JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Even though defensive tackle Sen'Derrick Marks was unhappy with his role as a backup last season, he said he will always remember his time with the Jacksonville Jaguars fondly.

In fact, Marks said you can now count him as a life-long fan -- even after the team cut him less than a half-hour before free agency began.

Sen'Derrick Marks had 16 sacks in 52 games over four seasons with the Jaguars. Reinhold Matay/USA TODAY Sports

"Came to Jacksonville [in 2013], had tremendous amounts of fun, [and] enjoyed football more than I ever have in the first couples years while I was here," Marks said just before participating in the Blake Bortles Foundation Celebrity Golf Tournament on Sunday. "We didn’t win much, but I still had a ton of fun. The experiences, you can’t trade them in. Jacksonville made me rich, you know what I mean, and you can’t say that don’t matter.

"[General manager] Dave [Caldwell] recognized the skills and had the faith that I was guy that should be worthy of a paycheck, a guy that should be staying around, so never any hard feelings about it. I’ll root for them for the rest of my life."

Marks said his release wasn’t a surprise. The Jaguars signed defensive tackle Malik Jackson to the richest contract in team history last March ($86.1 million over six years with $46 million guaranteed) and he became the starter at the three-technique tackle. Marks played in every game as a reserve last season, but was unhappy with his role, telling ESPN that he didn’t like being a "damn backup" but that he eventually became at peace with the situation.

This month the Jaguars signed defensive end Calais Campbell, who also can play inside, and they like what they’ve seen from 2016 fourth-round pick Sheldon Day. They also have 2015 sixth-round pick Michael Bennett on the roster, which is why the Jaguars shopped Marks for a potential trade. When they couldn’t find a partner they released him.

"Dave knew I wasn’t happy all last year," Marks said. "Everybody knew it. With the things that they’re doing, there wasn’t going to be any room for me or I wasn’t going to be happy. The thing that was great was Dave called me himself, told my agent don’t call me -- he wanted to call me himself out of respect.

"Me and Dave always had a good relationship. He told me, 'I know you weren’t happy last year and I know you aren’t going to be happy this year.' I enjoyed it while I was here. Not really mad the way it ended."

The 30-year-old Marks had 16 sacks and five fumble recoveries in four seasons with the Jaguars. He set a career-high with four sacks in 2013 and more than doubled that total to 8.5 in 2014. That led the team, and his sack on the last play of the Jaguars’ 21-13 victory against Tennessee in the next-to-last game of the 2014 season triggered a $600,000 performance bonus.

Marks suffered a torn right ACL in the 2014 finale and missed the first five games of the 2015 season. He played in the next four games, but suffered a torn right triceps muscle and missed the final seven games of the season. Marks had 22 tackles and 3.5 sacks in 2016 playing behind Jackson.

Marks has been in contact with numerous teams, but has not had any offers. He said he played at a high level in 2016 and feels like he can do so for several more years.

"I like playing," Marks said. "You always enjoy the locker room. You always enjoy the guys, the camaraderie, just being around the football atmosphere. My preference is just football. It’s what I like. I enjoy it. I have fun doing it. I haven’t got too many years to go, so it doesn’t matter to me [where he plays]."