The final general manager vacancy of the offseason was filled Friday when the Jacksonville Jaguars hired James Gladstone.
Almost one month to the day after Jacksonville fired former GM Trent Baalke, the team hired his replacement. Gladstone, 34, was the youngest of the five finalists for the Jaguars’ general manager and joins the team after nine years with the Los Angeles Rams.
Gladstone initially joined the Rams in 2016 as a senior assistant to general manager Les Snead but most recently served as Los Angeles’ director of scouting strategy.
The rookie general manager has experience working with the Jaguars’ new head coach Liam Coen, who served as an assistant offensive coach in Los Angeles between 2018 and 2020 and as the Rams’ offensive coordinator in 2022.
‘James emerged as my choice, and our choice, following a painstaking but energizing interview process that left nothing to doubt,’ Jaguars owner Shad Khan said in a statement.
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‘In the end, we found James to be a class ahead and exceptional in every regard – vision, new ideas, communication, chemistry and a keen understanding of the league and our team, to name a few of many virtues he will bring immediately to the Jaguars. It’s going to be fun watching James work with our football leadership team of Liam Coen, (executive vice president of football operations) Tony Boselli and (chief football strategy officer) Tony Khan, but most of all it will be rewarding. I am confident of that.’
Gladstone was part of a Rams front office that put together the roster that won Super Bowl 56 in 2022. One of the most significant parts of that roster construction happened in March 2021, when the Rams made the blockbuster trade for quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Gladstone’s Rams tenure also included draft classes that featured selections of wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua in the third and fourth rounds of their respective drafts in 2017 and 2023. Both players quickly rose to prominence in Los Angeles’ offense.
Now, Gladstone will work with Coen to push the Jaguars back into playoff contention after a 4-13 record in 2024. The new general manager’s biggest responsibility will be building a roster around former No. 1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence, who will enter his fifth season in 2025 and signed a five-year, $275 million contract extension last summer.