Dave Caldwell Fired as Jaguars GM; Trent Baalke to Serve in Interim Role

The Jacksonville Jaguars are making a change.

After Sunday's 27-25 loss to the Cleveland Browns, dropping the Jags to 1-10 on the year, the team has fired general manager Dave Caldwell.

Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Trent Baalke will take over GM duties on an interim basis.

ESPN's Adam Schefter first reported the news.

Though Caldwell is out, head coach Doug Marrone is safe, with the NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reporting that "owner Shad Khan informed Doug Marrone and his staff they are secure for the rest of the season."

With a new general manager likely to want to hire his own head coach, however, Marrone may not have a future in Jacksonville beyond 2020.

Caldwell is now the fourth general manager to be canned this season alone, joining the Houston Texans' GM-coach Bill O'Brien, Detroit Lions' Bob Quinn and Atlanta Falcons' Thomas Dimitroff. The Jags are the only team of those four to retain their head coach, however.

The 46-year-old Caldwell was Jacksonville's general manager since 2013, with the team having just one winning season in that time. In total, Caldwell's Jaguars went 37-86 during his tenure.

The next GM will have quite a bit of work to do. The Jags have parted ways with many of their talented veterans in recent years and have an enormous need at quarterback, though they may be able to address that with the top-three pick in the NFL draft they are on pace to hold in 2021.

That will be the first step to ending a long run of mediocrity that has seen the team reach the postseason just once since 2008. Many of the players who helped lead their playoff push in 2017, including Jalen Ramsey, Allen Robinson, Leonard Fournette, Yannick Ngakoue, Dante Fowler Jr. and Calais Campbell, have since departed.

The cupboard isn't completely bare, with players like James Robinson, Josh Allen, CJ Henderson, DJ Chark Jr. and Myles Jack, among others, worth building around. But Jacksonville has another major rebuild coming.