AP

Jaguars owner Shad Khan hasn’t been in the NFL business long, but he’s already learned two important, and expensive lessons.

“A quarterback is by-far the No. 1 [thing to have] … that’s a key component,” Khan said at the owners meeting, via Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times Union. “In the meanwhile, you can’t just throw your hands up. There is story after story and Seattle and San Francisco are great examples – they had a great team and said, ‘OK, maybe there is a missing piece.’ And that’s what they worked on.”

Even though the Jaguars re-signed Chad Henne, they’re still expected to go looking for a quarterback, if not with the third overall pick, then early in the process. They need to, as they had a roster that looked capable in other areas, but lacking under center.

But Khan’s not prepared to spend big on free agents to get his team to the playoffs, having been burned by the spending of his previous regime, which led him to believe they were a player or two away from the postseason before a 2-14 season.

“I’ve been in the league two years and the first year, we were two players away from making the playoffs so we spent $40 million in free agency on 2-3 players and we know what happened,” Khan said. “Certainly I’ve learned my lesson. If you look at the team that are successful, they’re going to be built through the draft and some missing pieces will be filled in with free agency. That is the formula for success.”

The Jaguars have taken a broad-based approach to free agency this year, bringing in multiple players who will help solidify things, and finding a cheap young quarterback who can lead them will allow them to stockpile more parts in the future.