Here is quotation of the MA 31 English translation from Bhante Analayo’s The Madhyama Agama:
What venerable friends, is right concentration? When the noble disciple is mindful of suffering as suffering, … of its arising as its arising, … of its cessation as its cessation, and mindful of the path as the path; or when he contemplates his former actions; or when he trains to be mindful of all formations; or when he sees the tranquility and calm of nirvana; or when he free from attachment, mindfully contemplates the mind as liberated - whatever therein is the mind’s stability, its being established in the absorptions [i.e, jhānas], established accordingly, being unwavering and not scattered, being focused, stilled, and rightly concentrated - this is called right concentration.
The italic sentences are repeated for the definition of all factors of Eightfold Noble Path in MA 31, whereas the bold ones are core definition of right concentration. I think this is clearly saying that jhānas are important element for right samadhi.