At the 2026 NFL trade deadline, the Jacksonville Jaguars made two significant moves, adding Jessie Bates III from the Atlanta Falcons and Jordan Davis from the Philadelphia Eagles.
While Bates cost them more than a second-round pick, the trade for Davis was a clear overpay. The Jaguars sent the Eagles a 2027 first-round pick and a 2029 second-round pick.
While a major overpay, ESPN’s Dan Graziano revealed a key point as to why the Jaguars really didn’t have much of a choice and had to overpay to land Davis at the trade deadline.
Why the Jaguars had little choice but to overpay for Jordan Davis trade
“People around the league thought what the Jaguars gave up in the Jordan Davis deal was too high, but it’s worth noting that Jacksonville had a few more hurdles in this year’s defensive tackle market than other teams did,” Graziano writes.
What Graziano is referring to is how the Jaguars didn’t have a real chance to acquire Jeffery Simmons or DeForest Buckner, the other top defensive tackles traded prior to the deadline.
The reason? The AFC South rival Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans likely would not have sent their premier DT’s to the Jaguars at the deadline. Such an intra-division trade would’ve been incredibly unlikely to happen.
So, with the best options no longer available, the Jaguars had a much more limited pool of options to consider. Plus, the Eagles made perfect sense, since they had three good DTs on their roster, with one likely the odd man out.
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Moro Ojomo initially seemed like the one on the move, but the Eagles wanted to keep him, so the Jaguars pivoted to Davis. The 26-year-old DT is signed through 2029 and is not very expensive for the Jaguars to keep on their books.
That, combined with the Jaguars’ team-building philosophy of playing the compensatory pick game, gave the Jaguars the confidence needed to splurge on a trade for Davis at this year’s deadline.
It was very pricey, and likely an overpay for a run-stopping DT. But, considering the market at DT outside of the AFC South, the Jaguars were in a tricky spot where they didn’t have much of a choice but to overpay the Eagles for Davis.
Did the Jaguars overpay for Davis? That’s likely the case. But with the best DT trade candidates in the AFC South, outside of the Eagles’ options, the Jaguars had to make an aggressive move if they wanted the Eagles to let one of their DTs go.
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