JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Jacksonville Jaguars general manager James Gladstone doesn't want to call the three trades he made Monday to fortify the secondary and defensive line "going all-in" to get to the Super Bowl.
"I characterize it as getting better as a football team and prioritizing getting better as a football team," he said. "I look forward to seeing it all come to life and being a part of bringing it to life here this week and beyond."
He might not like it, but going all-in is probably the most accurate way to describe what the Jaguars did on the day before the NFL's trade deadline. They sent a 2027 first-round pick and a 2029 second-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for defensive tackle Jordan Davis, sent a 2027-second round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick to the Atlanta Falcons for safety Jessie Bates III and sent a conditional 2027 sixth-round pick to the New Orleans Saints for defensive tackle Davon Godchaux.
That's five draft picks, including three premium selections, for three veteran players. All three players plug holes in the roster created by season-ending injuries to nose tackle DaVon Hamilton (quad) and safety Eric Murray (elbow). And as a bonus, two of the three have appeared in Super Bowls: Davis has played in two and won one with the Eagles, and Bates has played in one with the Cincinnati Bengals.
"Huge for us to be able to continue to add to our already talented roster and competitive group," head coach Liam Coen said.
Those three trades were finalized over a nine-hour period on Monday, starting with Bates just before 8 a.m. ET, continuing with Godchaux around 1 p.m. ET and concluding with Davis shortly before 5 p.m. ET. All three players were in the Jaguars' facility on Tuesday and on the practice field on Wednesday.
So, what should we make the of the Jaguars' moves -- and non-moves. Here are three trade deadline takeaways from Jacksonville.
Gladstone does not follow 'F them picks' mantra ... mostly
On Tuesday, Gladstone pushed back a little on the "F them picks" narrative that has followed him from his Los Angeles Rams days, saying that despite trading away five selections the Jaguars really do value draft picks. But it's the volume that matters, he said, and pointed out the Rams had the third-most draft picks in the NFL during the time he was there working under general manager Les Snead. The "F--- them picks" slogan was born when Snead wore a T-shirt with his face and those words during the Super Bowl LVI parade following the 2021 season.
However, there is an element of that in Jacksonville from this standpoint: The Jaguars would prefer adding proven players who can help now vs. hypothetical players who might be able to help years from now. Especially when those potential draft picks are in the late 20s in each round and there's no guarantee they'd be able to get a player at a position of need.
The Jaguars also had just two interior defensive linemen under contract for 2027, Albert Regis and Ruke Orhorhoro. Davis signed a thee-year contract extension with the Eagles that runs through 2029.
So if Davis and Bates help the Jaguars reach the Super Bowl this season, is that worth first- and second-round picks? Gladstone would say yes.
"It's certainly not 'F them picks,'" Gladstone said. "While that's been characterized as the approach ... we actually value picks. We don't always use them on the three days that exist in April."
WR Thomas stays in Jacksonville
The Jaguars got calls about receiver Brian Thomas Jr., and their answer was short: He's not available. That's consistent with what they told teams that called about Thomas back in the spring, too.
Even though Thomas has struggled again this season -- he has just 10 catches for 117 yards and two touchdowns, and he is coming off the first game of his career in which he wasn't targeted at least once -- the Jaguars still view him as a significant part of the offense going forward.
"He comes to work every day and works his tail off, and him and Trevor [Lawrence] are continuing to work together on it, and the time's going to continue to come," Coen said.
Thomas, the 23rd overall pick in 2024, caught 87 passes for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns and made the Pro Bowl as a rookie, but his production has dropped significantly since then. He has 58 catches for 824 yards and has more than twice as many drops (10) as touchdown catches (four) in the 22 games since his rookie season. His target share was 25.3% in 2024, which ranked 11th in the NFL, but slipped to 16.6% last season and is 9.5% this season.
But Thomas has one trait that no other pass catcher on the roster has: elite speed. He ran a 4.33 in the 40-yard dash at the combine and that still scares defenses, regardless of whether he's struggling to catch the ball.
"We have a ton of value when it comes to BTJ," Gladstone said. "His role and what I imagine his contribution will be down the stretch here is going to be notable. He's such a good person to work with, such a good teammate, and so I expect a lot of good that comes in what lies in front."
Jaguars believe they helped their pass rush, too
The 6-foot-6, 336-pound Davis is primarily a space-eating run stuffer -- he has the fifth-best run stop win rate (38%) among qualified interior linemen since he entered the league in 2022 as the 13th overall pick -- but the Jaguars believe he'll help the pass rush, too.
The Jaguars are seventh in QB pressure rate but have sacked the QB only 16 times (just four teams have fewer). Edge rushers Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker have a combined five sacks. Other than Arik Armstead (two sacks), the Jaguars have gotten minimal push up the middle, which is where Coen said Davis can help.
Davis had a career-high 4.5 sacks on 327 pass-rush snaps last season and has 1.5 on 128 pass-rush snaps this season. His 6.3% pressure percentage in 2026 is the best of his career and the Jaguars plan to give him more pass-rush snaps than the Eagles did.
Coen said that should result in more pressure up the middle, which wouldn't allow quarterbacks to step up into the pocket -- and that should give Hines-Allen and Walker more opportunities for sacks.
"I heard a lot of mentions around the team about pocket push and eliminating the quarterback step up," Davis said. "And obviously I'm probably going to get a lot of four hands on me [double teams]. So if I could do my part in eliminating the quarterback step up and they can burn an edge and make something shake and if it flows to me, then it's on me to scrape over the top and hopefully get this trash sacks that we all love."