Jaguars Make Big Trade for All-Pro S Jessie Bates III

The Jacksonville Jaguars have made a trade, and a big one.

Per multiple reports, the Jags are acquiring Jessie Bates III from the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 fifth-rounder.

This is a big deal.

Bates has been an All-Pro three times, most recently last year. The trade comes after the Jags lost starting safety Eric Murray to a season-ending elbow injury suffered in Week 8.

On Atlanta's side, it makes sense because, while the Falcons are just a half game out of first place in the NFC South, they are still 3-6.

Atlanta only had five draft picks this year, and first-year GM Ian Cunningham has vowed to build the franchise through the draft.

On Jacksonville's side, it shows that the Jags, who are 6-2 this year and 19-6 in the regular season since the start of 2025 (only the Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers have been better), are poised to go after a Super Bowl.

After a standout career at Wake Forest, where he was an All-ACC performer, the Cincinnati Bengals took Bates in the second round of the 2018 draft.

He spent five seasons in Cincy, making his first All-Pro team in 2020 and helping the team reach its first Super Bowl appearance in more than three decades the next season.

With his rookie contract up after 2021, the Bengals placed the franchise tag on Bates for the 2022 season, which proved to be his last in Cincy.

From there, Bates signed with the Falcons, where he made two more All-Pro teams in 2023 and 2025.

Unfortunately for Bates, the team success hasn't been there in Atlanta the same way it was in Cincinnati.

The Falcons went 7-10 in 2023, 8-9 in 2024 and 8-9 again last season, missing the playoffs all three times.

Now, Bates will be a welcome addition to one of the league's best defenses. No team in the AFC has allowed fewer points than Jacksonville, and only the Minnesota Vikings have allowed fewer points anywhere in the NFL.

The deal Bates signed with Atlanta was for four years and $64 million, meaning he'll be a free agent at the end of the season. Last year, the Jags were quick to extend their big trade deadline acquisition, receiver Jakobi Meyers. We'll see if general manager James Gladstone and company end up doing the same with Bates.