It was announced that Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke has left the team by mutual agreement.
Baalke, a former NFL football operations consultant, was promoted to interim general manager by Jacksonville in 2020 before being hired full-time at the end of that season.
The 60-year-old was initially hired as director of player personnel in February of that year, but was promoted to interim general manager nine months later following the firing of David Caldwell.
However, after another disappointing season in which the team went 4-13 and missed the playoffs for the second straight year, Baalke and the Jaguars have now agreed to go their separate ways.
“After several conversations with Trent Baalke this week, we have both concluded that it is in our mutual best interest to respectfully part ways, effective immediately,” Jaguars owner Shad Khan said in a statement Wednesday.
“Trent leaves us with my deepest gratitude for his efforts over the past five seasons.”
Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke leaves the team by mutual agreement
Baalke leaves at a curious time after helping the franchise conduct interviews with several potential head coaching candidates in recent weeks, a position that has been vacant since Doug Pederson's firing on Jan. 6.
The Jaguars announced Monday that they had scheduled in-person interviews with three of their initial 10 candidates: Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Liam Coen, Las Vegas defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and former New York Jets coach Robert Saleh.
The three were scheduled to meet face-to-face in Jacksonville sometime this week with Khan and other Jacksonville executives, including Baalke.
However, despite being designated for those interviews, the former 49ers general manager will no longer be involved in Jacksonville's head coaching search after leaving the team.
Assistant general manager Ethan Waugh will serve as interim general manager as 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 both our players and our fans.”
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 an 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 that the Coen call may well have forced Khan's decision to split from Baalke this week.