Jaguars Owner Shad Khan "still plans to continue exploring additional personnel to other areas of football operations, which could include an assistant general manager," but in the grand scheme of things, GM Trent Baalke "got what he wanted," according to John Reid of the FLORIDA TIMES-UNION. Khan originally had planned to hire an Exec VP overseeing all football operations but hinted earlier this week that he would not go in that direction. So, the franchise's new era under coach Doug Pederson "will remain with no one above Baalke in a front-office management position." Baalke's reputation around the league "remains poor," but none of it "swayed Khan's decision to allow Baalke to keep his job." A source during the team's coaching search in December said that Khan retained Baalke because he "never had the opportunity to be entirely in charge of the front office since his arrival in Jacksonville" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 3/3).
BEING BOLD: In Jacksonville, Gene Frenette writes the audible Khan called on Tuesday at the NFL Combine was a "head-scratcher." This is a "bolder, higher risk-taking Khan than we've seen at any time during his decade of ownership." The about-face was "met with both disdain -- mostly from the Baalke critics who resent the GM still being in a position of power -- and other Jaguars fans unsure of whether this change of heart will actually lead to a better football product." How much the Jaguars improve in '22 and beyond "will go a long way toward deciding if this 180-degree turn makes any sense" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 3/3).
