The Jacksonville Jaguars have one week to decide what to do with Brian Thomas Jr., at least for right now.
The 2026 NFL trade deadline is on Tuesday, Nov. 10 — after that date, players can’t be traded for the rest of the season.
Thomas isn’t on an expiring contract, of course, so the Jags don’t have to trade him. If they don’t move BTJ, he’ll remain in Jacksonville for the rest of this season — and then he can be a trade candidate again in the offseason, or return to keep playing 2027 with the Jaguars, too.
For the next week, though, Thomas’ name will come up often. He’s been viewed as a trade candidate for a while, and there hasn’t been quite enough done to deter that train of thought for NFL analysts.
The latest update from one publication, though, does seem to make Thomas less notable as a trade candidate, if you read between the lines.
Brian Thomas Jr. Trade Update
The Athletic’s Daniel Popper has put together a trade big board to look at 50 players who could be traded before the deadline.
The board ranks the players by a combination of their talent as well as their likelihood to be traded — no matter how good a player is, if he’s not going to get traded, then there’s no point to having him on the board.
The interesting element about Thomas is that it takes a while to find him on the board — he’s all the way down at No. 47.
Thomas certainly isn’t the 47th-most talented player on the list. He’d be much higher based on ability alone.
The spot Popper puts Thomas makes it seem like a BTJ trade might not actually be that likely.
“Thomas, a first-round pick in 2024, did not play a snap in the second half of the Jaguars’ loss to the Texans in London in Week 6,” Popper writes. “The Jags went on a bye in Week 7. In Week 8, Thomas played 28 offensive snaps and caught one pass, a 12-yard touchdown. He is trending toward WR4 behind Parker Washington, Jakobi Meyers and rookie Josh Cameron. Thomas had two drops in the first half against the Texans, including one on his final play of the game. Most concerning with Thomas is his ball tracking. He looks lost in that department. Thomas had an incredible rookie season, catching 87 passes for 1,282 yards. There could be a team that believes in that production from 2024. The question is whether the Jaguars would part with Thomas amid a successful team season. Thomas was picked by the previous regime.”
Staying or Going
The question with Thomas becomes about where he has the most value to the Jaguars.
Is it as a talented No. 3 or 4 WR for the rest of the season who has some frustrating inconsistencies? Or is it in bringing back a middle-round draft pick?
That’s the question Jacksonville has to answer by Nov. 10, when the trade deadline arrives.
Brian Thomas Jr. Update Makes Jaguars Trade Feel Less Likely