Last year, the Jaguars gave up this year’s first-round pick as part of the effort to move up three spots to get Travis Hunter. This year, the Jaguars may be using a prior first-round pick to get another one.
As the draft approaches, we’re told that the Jaguars may be trying to lay the foundation for a potential trade into the bottom of round one. The potential bait could include receiver Brian Thomas Jr.
Thomas has been a consistent subject of trade chatter. Last month, G.M. James Gladstone called such talk “fraudulent.”
A first-round pick in 2024, Thomas had a strong rookie season — 87 catches, 1,282 yards, 10 touchdowns in 17 games. In 14 games last year, Thomas had 48 catches for 707 yards and two touchdowns.
In 2025, receiver Parker Washington led the team with 58 catches and 847 receiving yards. In nine games after a trade from the Raiders, receiver Jakobi Meyers had 42 catches for 483 yards.
Hunter becomes the wild card. He was primarily a receiver a year ago. If that continues, he’d join Washington and Meyers as the top three options at the position, if the rumors end up not being quite so fraudulent.
For whatever reason, Thomas didn’t have the same impact under Liam Coen. With both the coach and G.M. who were with the team when Thomas was drafted gone, he becomes an asset the Jaguars could utilize in an effort to crash the round-one party.
Much of it depends on whether a player the Jaguars covet is available as the first round moves past the first 20 picks or so — and whether there’s a team in that window that would prefer to trade its first-round pick for Thomas.
The reality is that every first-round pick, when used, becomes essentially a trade for that player. The question is whether a team would rather trade that pick for an unproven incoming player, or whether that team would trade the pick for a player who made a significant splash in his first NFL season.
For now, the Jaguars won’t be on the clock until the 24th pick in round two, after 55 other players are selected. They have ten other picks, including three third-round selections.
