My Jags traded today a 31 year old WR Dennis Northcut to Detroit, for a young talented safety in Gerald Alexander who is only 24 years of age. Great steal by my Jags.
The Jaguars agreed to a trade Friday that will send receiver Dennis Northcutt to Detroit for Lions safety Gerald Alexander, according to Jerome Stanley, the agent for both players.
The deal, which is contingent on both players passing physicals, won't be official until Monday. Jaguars general manager Gene Smith didn't immediately respond to an e-mail, and coach Jack Del Rio is out of the country and unavailable for comment.
A second-round pick in 2007, Alexander is expected to bolster a relatively thin group of safeties, led by starters Reggie Nelson and Sean Considine. The club had recently acquired former Broncos safety Marlon McCree to shore up depth.
Detroit, meanwhile, was searching for depth at receiver, which made Northcutt an ideal acquisition.
A 10th-year veteran, Northcutt caught 88 passes for 1,146 yards and six touchdowns in 29 games while also contributing as a return man. As a free agent in 2007, Northcutt signed a five-year contract worth $17.5 million to join the Jaguars that included a $4.5 million signing bonus.
Team sources recently spoke about the club making its intentions for trading Northcutt public. The Jaguars coaching staff believed Northcutt wasn't a significant enough upgrade over the club's current crop of rookies to justify paying his $2.75 million salary while taking away practice reps from the younger players.
Alexander, 24, started 16 games as a rookie in 2007, and picked off two passes before suffering a fractured vertebra last season in Week 5. Alexander participated in Detroit's offseason conditioning program, and he's expected to be healthy for next season.
With Northcutt out of the picture, it's likely the Jaguars will continue to explore the possibility of adding another veteran receiver before the start of training camp.
Northcutt's departure starts a new chapter for the club's beleaguered receivers. Jacksonville parted ways with two former first-round receivers earlier this offseason, releasing Matt Jones and opting not to re-sign free agent Reggie Williams. Earlier in the offseason, the club released veteran receiver Jerry Porter, one of its most expensive free-agent acquisitions of 2008.
Northcutt, Jones, Williams and Porter accounted for nearly half the club's catches last season and eight of its 15 touchdown receptions.
http://www.jacksonville.com/sports/football/jaguars/2009-06-27/story/jaguars_get_safety_for_northcutt
