Despite outside speculation and a crowded receiver room, Jacksonville shut down trade rumors to double down on Brian Thomas Jr. as a centerpiece for Trevor Lawrence’s offense.
The NFL offseason is prime time for the rumor mill to spin completely out of control, and Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. found himself right in the crosshairs this year.
While things remained completely quiet inside the team facility, a tidal wave of outside speculation suggested that Jacksonville was actively looking to move its young playmaker.
It was a classic case of the media connecting dots that the front office had no interest in drawing.
Albert Breer later backed up those reports, emphasizing that General Manager James Gladstone had absolutely no intention of moving the young wideout. According to Breer, the Jaguars were never going to sell low on a player with Thomas's raw, first-round upside.
"Though most of the rumblings weren’t more than just that," Breer wrote, "discussion picked up externally that GM James Gladstone and coach Liam Coen, who both arrived after Thomas' big rookie year, might consider moving him. But in all the digging around I did, it became abundantly clear that the Jaguars were never selling low on a guy with that sort of talent."
Other than 2025 being Coen and Gladstone’s first season, other signs were pointing to a potential BTJ trade this offseason.
Brian Thomas Jr. Trade Rumors
After an explosive rookie year in 2024 (87 catches, 1,282 yards, 10 TDs), BTJ hit a major sophomore wall last season. He dealt with a lingering ankle injury, missed three games, and finished with just 48 catches for 707 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The Jaguars traded for Jakobi Meyers at last year's deadline and handed him a massive 3-year, $60 million extension this offseason. Parker Washington breaking out, it made the Jaguars' WR room pretty crowded. Outside analysts speculated that BTJ had become expendable.
Teams absolutely called about him at the trade deadline and ahead of the 2026 draft. Bleacher Report even floated a blockbuster pitch sending him to Washington to reunite with Jayden Daniels, and rumors leaked that he could be used to trade up into the late first round of the 2027 draft.
However, Gladstone shut it all down when the rumors started getting out of hand. Gladstone didn’t mince words when asked about the trade chatter at his press conference. He completely dismissed the reports as baseline fiction and made it clear that the team is moving forward with Thomas as a cornerstone of the offense.
"When it's fraudulent claims, you just keep your mind on what you can focus on, and you can actually control and try to do what's best for the Jacksonville Jaguars,” Gladstone said.
Breer’s reports made it even clearer.
"Thomas never really left after his disappointing 2025," Breer added, "establishing a constant presence in the Jaguars’ building, first to rehab a couple of lingering injuries (that were part of the equation last year), and then to get as much time on task with [quarterback Trevor Lawrence] as he could. The benefits manifested in the spring, with a pretty apparent uptick in the connection between Thomas and Lawrence."
Whether this uptick results in the bounce-back season everyone is expecting out of Thomas Jr. is a thing to be seen.
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