In one of the few moves that didn't work out as well during Jacksonville Jaguars GM James Gladstone's first season at the helm, he pulled off an in-season trade to acquire Cleveland Browns cornerback Greg Newsome.
Now that Newsome is a free agent after an underwhelming stint in Duval, it looks like that deal may go up in smoke in short order. However, given that the Jags are facing a salary cap deficit at the minute, they had to make the tough decision to move off Tyson Campbell in that Newsome swap.
The Jags did business with the Browns on draft night, too, to move up for Travis Hunter. With Hunter taking over the CB1 spot in 2026, and Montaric Brown possibly not returning, Jacksonville has a real CB2 need.
Newsome probably doesn't fit the bill as the starter opposite Hunter. Although some will view his acquisition as a failure, there's still hope for Newsome to succeed elsewhere this coming season and beyond.
Greg Newsome & Jaguars should mutually benefit from offseason split
Fox Sports' Greg Auman created a list of predicted landing spots for all the top 100 NFL free agents. Here's what he wrote about Newsome and the dilemma the Jags face with him:
"Newsome, 25, played on a fifth-year option in 2025 for the Browns and was traded to the Jaguars. He only has four career interceptions in five years in the league, but has inside-outside versatility, having played extensively both outside and in the slot. Jacksonville must decide between him and fellow free agent Montaric Brown or bringing back Jourdan Lewis opposite Travis Hunter. He's still likely to draw between $8-10 million in free agency."
If Newsome does indeed command a payday in that range, say $27 million over three years, Jacksonville would be far better off giving that offer to Brown.
When you really zoom out, Gladstone's call to trade Campbell for Newsome plus a Day 3 pick swap seems more like a cost-saving measure than anything else. Gladstone knew the 2026 cap was going to be tight, and that All-Pro linebacker Devin Lloyd had to take precedent. Even then, the Jags may not be able to hang onto Lloyd.
Anyway, Gladstone made a preemptive move that still kept the floor of Jacksonville's cornerback play high enough to be competitive in the playoffs while bearing the bigger picture in mind. That goes a long way to justify the Newsome trade that many would otherwise assume Cleveland won in a rout.
Back to Newsome. Without any further explanation, Auman listed the Atlanta Falcons as Newsome's next destination. We can fill in the blanks from there to make a lot of sense of it.
The Falcons just hired former Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski after firing Raheem Morris. Cleveland's second first-round pick of the Stefanski-Andrew Berry era was Newsome, so there's a strong familiarity factor there.
Stefanski opted to retain incumbent Atlanta defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich. Thus, the core players on that Falcons defense have systemic continuity.
What's great about Atlanta's D is that the secondary is already a strength. Between A.J. Terrell and an elite safety tandem in Xavier Watts and Jessie Bates, the team has three exceptional starters in place.
Newsome was drafted in the first round once upon a time for a reason. He had sub-4.4 speed, excellent change of direction and technique, and coming out of Northwestern, he had a high football IQ. You know, something the Ivy League tandem of Stefanski and Berry coveted.
The question is whether Stefanski would welcome Newsome to Atlanta after demoting him in 2024 and sending him out of Cleveland this past season.
Shoot, in all honesty, Stefanski and Berry did Newsome a favor with that trade. Not having to play for the Browns is a huge win. The NFLPA report cards that just came out ranked Cleveland's organization 30th out of 32 teams, whereas the Jags ranked fifth. and the Falcons were eighth.
It's a rather wide-open cornerback room in Atlanta right now. Outside of Terrell, the biggest competition to start on the boundary would be...C.J. Henderson and Clark Phillips III...? Second-year defensive back Billy Bowman Jr. could be the starting nickel once he comes back from a torn Achilles, but Newsome may be able to get some serious run in the slot, too.
See what I'm saying? Sometimes it's in the best long-term interests of player and organization to go their separate ways. That appears to be the case with Greg Newsome and the Jaguars.