The Jacksonville Jaguars have spared no expense to raise the roster roof this offseason. First, they addressed several needs in free agency. They then made a head-turning trade for two-way star Travis Hunter in the NFL Draft. While their roster looks in much better shape than it did at the end of the 2024 season, the Jags may not be done making moves. A trusted NFL voice believes that's the case.
Following the draft, Ariv Meirov of the 33rd Team believes Jacksonville may make further moves, citing James Gladstone's background with the Los Angeles Rams front office as one of the reasons.
"James Gladstone was there all those years. He was a big part of that front office in LA when it came to finding those talent from college," Meirov said. "So I think he's bringing that over to Jacksonville, where they're like, 'You know what, first-round picks. It's okay. We don't need that. We're going to use our two, three, four, five, six, and seven.' And frankly, I don't think they're done trading picks. I think throughout the course of this upcoming season, in August, September, if they're playing well, James Gladstone is going to have the stones, per se, to go out there and actually trade those picks and get more clarity."
Meirov continued, "I really do believe that. So they're going to go out there and do it. And this is a new era in Jacksonville where they're okay having those later picks and picking those guys, but if they have a guy they want to get, they'll trade up. They don't care. And they clearly wanted Travis Hunter. They got Travis Hunter, and he's gonna be a big part of that future."
"Now with Lawrence, with Brian Thomas, with this new Liam Coen coaching staff, and I'm excited for it. I really like the bright young guys, new executives in the NFL. We've had those older guys for so long. We've had this new wave of young gems coming in, and Gladstone is now the next wave as well, as a 34-year-old guy coming in and being bold, not like it."
Throughout his stint in LA, Gladstone and mentor Les Snead routinely made trades to bolster the Rams roster, especially in the late 2010s and early 2020s. In more recent years, they've put an emphasis on acing their picks in the later rounds of the draft, but they'll still pull the trigger if they find a deal they like.
Gladstone has brought in that philosophy to Jacksonville. Before the draft, he oversaw a deal that sent wide receiver Christian Kirk to the rival Houston Texans. Later in the draft, they moved up for Travis Hunter and later traded down to recoup some of the capital the Jags gave up for the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner. This is a long-winded way to say that Jacksonville could indeed make a few moves in the upcoming months. Below is the clip of Meirov discussing the team.
The Travis Hunter trade could be one of many bold moves the Jaguars will make
Already, the Jacksonville Jaguars signed Emmanuel Ogbah after the NFL Draft to round out their pass rush rotation. This shows that the front office won't wait until next year to take care of their remaining needs.
Like every other team, the Jags will evaluate their roster during the offseason program and training camp. They brought in 20 undrafted free agents, and all of them will be given a legitimate chance to compete. But if the team's brass isn't thrilled with any of them or believes there's a hole on the roster to fill, James Gladstone has proven that he'll waste no time addressing it.
Although it may be a bit too early to tell whether the Jacksonville Jaguars will be able to get out of the cellar and potentially make a playoff run, it's fair to say that they'll do anything within their power to make it happen.