Ordinarily I wouldn’t do a landing spots article for a 29-year-old wideout who hasn’t even cracked 1,000 yards receiving for his career. But Agnew is actually an interesting player to talk about because of how the NFL has revamped the kickoff play. The change is expected to result in over 1,000 more kickoff returns in 2024, and that makes high-level return specialists like Agnew potentially key figures in the upcoming season. 

First a quick recap — changes to the kickoff to reduce injury risk have neutered the play over the past several years and put it at risk of going away entirely. Nearly 80 percent of kickoffs in 2023 were touchbacks. As a last-ditch effort to save the play, the league’s special teams coordinators borrowed from the XFL to create a kickoff play that incentivized returns while preserving the progress made on the injury rate. ESPN has a full explainer of the rule that’s worth reading, but the summary is: The kicker will stay at the 35-yard line but both lines will move to within five yards of each other, the kicking team on the opposing 40 and the return team on the 35.  The ball must be kicked into the landing zone between the 20 and the goal line, with a touchback bringing the ball out to the 30 instead of the 25.  The return team can have two returners in the landing zone who can move freely. The kicker can’t cross the 50 until the ball hits the ground or is caught. The front line players can’t move until the ball hits the ground in the landing zone or is caught. 

This is expected to dramatically increase the rate of kickoff returns from 20 percent to 50 or 60 percent. As a result, specialists like Agnew should see a significant bump in value because not only will they have an opportunity for more touches, but those touches should have a bigger chance to be impactful. 

Agnew is a skilled return specialist who has four career punt return touchdowns and two career kickoff scores, in addition to an ability to be a gadget player on offense who can contribute as both a receiver and rusher. Urban Meyer may have been a disaster as the head coach of the Jaguars, but his best move by far was the three-year, $21 million deal he gave Agnew as a free agent. It was ridiculed at the time — including by me — but that investment paid off. Agnew made the Pro Bowl in 2022 and scored seven touchdowns as a Jaguar, including a 102-yard kickoff return in 2021. 

Unfortunately a broken leg near the end of the season led the Jaguars not to renew his contract, which could explain why Agnew remains unsigned. Once he’s fully healthy, I would expect him to latch on with a team and quickly become an important contributor under the new kickoff rules. 

Agnew, 29, is a former fifth-round pick of the Lions back in 2017. He played out his four-year, $2.65 million rookie contract and made a base salary of $645,000 in 2020. Agnew was testing the market as an unrestricted free agent for the first time when he signed a three-year, $21 million deal with the Jaguars.  He played out that contract and became an unrestricted free agent again in 2024. 

In 2023, Agnew appeared in 11 games for the Jaguars, compiling 14 catches on 21 targets for 225 yards and a touchdown. He also returned 14 punts for 144 yards and 15 kickoffs for 391 yards.  We have him included in our Top 100 Available NFL Free Agents list. 

Chargers

There are a lot of options for Agnew, but I think the Chargers stand head and shoulders above all the other possible landing spots. Agnew is from San Diego and went to college at the University of San Diego before being drafted by the Lions in 2017. There aren’t many Toreros in the NFL, but one of them is current Chargers HC Jim Harbaugh who was the head coach at San Diego for a couple of years in the early 2000s. Agnew obviously didn’t overlap with Harbaugh but it’s another layer on top of the obvious home-town connection. Current Chargers WR coach Sanjay Lal was also Agnew’s position coach in Jacksonville in 2021. Connections like these are what grease the wheels of a lot of NFL moves as teams put a premium on players they’re familiar with. 

As far as Agnew’s fit on the roster, the Chargers already have a strong starting returner in 2023 fourth-round WR Derius Davis. He was drafted primarily for his return chops and backed it…

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