The Jacksonville Jaguars need to add reinforcements to their pass rush, so it wasn't necessarily shocking to learn that they made a push to trade for Maxx Crosby before the Baltimore Ravens acquired him. It wasn't cheap, though.
To land the five-time Pro Bowl nod, the Ravens sent two first-round picks to the Ravens. When you take into account that the Jags didn't have a first-round pick in 2026, it's easy to see why they got outbid.
But if Jacksonville is indeed willing to spare no expense to turbocharge the defense, the Minnesota Vikings may just have the perfect fallback.
The Jaguars must turn their attention to Jonathan Greenard after missing out on Maxx Crosby
Just a few days before Baltimore traded for Maxx Crosby, Adam Shefter of ESPN reported that the Vikings were open to trading pass rusher Jonathan Greenard for cap reasons.
Vikings are now open to trading Pro Bowl edge rusher Jonathan Geeenard, per sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 3, 2026
They would like to keep Greenard, but they also have salary cap issues they’re working through that have led to these trade conversations. pic.twitter.com/kLRO73aFOz
Shefter added that the Vikes didn't necessarily want to move on from Greenard, but trading him would give them $12.5 million in cap space and netted him a draft pick or two.
A couple days after his original reporting, Schefter said on the Pat McAfee show that a second or third-round pick could get a deal done.
If the Jaguars were serious about landing Crosby, pivoting to Greenard makes plenty of sense. They have three picks in Round 3, so they could offer one of them and sweeten the deal with a sixth or a seventh (they also have three). Sure, they could wait for Minnesota to release him but would run the risk of another team swooping in and trading for him.
This begs the question, why should Jacksonville trade for Greenard? The answer is easy. Although he's coming off a somewhat disappointing season (injuries limited him to three sacks in 12 games), he registered a combined 24.5 sacks in 2023 and 2024. Jacksonville would surely love to have that kind of production.
Greenard originally got a four-year deal worth $76 million from Minnesota. He's set to have cap hits of $18.3 million in both 2026 and 2027, and none of his remaining salary is guaranteed. The Jaguars could surely tweak his contract and add a few guarantees while decreasing his cap hit for next season.
Why it makes sense for the Jaguars to trade for Jonathan Greenard
Because Jonathan Greenard flies isn't nearly as prominent, not many fans know that he has more total pressures (131) the past two years than Maxx Crosby (107) in the same span. Moreover, trading for him would probably be cheaper than signing Trey Hendrickson in free agency, who's projected to get an annual average of $25 million in free agency. Of course, Jacksonville has options beyond Greenard and Hendrickson.
K'Lavon Chaisson and Arnold Ebiketie are dependable pass rushers, and both of them will get paydays in the range of $8 million to $10 million. They would be more affordable options that would leave the Jags to address other needs.
And if Jacksonville wants to bolster other positions in free agency, the draft will be stacked with pass rushers. General manager James Gladstone could easily wait until the third round to get one and come out with a pretty good player.
The truth is that trading for Maxx Crosby would've been huge, but Jonathan Greenard offers the Jaguars an intriguing alternative to pair with Josh Hines-Allen.