Brian Thomas Jr. was a few inches of sideline away from a touchdown in London on Sunday. Instead, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 2024 first-round pick walked out of the win over the Eagles without a catch on three targets, and the trade chatter around him picked right back up.
Would a deal make sense? On paper, yes. Thomas has become a part-time player in Liam Coen’s offense, and ESPN’s Bill Barnwell put him on his Week 6 hot-seat list, writing that his role “continues to shrink.” The catch is that Jacksonville keeps saying it isn’t interested, and the Nov. 10 deadline leaves less than four weeks for that to change.
The numbers behind a shrinking role
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Thomas has nine catches for 105 yards and a touchdown on 18 targets through five games. He has played 48.2% of the offensive snaps, and his 23 snaps against the Patriots in Week 3 were the lowest of his career in a game he didn’t leave hurt. As a rookie in 2024, he caught 87 passes for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns. His 60.8 overall PFF grade ranks 71st among 86 receivers.
Coen pointed to 12 personnel after that Patriots game. Brenton Strange and Nate Boerkircher are on the field together a lot, Parker Washington and Jakobi Meyers are entrenched as the top two receivers and rookie Josh Cameron has earned trust as a blocker. Cameron has 117 receiving yards and two touchdowns on 54 fewer snaps than Thomas. Travis Hunter, meanwhile, has played just 21 offensive snaps while spending most of his time at cornerback, and moving Thomas would open the door for more of him on offense.
We argued last week that Thomas is now a trade chip, with a cap hit under $4 million on a rookie deal that runs through 2027. The front office hasn’t budged. Coen said last October the Jaguars had “no plans on moving Brian Thomas Jr. at all,” and general manager James Gladstone brushed off offseason rumblings, telling reporters, “when it’s fraudulent claims, you just keep your mind on what you can focus on and you can actually control,” per NFL.com’s Nick Shook.
Coen still sees value, too. “Caught the touchdown, caught an out cut on the sideline. Did some really good things,” he said after the win in Cincinnati. Until Nov. 10 passes, though, the question will hang over EverBank Stadium.
