The Jacksonville Jaguars are in a position of leverage when it comes to the Brian Thomas Jr. trade rumors.
The Jags don’t have to do anything.
Thomas isn’t on an expiring contract. Jacksonville would have him on the roster beyond this season if there’s no trade by the Nov. 10 NFL trading deadline.
Any team that wants Thomas will have to pay accordingly. It’s different than a player everyone knows will be a free agent at the end of the year. That can often be a value acquisition.
Thomas, on the other hand, is more like an investment. He’s not at his peak value right now, but there’s enough potential and enough control that he can’t be had for next-to-nothing.
The fact that the Jaguars are 5-2 and competing for big goals also complicates matters, because it’s even harder for them to justify trading BTJ for lesser future value when it would hurt their depth and talent in the present.
So yeah, the Jaguars have leverage. They’ll likely need a solid offer to consider trading Thomas.
Brian Thomas Jr. Trade Cost
The Athletic’s Daniel Popper revealed what Thomas could cost in a trade in a new article on Thursday.
The premise of the article was to have mock trade negotiations, so it reads like front offices trying to make a deal — although it was really just writers from The Athletic carrying out a fake negotiation to see if something might be able to come together.
Still, Popper writes a line that suggests what the Jags might want for BTJ.
“The Rams offered the same 2027 fourth-round pick for Thomas,” Popper writes, referencing a discussion of a Josh Downs trade with the Colts. “The Chiefs, while initially interested, pulled out of the race and opted to search for receiver help elsewhere on the market. The Jaguars declined the Rams’ offer for Thomas. They would need more than that — at least a third-round pick — to move on from a player who could still help amid a successful season.”
That intel presents a third-round pick as the low-end cost to acquire Thomas.
There’s a chance the real-life Jaguars actually would want more, but it’s fair to think they wouldn’t do it for less.
Thomas may not be his best self right now, but his peak version was pretty darn good, and he’s still young enough to believe he can get there again.
What About Non-Draft Picks?
It’s a fair idea to wonder if the Jaguars can get a player in return for Thomas, not a pick. That might be more helpful to their current outlook.
It can be tough to align salaries in the middle of an NFL season and make everyone’s cap sheet come together, but if the Jags could do that, it could be in play.
One potential alignment would be with the Eagles and their defensive tackle who might be on the block, Moro Ojomo.
If the Jaguars need a high pick for Thomas, maybe they’d instead take a talented player at a position of need.
Jaguars’ Brian Thomas Jr. Trade Cost Revealed