense for Emmanuel Ogbah to be considered for that role now that the Jaguars are under new management that won't be so stubborn about the position. Ogbah was in Miami for all four of Campanile's seasons with the team."