Jaguars Sign Ex-Giants OL Ereck Flowers to Reported 1-Year Contract

Ereck Flowers is back in the NFL after agreeing to a deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Friday.  

The Jaguars announced Flowers' signing on Twitter. 

Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, Jacksonville gave Flowers a one-year contract. 

Flowers has had a strange year thus far. It started in May with the New York Giants declining the fifth-year option on his rookie contract for 2019. He was the subject of trade talks during draft week, but nothing materialized. 

After making it through training camp and the preseason, Flowers started two games at right tackle before being benched due to his ongoing struggles. The 24-year-old did appear in each of the Giants' first five games, though. 

The Giants released Flowers on Oct. 8 after being unable to find a trade partner.

Coming out of Miami in 2015, he was regarded as one of the top prospects in his draft class. ESPN's Todd McShay ranked him as the No. 13 prospect, citing his "outstanding size and length for the position to go with very good power along with good quickness for his size."

The Giants wound up selecting Flowers at No. 9 overall, hoping he would be the future of their offensive line at left tackle. However, his career never developed as expected.

Pro Football Focus noted after his release that no other offensive lineman had allowed more quarterback pressures (180) than he did since 2015. 

The best thing that could have happened to the Miami product at this stage of his career was getting out of New York. It never worked out for him there, and the mounting pressure from fans and the media would never go away. 

Jacksonville is likely looking for Flowers as depth after placing left tackle Josh Wells on the reserve/injured list. Josh Walker will take over as the Jaguars' primary starter at the position. 

With the Jaguars willing to give Flowers a second chance, he gets an opportunity to reinvent his career. He will likely have to start as a backup, but just getting on the field in a new scheme with a coaching staff willing to work with him will go a long way toward boosting his stock.