The Jaguars on Monday morning announced they had waived running back Leonard Fournette two weeks before the start of the 2020 NFL season.
Fournette, 25, was entering the final year of his rookie contract with Jacksonville, which selected him No. 4 overall in the 2017 NFL Draft. The Jaguars previously had declined to pick up the fifth-year option on his rookie deal. Fournette will be subject to the NFL's waiver wire once his release is processed.
The move comes after the Jaguars reportedly had Fournette on the trade block for months. The team is moving away from the ground-and-pound offensive approach for which recently fired executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin drafted Fournette.
MORE: Fantasy implications of the Fournette release
On top of that, according to NFL Media, Fournette's release is another example of Jacksonville coach Doug Marrone "trying to clean up the place." The running back's three-year tenure with the Jaguars had been plagued by issues even after the team reached the AFC championship game in his rookie season.
"I’ve got to field a team that gives us the best chance to win," Marrone told reporters Monday. "That’s what I’m doing. ... I felt it was the best decision for us as a team. (We) exhausted all trade possibilities, weren't able to get anything there ... a fifth, a sixth — anything.
Marrone says he doesn’t define a good running game by yards, but being able to run the football when you want to and scoring points.” #Jaguars had 3 running TDS in 2019.
— Eugene Frenette (@GeneFrenette) August 31, 2020
Fournette reportedly has not taken the Jaguars' recent losing well, to the point where he has been called selfish. Jacksonville went 6-10 last year after going 5-11 the year prior, finishing last in the AFC South both seasons.
"At the end of the day, I want to win,” Fournette recently told ESPN. “Who doesn’t want to win? I came from a 2017 season with a team who was 10-6, we had (a good) talent level and then the next couple of years went down the drain. So I just want to address a lot of things, too, especially since the media came out and said I was an angry guy.
"No. 1, would you be angry if you’re losing week in and week out? That is one of my biggest problems; I do get upset when we lose and it takes me a while to get over it. I expect, just like anybody else, if you put the work in, you want the W, but a lot of times last year it didn’t go like that.
“I guess they kind of misinterpreted that, and don’t get me wrong, I was upset from the losing, but that’s just the winner in me. That’s any guy who plays this professional level of sports.”
Marrone on Monday claimed Fournette's release had nothing to do with his issues off the field or in the locker room. The move leaves Ryquell Armstead and Chris Thompson competing for carries in new offensive coordinator Jay Gruden’s backfield.
Marrone on waiving Fournette: Strictly has to do with on-the-field and skill-sets of guys at the RB position... Has nothing to do with anything off the field or in the locker room #Jaguars
— J.P. Shadrick (@jpshadrick) August 31, 2020
Fournette rushed for 1,152 yards and 3 TDs last season. He is averaging 4.0 yards per attempt and 73.1 yards per game for his career. He was the first draft pick made by Coughlin. Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell was hired in 2013 and remains in place.
The Jags' Fournette release comes a day after they traded defensive end Yannick Ngakoue to the Vikings for a couple of draft picks. Ngakoue had been asking for a trade since he was hit with Jacksonville's franchise tag in the spring.
The Jaguars are scheduled to start their 2020 season on Sept. 13 with a home game against the Colts.