Quote:Negotiate a contract extension. Pointing out that you will target the interior OL in free agency so he wouldn't have to spend another season lined up next to a stiff might help seal the deal.
 If that fails, there is always the possibility of using the franchise tag.

 

But the bigger problem was not just trading him, but trading him for so little. From the statements released, it seems like 1) Caldwell did not initiate contact with other teams, and only traded Monroe after the Ravens contacted him, and 2) did not shop Monroe around after the Ravens made an offer to see if the Jags could get more. Whether you're buying a car or trading a LT, you don't take the first offer unless you deem it ridiculously high. Two 3rd day picks for a good starting LT is not even in the ballpark.


A 3rd option, which is the one I would have taken, would have been to extend Monroe before the 2013 draft, sign Andre Smith as a free agent RT, and trade down from the #2 pick. For those who will pop up and say that trading down is nearly impossible, the Raiders did it from the #3 pick, and there's no reason to think Miami would not have given the same trade for the #2 pick.

 

  I'm not sure what happened behind the scenes regarding the Eugene Monroe trade.   I was surprised the Jaguars didn't get more trade compensation and that the trade was made a few weeks before the trade deadline.   But it's possible that Dave Caldwell did speak to more teams and he felt that there wasn't much interest in Eugene Monroe.   Caldwell might have felt the Ravens would have gone in another direction if the trade wasn't completed around the time it was.   Hence,  Caldwell cashed in the Monroe chip even though it wasn't at premium value.  

 

  A key part of the whole situation also could have been that the Jaguars team brass didn't believe that Eugene Monroe would be worth the type of contract he was seeking.    Both in terms of a LT option,  if the Jaguars would have not drafted a LT prospect in Round 1,   or as a long term RT option.    One definite conclusion is the Ravens valued Eugene Monroe much more than the Dave Caldwell regime did.   

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