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1. How the Jaguars view their team
2. Eagles are doing a reset
3. Indy would like to make some move moves
4. Jaguars made offer for Will McDonald IV
5. Cardinals safety Budda Baker drawing interest
6. Tony Pollard is another RB option
7. Kirk Cousins could be best fit for the Vikings

The NFL trade deadline is here. We’ll find out whether the Jaguars keep wheeling and dealing. Will the Colts trade a few more players? Do the Vikings get a quarterback after Monday night’s debacle with Carson Wentz? But we’re starting with the Jaguars’ blockbuster Monday …

How the Jaguars view their team

The first thing you need to know about Jacksonville’s sudden aggression to start the week is this: It is a reflection of how Liam Coen, James Gladstone and Tony Boselli see their team.

And yes, it is also a result, in part of the Rams roots of Coen and Gladstone.

The final tally from Monday looked like this: The Jaguars traded away 2027 first- and second-round picks, 2028 second-, fifth- and sixth-round picks, and a 2029 second-round pick for DTs Jordan Davis and Davon Godchaux and S Jessie Bates. Jacksonville was already looking for interior defensive line help before DaVon Hamilton tore his quad nine days ago, and the double down there is a result of the injury making that an even bigger need. And the Bates injury addresses the loss of Eric Murray in that same game, a win over the Colts.

That 42–7 win, by the way, gave the Jaguars even more reason to do all this, as did a similar thrashing of the Ravens four days later. The reality is that the Jaguars are now 15–3 in their last 18 regular-season games, and the one playoff game they had was a tooth-and-battle with perhaps the league’s best player and the battle. Jacksonville has won nine of those 15 games by at least 14 points. So the Jags know what they have—a real, genuine shot at it all.

You do all this in part to preserve and enhance that shot as best you can. You also do it, if Gladstone and Coen, because you’ve seen it work before, up close, in Los Angeles.

But more than just that, you do it for real football reasons, too.

With Bates, the Jaguars saw makeup that was similar to last year’s big deadline pickup, Jakobi Meyers—the nine-year vet brings leadership, intelligence, football savvy and IQ and toughness to the table. From his spot, he’s shown in both Atlanta and Cincinnati, he can make an entire defense better. Seeing that Bates was in a contract year, Gladstone asked Falcons GM Ian Cunningham little over a week ago about his availability, and Cunningham asked him to circle back closer to the deadline.

The two, in conversation, flagged how the Falcons’ trip to Spain could complicate things, and it did—but the two talked during Atlanta’s time over there, and then picked up negotiations for real at 1 a.m. Jacksonville/Atlanta time early Monday morning, after Cunningham returned to the states.

The Falcons willingness to pick up nearly $6 million of Bates’ remaining money (he had $6.51 million left in base salary this year) pushed Atlanta’s return to a second-rounder in 2027, and a fifth-rounder in 2028.

And as that was happening, and they were closing on Godchaux, the Jaguars circled back with the Eagles on Davis. Godchaux, to Jacksonville, represented a perfect stylistic stopgap for Hamilton, who, as one staffer put it, was an “anvil” in the center of the Jags’ defense, and had a background from Miami with defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile.

But getting Davis was something else. The Jaguars had inquired, repeatedly, on Philly’s contract-year DT Moro Ojomo, and they were told, as others were, that the Eagles viewed Ojomo as a part of their future, with plans to re-sign him. That made a lot of teams wonder about the availability of mercurial three-technique Jalen Carter, since it seemed unlikely that Philly could have Carter and Davis on big deals and keep Ojomo long-term. Conversely, the Jaguars wondered, What about Davis?

The big nose tackle wouldn’t be worth a first-rounder to teams who see him as a two-down run-stuffer. Jacksonville, on the other hand, viewed him differently. Whereas other schemes, likely Philly’s, play d-tackles to attack-and-react, Campanile teaches his interior guys, like Hamilton, to react-then-attack, which requires bigger players to be stout at the point of attack. In that way, Davis was actually a better fit than Ojomo for a front built to have a run-stopping superpower, that creates bad down-and-distance situations for its opponents.

The other thing is that players at those positions, as the Jaguars see it, enter their prime later. So in their view, Davis, who doesn’t turn 27 until January, is just on the front end of his best years as a pro. And with a looming 2027 need at defensive tackle, drafting one in the first round would probably have meant having to develop that player for a few years before getting the production Davis, who’s signed through 2029, could give them right away.

The price of all this, of course, is pretty steep. As it stands now, the Jaguars won’t be picking until the end of the third round in April. They don’t have a pick after the fourth round in 2028, and they’re without their second-rounder in 2029.

But they’ve got their core in place, which gives them the flexibility to move picks this way. They’ll also have comp picks to fill in the blanks—which was central to the strategy that Coen and Gladstone saw the Rams execute over the years, one that valued volume of picks through gaming the comp-pick formula. In fact, in Gladstone’s eight years in L.A. (2017-24), while the Rams had just one first-round pick (Jared Verse, in his last year), they ranked third in the NFL in total draft picks, which more than made up for what was traded away.

So as was the case in L.A., F--- Them Picks is probably an inaccurate representation of what the Jaguars did on Monday.

Burn the boats may be more like it.

• One more Jaguars’ note: I don’t think the moves Monday affect their approach with wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., and I figured they might at first, given Thomas would be a piece they could move to recoup some of the capital lost in the three trades.

The reasoning for that is the same I’ve explained the past couple weeks.

Thomas isn’t having a great year. He has 10 catches for 117 yards and two touchdowns. He’s playing 43.0% of the team’s offensive snaps, while Meyers is playing 75.41% and Washington is playing 74.59%. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t bringing value.

While the third-year pro isn’t a great fit for Coen’s offense, which values the grit, toughness and after-catch production of Washington and Meyers, he does serve a unique purpose—his ability to threaten the defense downfield is unlike what the other two receivers bring, and opens things up underneath for those guys and in the run game. He’s also a good soldier, and so keeping him as a decoy hasn’t proven to be disruptive to the team.

The other thing? He’s under contract next year. So in a year in which the Jaguars feel like they can compete at the highest level, the purpose Thomas serves now is more valuable than what might get back selling low on him, particularly when they can trade him after the season, when rookie Josh Cameron might be ready to replace him.

Now, the Chiefs and Steelers have shown interest, and maybe they’re willing to put something in front of the Jags that they can’t refuse. But with hours left to the deadline, it’s not Jacksonville’s plan to move him.

Eagles are doing a reset

As for the Eagles, this very clearly now becomes a pivot point in GM Howie Roseman’s team-building. As we wrote two weeks ago, this was coming for Philly, and has made 2026 a little bit like 2020—that of course being Carson Wentz and Doug Pederson’s last year there.

That doesn’t mean Nick Sirianni’s getting fired and Jalen Hurts is out, necessarily.

However, it means that a lot of things will be reset in the next couple years, and the team will get younger as the Eagles take on some of the dead-money they incurred in getting to two Super Bowls and making the playoffs five straight years over the last half-decade. This year, they’re carrying around $80 million. Right now, if they don’t cut another player before next September, they’ll carry over $56 million in dead money into 2027.

It’s planned for. It’s part of the strategy, to borrow from the future on the premise that such a dollar taken from tomorrow is more valuable today. But it will require drafting well.

If you look, that’s exactly how the Eagles made it out of the 2020 reset. In five successive drafts beginning with that year, the Eagles landed Hurts, DeVonta Smith, Landon Dickerson, Milton Williams, Kenneth Gainwell, Davis, Cam Jurgens, Nakobe Dean, Carter, Ojomo, Nolan Smith, Tyler Steen, Quinyon Mitchell, Cooper DeJean, Jalyx Hunt and Will Shipley. All of those guys were either extended, traded, brought comp picks, or are playing key roles now.

To that end, after Monday, the Eagles have 10 picks in the first two rounds the next three years—a staggering number. They’ve got two firsts in 2027, two firsts and two seconds in 2028, and two seconds in 2029, as a result of the trades of Davis, Jurgens and A.J. Brown.

Meanwhile, they’ve still got DeVonta Smith and depth around him at receiver, Drew Kendall as a young, promising prospect playing at center, and Carter and Ojomo at Davis’ position.

That’s all good work by Roseman, I’d say.

Indy would like to make some move moves

And that put focus squarely on Colts slot receiver Josh Downs. After trading Quenton Nelson and DeForest Buckner early, Indy’s been hoping that with guys like Downs, Grover Stewart and Jonthan Taylor, waiting until the deadline would bring greater value.

We’ll all find out today.

The Chiefs and Steelers have been the prime suitors for receivers, with the Niners still lingering on the periphery. There was a belief from some teams over the weekend that Downs would be moved to Kansas City for a fourth-round pick. And again, the hope, for the Colts, would be that letting this all play out might sweeten whatever deal they get for the tough, resourceful middle-of-the-field target, who’s at the end of his rookie deal.

As for Taylor moving, I think that’s going to come down to whether someone blinks. The Colts have looked for a first-rounder or a Christian McCaffrey-type package. The Giants have come closest to that. The Broncos and Vikings were involved but backed off a little. Will Indy lower its price? Will someone go the extra mile to get him? The clock’s ticking.

Jaguars made offer for Will McDonald IV

The trade request of Jets edge rusher Will McDonald IV is interesting. The Jaguars, before the flurry of action on Monday, had made a significant offer for him. Whether another one from another team is forthcoming remains to be seen. McDonald, who only played 24 snaps on Sunday, wants to go to a place where he’ll have a bigger role. And the trade request should at least smoke out any interest there is from other teams now.

The Jets have been steadfast that they’re happy with their haul of picks, which includes three first-rounders, for 2027, and want to give their current coaching staff a shot to show owner Woody Johnson that they’re worth keeping around.

McDonald’s just one of a number of edge rushers teams have eyed leading up to today. Philly’s Arnold Ebeketie, Arizona’s 

Cardinals safety Budda Baker drawing interest

The Cardinals have gotten calls on star safety Budda Baker, who I’ve heard wouldn’t mind being dealt to a contender. Thus far, they haven’t been as receptive to moving him.

Tony Pollard is another RB option

If Taylor’s not moved, Titans RB Tony Pollard remains one to watch. Tennessee, as we’ve said the last few weeks, values him in how he’s helping the team evaluate Cam Ward. So they’re not going to give him away. Thus, it’d take at least a fourth-rounder, and maybe a third to get him out of there—as the offense has improved, it’s become harder for the brass to reckon with letting him go.

Kirk Cousins could be best fit for the Vikings

Finally, the Vikings, as I saw it, weren’t looking at trading for a quarterback much over the past few weeks, believing they could make it work with what they have. Then, Kyler Murray got hurt, and Carson Wentz played the way he did Monday. And Minnesota does have two third-round picks, and there’s a quarterback in Vegas that Kevin O’Connell knows real well.

The Raiders, for their part, haven’t shown much interest in moving Kirk Cousins, who’s been integral to making the team competitive in Klint Kubiak’s first year and helping Kubiak build a culture there. That said, Fernando Mendoza’s made real progress, to the point where most folks there think he’d be ready to become a starter if called up. What it would take to move Kubiak and GM John Spytek to trade Cousins and go to Mendoza now remains to be seen. But logically, there is a match here in a lot of ways.