The Jacksonville Jaguars finally made their trade move on Monday, as they acquired All-Pro safety Jessie Bates from the Atlanta Falcons in a blockbuster trade just 24 hours before the trade deadline shuts.
Jaguars Send 2027 2nd Round Pick to Falcons for Jessie Bates
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Falcons are sending Jessie Bates to the Jaguars “in exchange for a 2027 2nd-round pick and a 2028 5th-round pick.”
Bates originally signed a four-year, $64.02 million deal with Atlanta in 2023. The All-Pro safety carries an average annual value of $16 million with $36 million in total guarantees, keeping him under contract through the end of the 2026 season.
Atlanta absorbed most of Bates’ $6.5M salary to complete the deal, ESPN’s Ian Rapoport writes.
The Jaguars were looking for some secondary help for a while in the trade market, but nothing was falling into place. Instead of waiting around for a perfect DL to fall through, the Jaguars swung big for an All-Pro safety instead.
The trade comes after the Jaguars lost safety Eric Murray to a season-ending injury during their Thursday Night Football game against the Ravens.
In the same game, they also lost DaVon Hamilton to a season-ending injury, creating this urgency for a trade for secondary help.
However, several reports say that the Jaguars were looking for secondary help even before Hamilton and Murray’s injury.
Falcons Trade Bates After a Loss
The Falcons are just one win out of place from getting at the top of their division, the NFC South. But they were just coming off a 34-17 loss to the Bengals on Sunday, which pushed their record to a 6-loss season.
Also, Bates was set to hit the free agent market this offseason and was unlikely to resign him, so sending him away while they could cash in some draft capital made sense.
The Jaguars are poised to make a solid post-season run this season, and they couldn’t do it without some help at secondary. That said, it still only solves one problem; they have another glaring one in defense.
While they have their fix for the safety position, they still need some pass-rush and nose tackle help to actually make sure they don’t drop more games. James Gladstone could, again, swing big before tomorrow morning for another defensive player.
“New Falcons general manager Ian Cunningham has been clear about wanting to build the franchise through the draft. Atlanta had just five draft picks in 2026, which Cunningham vowed would never happen again,” ESPN’s Michael DiRocco writes.
“This is also the first season for president of football Matt Ryan and coach Kevin Stefanski. The Falcons aren’t necessarily rebuilding, but they are looking ahead to a future in which they will have the most salary cap space in the NFL this coming offseason (more than $142 million, according to Spotrac). That flexibility, combined with more draft capital, gives this new regime a chance to build the roster the way they would like around running back Bijan Robinson, wide receiver Drake London, and tight end Kyle Pitts, all of whom are signed long-term.
Jaguars Acquire $64M Pro Bowler Jessie Bates in Blockbuster Trade With Falcons