The Jacksonville Jaguars at last have clarity in leadership in the hiring of head coach Doug Pederson and return of general manager Trent Baalke, but what will be the most important moves for the duo entering the 2022 offseason?

The first major task at hand will be figuring out what the new brass wants to do with the Jaguars' free agents. The Jaguars don't have an abundance of free agency questions due to a roster that has won just four of their last 33 games, but they do have several major contributors from the past several seasons who have played out their final contract seasons with the Jaguars.

We have already taken a look at exactly which players the Jaguars will have to make decisions on in terms of free agency. Next, though, we will take a case-by-case look at whether the Jaguars should keep certain players, let others walk, and more.

Next, we take a look at the Jaguars' most explosive playmaker over the last three years and one of the team's most important free agents: wide receiver DJ Chark.

Two years removed from his 1,000-yard 2019 season that saw him earn a Pro Bowl nod, Chark played in just four games due to an ankle injury and ultimately caught just seven passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns in limited action. 

There is no real reason the Jacksonville Jaguars should be a team that is looking to get slower and less explosive at wide receiver, but that is exactly what would happen if the Jaguars don't retain Chark. After a year in which Trevor Lawrence didn't have enough weapons around him, it doesn't make a ton of sense for the Jaguars to let not retain Chark. 

Considering Lawrence and Chark shared the field together for only the first month of the regular season (Chark was injured in the first quarter of Week 4), it is fair to say we don't really know what Chark and Lawrence could have done for each other in 2021. Still, 16.66% of Lawrence's touchdown passes went to Chark over the first three weeks of the season, with Chark converting two explosive plays with Lawrence at the helm. 

What we do know is the Jaguars didn't have enough speed to make up for the loss of Chark. Jamal Agnew helped offset the loss to a degree, but receivers like Marvin Jones, Laviska Shenault and Laquan Treadwell don't have the same vertical presence Chark has. Each of those receivers brings something to the table, but defenses could largely sleep safely preparing for the Jaguars knowing that none of them are the burners that Chark is. 

There is also reason to believe Chark would be a solid fit in new head coach Doug Pederson's offense. Pederson's offenses with the Eagles thrived with having an outside receiver who could stretch the field and provide big-play opportunities on play-action passes, and Chark is exactly that type of threat. When Pederson looks at the receiver room as he reviews the Jaguars' roster, he will likely see that Chark's speed is in a class of its own. 

Considering this year's group of free agent receivers may have a short supply of deep threats, keeping a player like Chark who the Jaguars drafted and developed on their own has a lot of upside.

There are a few different schools of thought on this. The first one is that free agency isn't this black and white, where only the team's dictate the terms. There has to be a mutual interest, and it would make sense if Chark doesn't have a ton of interest to returning to a team that has fired two coaches and won only 15 games since he was drafted. 

The second level of the Chark question to consider is exactly what a second contract would look like for the fifth-year receiver. Chark's price tag was on the rise after his career year in 2019, but 2020 saw his numbers take a hit and 2021 saw him miss most of the year with an injury. The ultimate question in free agency is always price, so where the market ends up pricing Chark out at will be a large deciding factor. 

If Chark draws enough interest from other teams in need a deep threat to raise his price, the Jaguars may be better off looking for their next Chark to develop. Chark is a good player but his injury history and dips in production the last two years makes him a risky re-sign as opposed to a clear-cut one to make. The Jaguars would be wise to stick to their price with Chark, especially considering the depth of receiver in this year's draft.

The level to which Chark wants to play for the Jaguars in 2021 is an unknown variable at this point, but there is no real reason the Jaguars should be a team looking to not re-sign Chark. He is a physically talented receiver who has flashed big-play ability and high-level production before, and re-signing him doesn't prevent the team from adding other pieces at receiver.

So, should the Jaguars resign Chark? I think the answer to that question is yes, depending on the price. With that said, that doesn't take into account the actual likelihood of Chark and the Jaguars running it back together in 2022, a scenario I am not sure is overly likely.