Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke has left the team by mutual consent, it has been announced.
Baalke, a former football operations consultant for the NFL, was promoted to interim general manager by Jacksonville in 2020 before retaining it on a full-time basis at the end of that season.
The 60-year-old was initially hired as director of player personnel in February of that year, only to be promoted to interim GM nine months later after the firing of David Caldwell.
However, on the back of another disappointing season which saw the team go 4-13 and miss out on the playoffs for a second straight year, Baalke and the Jaguars have now agreed to go their separate ways.
‘Following several discussions with Trent Baalke this week, we both arrived at the conclusion that it is in our mutual best interests to respectfully separate, effective immediately,’ Jaguars owner Shad Khan said in a statement on Wednesday.
‘Trent leaves us with my deepest appreciation for his efforts over the past five seasons.’
Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke has left the team by mutual consent
The Jaguars endured another poor year, missing out on playoffs for a second straight season
Baalke departs at a curious time after helping the franchise conduct interviews with a number of potential head-coach candidates in recent weeks, a position which has been vacant since the firing of Doug Pederson on January 6.
The Jaguars announced as recently as Monday that they had scheduled in-person interviews with three of their 10 initial candidates: Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Liam Coen, Las Vegas defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and former New York Jets coach Robert Saleh.
All three were slated to be face-to-face in Jacksonville at some point this week with Khan and other Jacksonville execs, including Baalke.
Yet despite being penciled in for those interviews, the former 49ers general manager will no longer be playing a part in Jacksonville’s head-coach hunt after leaving the team.
Assistant GM Ethan Waugh is set to serve as interim general manager while the team continues its search for a new head coach, Khan added.
‘I am deeply committed to building a winner here in Jacksonville and look forward to introducing a new head coach who will make that happen for our players and fans alike.’
It had become clear that Baalke was impeding Jacksonville’s coaching search, with Detroit OC Ben Johnson and Detroit DC Aaron Glenn taking other jobs without a sit-down interview with the Jaguars.
Tampa Bay OC Liam Coen also withdrew his name for consideration and agreed to a new contract with the Bucs despite having an interview scheduled for Wednesday.
It is believed Coen’s call may well have forced Khan’s decision in parting company with Baalke this week.
