James Gladstone, the new general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars, oversaw his first roster decisions this week. After serving as the right hand man to Los Angeles Rams general manager Les Snead for several years, Gladstone took the lead in Jacksonville and finalized the team’s 53-man roster on Tuesday.
Gladstone worked closely with head coach Liam Coen and executive vice president of football operations Tony Boselli to shape the lineup. This leadership group is new to their roles with the organization, each experiencing these challenges for the first time.
“There were some pretty deep and thoughtful conversations over the course of the offseason, training camp and then the lead-up to, ultimately, the conversations we had to have with players that led to this, they carried a lot of weight. They weren’t conversations in the lead-up that were taken lightly,” Gladstone said on Wednesday at the Miller Electric Center. “They weren’t conversations in the moment of informing players of our decision that were light. They came with some weight. We certainly value transparency and being thoughtful in not only the decisions, but also how that’s relayed to each and every player, knowing that they put in a ton of effort and energy into giving their best to this organization, to their teammates, to the coaching staff, who are attempting to get the best version out of themselves.”
He added: “I know that for the first time actually to be the person to have to walk through that with guys, it was certainly eye-opening in a way that I just didn’t have the experience to point back to. So certainly, some lessons that I can be able to apply moving forward to continue to level up in that space, that I look forward to doing when that time comes again (…) But very much appreciate anybody who stepped into this building and participated over the course of the last few weeks in training camp to give ourselves a really good position here moving into the regular season, where we feel like we’re becoming the best version of the 2025 Jaguars at the right time.”
Gladstone’s decisions reflect his approach and vision for developing a competitive roster as he begins his tenure as general manager.
