The Jacksonville Jaguars, with a new regime of general manager James Gladstone and coach Liam Coen, have been aggressive during the opening of the free agent negotiating period Monday, making moves to bolster their secondary and offense.
The Jaguars agreed to three-year deals with free agent cornerback Jourdan Lewis and safety Eric Murray, league sources confirmed to ESPN, and agreed to a three-year, $37.7 million contract with guard Patrick Mekari, sources told ESPN. Mekari's deal has a maximum value of $39 million and more than $20 million guaranteed.
Mekari will replace Brandon Scherff, who is a free agent.
The Jaguars also agreed to a two-year deal with quarterback Nick Mullens, per a league source, to serve as Trevor Lawrence's backup, and also added to their receiving corps, reaching a one-year, $10 million deal with wide receiver Dyami Brown, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter. Brown's deal has a maximum value of $12 million.
Lewis joined the Dallas Cowboys as a third-round pick in 2017 and established himself as one of the top slot cornerbacks in the game.
In 16 games last season, he posted a career-high 71 tackles to go along with 1 sack, 1 interception, 3 tackles for loss, 3 pressures, 8 pass breakups as well as a forced fumble and fumble recovery.
In 2022, he suffered a major injury to his right foot that nearly ended his career, but he missed just two games in the past two seasons for reasons unrelated to the foot.
He has 10 interceptions, 44 passes defended and 386 tackles in eight NFL seasons.
Murray, 31, had a career-high 10 passes defended and tied a career high in interceptions (1) and starts (14) last season for the Houston Texans.
He finished the 2024 season with the second-most tackles in his career with 75. In the playoffs, he intercepted a Justin Herbert pass and returned it for a touchdown in the Texans' wild-card win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
A fourth-round pick by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2016 draft, Murray played his first three seasons with the team and, after a year with the Cleveland Browns, joined the Texans in 2020.
He has 3 interceptions, 24 passes defended and 386 tackles in nine seasons.
Mullens has 20 career starts, though only four in the past four seasons with Minnesota and Cleveland, and has 34 touchdown passes and 31 interceptions in his career. He spent the past three seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, where he worked with current Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski.
Mekari, 27, is the NFL's most versatile offensive lineman and is coming off his first season as a full-time starter. Before 2024, he was known for playing all five positions along the offensive line for the Baltimore Ravens.
After going undrafted in 2019, Mekari has primarily been Baltimore's sixth offensive lineman because of concerns about a back issue and whether he'd hold up for a full season. He made 52 starts from 2019 to 2023 by filling in for injured starters.
Last season, Mekari started a full season for the first time in his six-year career, making three starts at right tackle before finishing the year with 14 starts at left guard. He finished fifth in pass block win rate among guards (94.6%), allowing three sacks. His 71.8% run block win rate ranked 27th among guards.
Penalties were an issue for Mekari. His seven offensive holding penalties were tied for most in the NFL.
Brown, 25, produced his best season for the Washington Commanders in 2024 -- particularly in the postseason.
It helped that he played a career-high 474 snaps -- 52 more snaps than the previous two years combined. The result: a career-best 30 receptions for 308 yards and one touchdown as Washington rotated among several receivers to fill in the No. 2 spot opposite Terry McLaurin. Brown excelled with physical runs on screens.
But he stood out in Washington's three postseason games, catching 14 passes for a team-high 229 yards and one touchdown.
Brown's first three seasons were unproductive. The 2021 third-round draft pick caught a combined 29 passes for 476 yards and three touchdowns. He was often used to block and play special teams.
News of the Lewis and Murray deals was first reported by NFL Network.
ESPN's Michael DiRocco, Todd Archer, DJ Bien-Aime, Jamison Hensley and John Keim contributed to this report.