A prevailing opinion this offseason is that if Jacksonville has any pressing team needs remaining with the 2024 campaign quickly approaching, it’s additional help at cornerback.
Despite the Jaguars’ signing of veteran corner Ronald Darby in free agency and selections of corners Jarrian Jones and Deantre Prince in the NFL draft, analysts have frequently pegged Jacksonville as a candidate to trade for a veteran at the position before the season gets rolling.
In May, ESPN floated the idea of Jacksonville trading for New Orleans cornerback Marshon Lattimore.
And on Friday, Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport proposed the Jaguars move to acquire cornerback James Bradberry from Philadelphia, naming the potential move among one of eight “shocking” possible trades that would impact playoff races this year.
Davenport suggested a sixth-round pick in the 2025 NFL draft as adequate compensation for Philadelphia to send Bradberry to Jacksonville.
Finding veteran cornerback help this late in the offseason isn’t easy—teams are usually loathe to part with even marginal talents at a position where depth can be hugely important. But as it happens, there’s a former Pro Bowler who might just be available.
Granted, James Bradberry didn’t play like a Pro Bowler last year—in fact, he played a sizable role in Philly’s collapse defensively down the stretch. The Eagles used their first two draft picks in 2024 on cornerbacks, and head coach Nick Sirianni told reporters Philadelphia is considering moving Bradberry into a reserve role at safety.
Over 125 appearances and 124 starts, Bradberry has logged 478 tackles with nine for loss, three sacks, 19 interceptions including one pick-six, 112 defended passes and four forced fumbles, with Philadelphia, the New York Giants and Carolina during his eight-year NFL career.
He received Pro Bowl recognition in 2020 and All-Pro Second-Team honors in 2022. However, his play was inconsistent during the 2023 season, when he allowed 60 completions in coverage, the second-highest single-season mark in his career, per Pro Football Reference, and collected just one interception.
Although Bradberry, 30, appears to be on the downturn of his career, Davenport classified the move as “shocking” considering the little draft capital Jacksonville would give up for such an accomplished player.
This trade would be shocking not in that the Eagles would move on from Bradberry—that feels more inevitable by the day. The shock would be that a player who just two years ago was a second-team All-Pro who also has a Pro Bowl on his resume would all but be given away.
But perhaps a change of scenery would rekindle his career. And an improved Jaguars secondary would help their chances of keeping up with the Texans and their loaded cadre of pass-catchers.
Jacksonville’s pass defense ranked No. 26 in the NFL last season, giving up 239.8 yards per game on average.
While the Jaguars’ 16 interceptions ranked a respectable No. 12 in the league, only five were generated by cornerbacks, including four by Darious Williams, who the team released this offseason amid its defensive scheme change under new coordinator Ryan Nielsen.
Darby was signed to replace Williams as a starting cornerback, opposite Tyson Campbell, Jacksonville’s 2021 second-round NFL draft selection.
Davenport also proposed a trade between Jacksonville and Kansas City in which the Jaguars send starting left tackle, Cam Robinson, and a 2026 fifth-round pick to the Chiefs in exchange for a 2025 third-rounder and a 2026 fourth-rounder.
He suggested the idea of an AFC team aiding Kansas City, winners of three of the last five Super Bowls, would seem “off — because every weakness the Chiefs fill makes it more likely they make history this season.”