Chiefs Lose Potential Trade Target With Jags Keeping Thomas

The Kansas City Chiefs are looking for a wide receiver, but one of their potential prime targets may have just gone off the board with the news that the Jacksonville Jaguars will be holding on to receiver Brian Thomas Jr. through the deadline on Tuesday, per a report from Michael DiRocco of ESPN that also included an update from Jeremy Fowler of the same network. 

The Jags have been fielding calls about Thomas for at least a week, and the market has been heating up. But the sources DiRocco talked to said that Jacksonville has no plans to trade Thomas, and that he remains part of their offensive plans going forward. 

Thomas was productive in his rookie year, but he’s struggled since. The receiver was the 23rd overall pick in 2024, and he caught 87 passes for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns and made the Pro Bowl as a rookie. 

But his production has dropped significantly since then. Thomas has 58 catches for 824 yards and has more than twice as many drops (10) as touchdown catches (four) in the 22 games since his rookie season.

DiRocco added that Thomas’s target share was 25.3 percent in 2024, which ranked 11th in the NFL, but it slipped to 16.6 percent last season and is 9.5 percent this year so far. 

The Jags routed the Baltimore Ravens last Thursay night, and that game was the first time in the receiver’s career in which he wasn't targeted at least once, and he has just 10 catches for 117 yards and two touchdowns in eight games this season.

The initial asking price for Thomas was believed to be a fourth-round pick, according to numerous reports, but it may have risen higher than that. The Chiefs reportedly balked at a rumored asking price of a third-round pick, but it’s unclear if that request was viable or there’s been a change in the request to possibly add another late-round pick. 

Either way, it puts the Chiefs in a bind. They badly need a viable target for quarterback Patrick Mahomes with their wide receiving corps either banged up or struggling, and Thomas was viewed as a good fit as a possible boundary receiver for Kansas City. 

The Chiefs have also been linked to receiver Josh Downs of the Indianapolis Colts, so reports will now shift to his fate as the 4 PM trade deadline approaches on Tuesday.