Jaguars, Dolphins still working to finalize Branden Albert for Julius Thomas trade

Without much incentive to rush a deal, the Jaguars and Dolphins are still in talks to swap Branden Albert and Julius Thomas.

Say what you want about the moves the Jaguars made this offseason to shake things up, but you certainly can’t say that new vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin is going to stand pat. The future hall of fame coach has added intrigue to a normally dormant part of the NFL offseason by inquiring about Miami Dolphins left tackle Branden Albert.

Reports surfaced about the Jaguars interest in Albert last week, with more details later indicating the Jaguars wanted to do a straight-up swap with former free agent signing Julius Thomas. Most consider this to be a very fair deal, one in which the Jaguars can get rid of a free-agent miss to get a stop-gap left tackle.

Reports are now indicating the Jaguars are done with their end of the deal – it’s now all on the Dolphins and Julius Thomas.

While it seems like a fairly straightforward deal, the Dolphins are apparently trying to bring Julius on with a smaller deal.

While the main structure of the deal is clearly worked out, Adam Schefter states it’s not a done deal:

This all seems like pomp and circumstances for what is essentially a completed agreement. There is a lot of attention on this move just because there isn’t much else going on in the NFL this time of year.

As we’ve discussed on Black and Teal, this is a more than reasonable deal and it makes sense for both sides. Thomas gets to go back with his former offensive coordinator Adam Gase to try and revive his fledgling career, while Albert gets an opportunity to get healthy and establish himself as one of the better left tackles in the league again. This appears to close the door on Kelvin Beachum returning, but who knows with Coughlin.