
The conventional wisdom that Jaguars fans want the team to draft former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow might not be accurate.
During the team’s first telephone Fan Forum with general manager Gene Smith on Tuesday night, an event limited to season-ticket holders, fans were asked if the team should draft Tebow.
Of the 800 fans who voted by phone, the answer was no by a 55 percent to 45 percent margin.
Jaguars general manager Gene Smith said the decision to sign defensive end Aaron Kampman of Green Bay, who is 30 and is coming off a torn anterior cruciate ligament, was a “calculated risk worth taking.”
Kampman, who agreed to a four-year, $26 million contract Sunday with $11 million guaranteed, could provide a much needed boost to the team’s pass rush this fall, but Smith said the decision to sign Kampman will not change his overall philosophy of building the team through the draft.
Well, so much for the Jaguars being flea-market shoppers in NFL free agency. Anybody who thought this franchise would only try to win on the cheap, or not make any moves to excite the fan base, needs to rethink that misguided logic.
The Jaguars officially announced Sunday the acquisition of unrestricted free agent defensive end Aaron Kampman, who signed a four-year contract worth $26 million, which includes $11 million guaranteed.
An eight-year veteran, Kampman, 30, joins a Jaguars team in drastic need of a lift in the pass-rushing department. Jacksonville posted a league-low 14 sacks in 2009 (the fifth-lowest total in league history), thus making the acquisition of a dominant pass-rusher the team’s highest priority going into next season.
The question now is whether Kampman can make a difference.
Jacksonville took Step 1 toward improving its pass rush early Sunday morning when it reached an agreement in principle - according to a league source - with unrestricted free agent defensive end Aaron Kampman.
Kampman flew into Jacksonville on Friday night, and spent Saturday afternoon meeting with the staff. The veteran defensive end remained in town late Saturday night as talks between the sides resumed past midnight.
Kampman agreed to terms after midnight, but length and terms of the contract weren’t immediately available.