Jaguars sign former Green Bay Packers tight end Josiah Deguara

The Jacksonville Jaguars are dipping their toes in the tight-end market. On Thursday, the Jaguars announced that they have signed former Green Bay Packers tight end Josiah Deguara

The deal is for one year, according to Bleacher Report's Jordan Schultz.

Deguara, 27, becomes the team's ninth outside free agent to sign, joining receivers Gabe Davis and Devin Duvernay, cornerback Ronald Darby, defensive back Darnell Savage, kicker Joey Slye, linebacker Trevis Gipson, defensive lineman Arik Armstead and center Mitch Morse.

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Drafted in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Cincinnati, Deguara missed most of his rookie season due to a torn ACL. In three years following, Deguara caught 47 passes for 436 yards and two touchdowns.

During his time in Green Bay, Deguara played multiple roles for the Packers' offense, including at fullback, slot receiver and as a traditional tight end. He also played plenty of special teams, totaling 559 snaps in 50 games.

Jacksonville entered free agency with four tight ends on their roster, including Evan Engram, Luke Farrell, Josh Pederson and Brenton Strange.

Jacksonville's tight end room has been dominated by Engram, who caught 114 passes for 963 yards and four touchdowns last year. The Jaguars drafted Strange in the second round of last year's draft to pair with Engram, but a foot injury forced him to miss valuable time during his rookie season.

Strange caught just five passes for 35 yards and a touchdown. Speaking at the NFL Annual Meetings earlier this week, Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said the team needed to put Strange in a position to get on the field, and that he liked the depth the team had at the position.

"Brenton is another tight end that we got to find ways to get on the field and create some matchups. We like what he did last year for us and we can now build upon that," said Pederson. "I think that tight end room is a strong room, even with Luke [TE Luke Farrell] in there. There’s depth and there’s stability which you’ve got to have.”

Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X,  formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82.

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