The Jacksonville Jaguars parted ways with quarterback Carter Bradley on Monday, waiving him from injured reserve after reaching an injury settlement.
Bradley had been placed on injured reserve late last month after the team waived him with an injury designation during final roster cuts. He went unclaimed and reverted to IR before the two sides agreed to a settlement that ended his stay in Jacksonville.
The 26-year-old hurt his thumb in the preseason finale against Tampa Bay on Aug. 28 and finished the game. He appeared in all three exhibition contests.
An injury settlement lets a club cut an injured player while paying a negotiated share of what he would have earned. The figure usually tracks expected recovery time and the remaining value of the contract.
Bradley grew up around this franchise. He is the son of former Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley, now the Tennessee Titans’ defensive coordinator. Born in Fargo, North Dakota, he played high school football at Providence School in Jacksonville.
He signed with the Jaguars’ practice squad in September 2025 after leaving the San Francisco 49ers on an earlier injury settlement. At the time he talked about walking back into a familiar building.
“I didn’t need to use the maps (app), that’s for sure,” Bradley said after his first practice. “A lot of memories, a lot of good memories and a lot of good people still here. It was surreal.”
He also said, “Some people say it’s been a tough journey for me, but I’ve loved every part of it and loved everywhere I’ve been and if football is involved, I’m happy.”
Bradley began college at Toledo, then transferred to South Alabama. In 2022 he threw for 3,335 yards and 28 touchdowns and earned second-team All-Sun Belt honors. Across six college seasons he completed 62.9 percent of his passes for 8,372 yards and 61 touchdowns.
The Las Vegas Raiders signed him as an undrafted free agent in 2024. His only active-roster stint came that December. Vegas released him in July 2025. San Francisco signed him for roughly a month before another injury settlement sent him home.
In this year’s preseason he completed 24 of 45 passes for 233 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Coach Liam Coen said after the finale that both Bradley and undrafted rookie Joey Aguilar had useful moments.
“Both of them were efficient,” Coen said. “I think there were a few things both of them would like to have back. I thought Carter did a nice job leading the touchdown drive.”
Trevor Lawrence remains the undisputed starter. He led Jacksonville to a 13-4 record and the AFC South title in 2025, throwing for 4,007 yards and a career-high 29 touchdowns with 12 interceptions. He also ran for 359 yards and nine scores. The Jaguars lost 27-24 to Buffalo in the wild-card round.
Backup depth still looks thin. Jacksonville traded a 2028 sixth-round pick to Miami on Aug. 29 for second-year quarterback Quinn Ewers. Ewers started three games as a rookie for the Dolphins and completed 66.3 percent of his throws for 622 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions.
Coen said the trade was about adding another young arm.
“Just wanting to continue to create the competition in the room,” he said. “I thought watching some of the stuff he did last year, when he got some ops to go play, I thought he showed some signs of being able to spread the ball around to different spots on the field. Has some arm talent.”
Nick Mullens and Aguilar returned to the practice squad after being cut. Coen said he wanted Mullens nearby in case Ewers needed time to catch up.
“Wanted to make sure we kept Nick as well here in terms of Week 1, what does [Ewers] look like, and is he up to speed?” Coen said.
Coen has been blunt about how much the offense depends on Lawrence staying upright.
“If we don’t have our quarterback (healthy) and playing, it’s going to be a hard, tough movie to watch,” he said earlier this summer.
Bradley has not appeared in a regular-season NFL game. He can sign elsewhere once healthy. For a local kid whose father once coached this team, the next stop will be another attempt to stick on a roster.
The Jaguars open the regular season Sunday against Cleveland.
