Jaguars' speculated Walker Little trade features familiar dance partner

Jacksonville Jaguars GM James Gladstone made major waves in last year's NFL Draft when he sacrificed a 2026 first-round pick to move up from fifth to second overall for Travis Hunter.

The thinking was that such a bold move would be worth it if Hunter could fulfill his perceived destiny of playing offense and defense at the pro level. After a season-ending injury cut his rookie campaign short, Hunter is set to shift his focus primarily to playing cornerback.

While it remains to be seen how that draft day trade bears fruit in the coming years, Gladstone could very well be doing business again with the Cleveland Browns soon. That is, if some recent mock trade proposals are anything to go by.

ESPN's list of trade proposals that'd work for both teams features Jaguars' Walker Little to the Browns

Bill Barnwell, aka the beyond-reproach king of terms and conditions agreement-length NFL columns, opines that the Jags and Browns could pull off another trade centered around left tackle Walker Little.

From Cleveland's standpoint, yes, any help is welcome on the offensive line. Literally every single Browns starter in the trenches is hitting free agency. Here's the key excerpt from Barnwell's take on Jacksonville's side of the deal:

"The Jags could bump Little inside to replace Ezra Cleveland, who is in the final year of his deal, but third-round pick Wyatt Milum is likely to have the inside path to that role. Keeping Little as a swing tackle and utility lineman is also an option, but paying $12 million in 2026 for that privilege doesn't seem like the best use of Jacksonville's cash next season."

Walker Little was prior GM Trent Baalke's guy. Little tried to play right guard during the final three games including the playoffs, but he wasn't particularly good there, either.

In Barnwell's trade, the Jags pick up a 2026 fifth-round pick in exchange for Little and a seventh-rounder in this year's draft. Not a bad swap, considering Jacksonville just extended Cole Van Lanen for three years and $51 million last month to be the left tackle of the future.

Little has never quite lived up to the hype as the 45th overall pick from the 2021 NFL Draft. Baalke signing him to a three-year, $45 million deal felt more like shoehorning history to his will.

But hey, the Browns are really hurting for offensive tackle help, and can't realistically bank on all rookies to round out their offensive line group. They also lack the funds to spend big in free agency thanks to Deshaun Watson's albatross of a contract.

As long as the Jags could pay some portion of Little's salary — without hamstringing their own tight 2026 cap situation in the process — it's quite likely Cleveland would try to make a trade work.

According to OverTheCap.com, the Browns could restructure Watson's contract and save almost $36 million against this year's cap. That'd mean eating more dead money in future years, but it'd at least allow them to *maybe* be competitive and add some meaningful talent in 2026.

On the Jags' side of things, trading Little would open up $16 million in 2027 cap space. For that reason alone, it's worth Barnwell's proposed somewhat trivial Day 3 pick upgrade.

That'd free up Jacksonville that much more to extend Devin Lloyd this year. They'd have enough left over, too, to re-sign most of their probable core players like Travon Walker, Anton Harrison, Parker Washington, Antonio Johnson, and Brenton Strange next offseason.