Leonard Fournette Clears NFL Waivers as Jaguars' Tank Job Is in Full Swing

January 21. 2018. Foxborough, Massachusetts.

The New England Patriots are down. Bill Belichick's dynasty looks to be on the ropes with an aging Tom Brady unable to move the ball against the NFL's best defense—that of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

A team that once tarped off sections of its stadium because of a lack of fan interest. A team that was once the laughingstock of the NFL after multiple failed draft picks and offseason moves. That team, early in the fourth quarter, had a 20-10 lead over the greatest coach and quarterback to ever play the game.

But then the Patriots restored order. Brady and Belichick led a riveting comeback for a 24-20 win.

New England's dynasty continued. Jacksonville's run never started.

This is the story of that team falling apart, with the release of running back Leonard Fournette this week signaling the end of that era.

The 25-year-old cleared waivers on Tuesday after a lengthy wait, per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero.

Editor's Note: According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Fournette agreed to a one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Wednesday night. 

Fournette, fresh off the best statistical year of his career with 1,152 rushing yards and 76 catches, is out despite being owed only $4.2 million in 2020 base salary and being 25 years old. Running backs have become somewhat disposable in the modern NFL, but not like this.

Even if the front office was ready to move on from the No. 4 pick in the 2017 draft, the Jaguars' inability to flip Fournette for picks is concerning. Rival NFL executives know that the environment is bad enough in Jacksonville that if a player isn't traded and wants out, they'll simply be released. That means adding a piece like Fournette becomes cheaper for a contender.

He now has his pick of NFL teams as a free agent. As the news of Fournette clearing waivers was happening, Josina Anderson reported the New Orleans Saints are now "open" to moving star running back Alvin Kamara:

Fournette is a Louisiana native and starred at LSU from 2014 to 2016. A homecoming in New Orleans could be a possibility, but the Pittsburgh Steelers, Washington Football Team, Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Rams have all been linked to Fournette as well. And he would no doubt boost them all.

There is still plenty to like about Fournette, especially for those teams interested in a short-term rental. As a free agent, he's not commanding a long-term deal but instead a prove-it deal that can bring considerable value for a hard-nosed running-style team.

If the Baltimore Ravens weren't flush with running back talent or if the Tennessee Titans didn't have Derrick Henry, this is the type of back they would go after. Teams looking to emulate either club's style of play in the running game would be wise to look at Fournette. That includes the NFC champion San Francisco 49ers given the health of their running back corps.

To understand not only the exodus of Fournette and others, but how and why the Jaguars went from a fourth-quarter lead in the AFC Championship Game to a team many NFL insiders believe is tanking to secure better draft picks, we have to look at just how different the team looks today versus that night about three years ago.

Quarterback Blake Bortles? Gone after the team doubled down by signing him to a contract extension in 2018 and refusing to believe the 2014 No. 3 overall pick was a draft bust—a conviction that led general manager Dave Caldwell and team president Tom Coughlin to pass on quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson for Fournette in the 2017 draft.

John Raoux/Associated Press

Fournette's rookie season saw him rush for over 1,000 yards and lead a talented cast of young skill players, but of that group only Keelan Cole and Dede Westbrook remain, and neither figures into the team's long-term future as free agents following the 2020 season.

The 2017 Jags weren't about the offense, though. They had the NFL's best defense, allowing the second-fewest points per game (16.8) and fewest passing yards per game (169.9) while also ranking second in interceptions (21). The D was stacked.

But like Will Smith in the series finale of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Myles Jack is the only key contributor who remains from a defense that kept Brady and Belichick under wraps.

Telvin Smith quit football. Jalen Ramsey was traded. Calais Campbell was traded. A.J. Bouye was traded. Dante Fowler Jr. was traded. And Yannick Ngakoue was traded just two days ago. 

Every star player, minus Jack, is gone. And while you might look at the cast of characters being shipped out of town and surmise that the team was loading up on draft picks to replace them...you're forgetting the mediocre draft record of Caldwell and Co. Here are their first-round picks for Caldwell's first six years as Jacksonville's general manager:

2013—Luke Joeckel
2014—Blake Bortles
2015—Dante Fowler Jr.
2016—Jalen Ramsey
2017—Leonard Fournette
2018—Taven Bryan

Not all bad picks, of course, but the foundation for the team should have been established during those years, and instead it's a hollowed-out shell with only Bryan still on the roster and not exactly setting the world on fire.

Caldwell alone isn't to blame. In fact, the hiring (and firing) of football czar Tom Coughlin is a major reason this team fell apart, according to league sources.

Coughlin—a two-time Super Bowl winner with the New York Giants and the first coach of the Jaguars—was supposed to establish a tough, winning culture when ownership brought him on to basically manage Caldwell in January 2017. And the early results seemed to be positive as Caldwell worked with Doug Marrone, both of whom reported to Coughlin, and led the team to the AFC title game.

But the seeds sown by Coughlin—famous for "if you're five minutes early you're late" and an outdated approach to player relations—would be the downfall of the team.

John Raoux/Associated Press

"It got to the point," said one prominent agent who represented players in Jacksonville, "where we knew there is no way our guys are re-signing there. Even if they liked living in Florida and liked their teammates, it was just a bad environment."

Coughlin's old-school mentality didn't mesh with new-school players, with one unnamed player going as far as telling us that players weren't allowed to express themselves in any way. Said one former player, "We weren't told to not have dreads or listen to rap music, but it was very much hinted at. [Coughlin] just didn't like a lot of the young players."

To add fuel to the fire, the NFL Players Association went so far as to warn players against signing with the Jaguars after the team was accused of mishandling an injury to Fowler.

That letter would lead to Coughlin being fired by owner Shad Khan, but the damage was done.

The once-proud defense was torn apart with Ramsey and Ngakoue forcing their way out of town and the other pieces being sold off for parts. And while there are promising young pieces for a rebuild in place with 2019 first-rounder Josh Allen and 2020 first-rounders CJ Henderson and K'Lavon Chaisson, trading Ngakoue and waiving Fournette has rival teams convinced the Jaguars are attempting to win by losing.

"Oh, they are tanking," said one area scout who is familiar with the Jaguars organization. "You can call it a culture shift or whatever they want, but at some point you have to blow it up to rebuild, and that's what they're doing."

There is a belief in today's NFL that the only way to win is with an elite quarterback on a rookie deal or a Hall of Famer at the position. With two first-round and two second-round picks in the 2021 draft, they are in a position to attack a draft class loaded with intriguing quarterback prospects.

Whether it's Trevor Lawrence (Clemson), Trey Lance (North Dakota State) or Justin Fields (Ohio State) coming in as the quarterback of the future, the organization will look very different from the one that had a lead on the Patriots in the AFC title game.

Matt Miller covers the NFL and NFL draft for Bleacher Report.