11:30pm: This agreement is official. As the Jaguars add another high-priced front-seven piece, the Eagles continue to load up their late-2020s draft arsenal over the past five months.
3:50pm: The Jaguars’ two previous trades today now feel like the clear undercard. The Eagles have lined up the main event. Philly is sending defensive tackle Jordan Davis to Jacksonville for a package including a first-round pick, veteran insider Jordan Schultz reports.
The Eagles will collect the Jags’ 2027 first-rounder and 2029 second-rounder, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. This monster agreement comes after Jacksonville acquired Jessie Bates from Atlanta and Davon Godchaux from New Orleans. Bates and Davis are impact additions for Anthony Campanile’s defense, and while this represents the culmination of a Jags search for a big-ticket D-line piece, it also changes the Eagles’ long-term D-line plans.
A recent report indicated the Jaguars expressed interest in Eagles contract-year D-lineman Moro Ojomo. The Eagles had rebuffed inquiries, but Ojomo being unsigned beyond 2026 invited obvious trade speculation amid the worst Eagles season of the Nick Sirianni era. Philly-Jacksonville talks look to have pivoted to Davis, and the former first-round pick is heading south despite signing a recent extension with the NFC East club.
Jacksonville sits 6-2, gunning for home-field advantage in an AFC race that includes four other six-win teams (Cincinnati, Kansas City, Pittsburgh) and seven-win Buffalo and Denver squads. The Jaguars have not earned home-field advantage since their 14-2 1999 season, but an opportunity exists now. After breaking through in Liam Coen’s first season, the Jags are again making win-now moves by parting with considerable draft capital to strengthen this year’s roster.
In acquiring Bates, Davis and Godchaux, the Jags have parted with their 2027 first- and second-round picks — after sending the Browns their 2026 first-rounder to move up three spots for Travis Hunter last year — along with a conditional 2028 sixth-rounder and a 2029 second. These are future-reshaping trades, especially from a draft perspective. Unlike Bates, however, Davis is signed long term.
The Georgia alum agreed to a three-year, $78MM extension in early March, being locked down months before Jalen Carter reset the DT market (on a $38MM-per-year megadeal). The Jags will take on that contract, which runs through the 2029 season.
One of the more difficult blocking assignments in the NFL, Davis joined Carter in representing pillars on Vic Fangio’s line (and high salaries on Howie Roseman’s balance sheet). Famously sprinting to a 4.78-second 40-yard time at 341 pounds, Davis brought immense intrigue into the NFL. The Eagles chose him 13th overall in 2022, as a run on defenders from a national championship-winning Georgia team commenced. Davis has started every game over the past four years, only missing time via a four-game IR stint as a rookie.
At the time of signing, Davis’ $26MM-per-year deal made him the NFL’s highest paid pure NT. The Bengals’ Dexter Lawrence trade provided a market update, but Davis received a far more player-friendly deal. Davis, 26, received $38.99MM guaranteed at signing. His full 2028 compensation will lock in on Day 3 of the 2027 league year. The former Georgia star will now see that deal paid out in SEC country.
This is a fascinating turn of events for both teams. For the Eagles, the trade comes five months after they sent A.J. Brown’s through-2029 extension to the Patriots. Philadelphia waited until June 1 to spread out a historic WR dead money hit on Brown, and the team will take on a hefty dead cap figure via this transaction as well. The Eagles will eat barely $3MM in 2026 dead cap, but according to OverTheCap, the 2027 bill from Davis’ early exit will eclipse $33MM.
Roseman is no stranger to accumulating massive dead money, and some of the bills on his void years-laden contracts have already come due. Four void years are in place on Davis’ contract, which also carries a $19.29MM signing bonus. Those will represent dead money on the Eagles’ 2027 payroll, but the team that has doled out numerous extensions to core players in recent years will have ammo to reset in the late 2020s.
The Eagles now have an additional first-round pick in 2027, additional first- and second-rounders in 2028 (from the Brown and Cam Jurgens swaps) and an extra 2029 second. Philadelphia helped build its Super Bowl LVII and Super Bowl LIX rosters via a draft war chest, which allowed the team to enter the 2022 draft with three first-rounders. Davis was part of that reload, and he started in both those Super Bowls. His prime is now slated to play out in Jacksonville, while Philly (2-7) regroups around a promising draft arsenal in the coming years.
We heard on multiple occasions leading up to deadline week the Jags were big-game hunting up front, with a report indicating as such before DaVon Hamilton’s season-ending injury. They inquired about an unrealistic intra-AFC South trade for Jeffery Simmons but predictably saw the Titans send him elsewhere. Jacksonville has now added Davis and Godchaux to a defensive line that exited Week 9 32nd in run stop win rate. ESPN ranks the Jags fifth in pass rush win rate, and high-priced edge players Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker will assuredly be aided by Davis’ menacing interior presence soon.
Ranking sixth in run stop win rate in 2024, Davis was instrumental in the Eagles’ Fangio-led defensive reignition that year. Philadelphia stonewalled Patrick Mahomes and Co. in Super Bowl LIX, completing a dominant championship run that featured the NFL’s second-ranked defense (first in yardage). Philly led 34-0 before some Kansas City garbage-time scores that night, and its pass rush ran amok. Davis does not regularly contribute in the sack column, though he did tally a career-best 4.5 last season, but he demands top billing from offensive coordinators when blocking assignments are considered.
The Jags will add Davis and Godchaux to a D-line housing 12th-year veteran Arik Armstead. Hines-Allen and Walker are on big-ticket contracts, but the EDGE market’s eruption over the past 1 1/2 years makes those look a bit team-friendlier. Hines-Allen is on a $28.25MM-per-year deal that runs through 2028 (no guarantees remain on the accord beyond 2026). A Davis teammate at Georgia, Walker signed a $27.5MM-per-year extension this offseason.
Ojomo looks to have a Philadelphia future, after all. After it looked like he would follow Milton Williams in collecting a big payday in free agency, Ojomo came up as a player the Eagles have interest in extending. A rumor earlier today pointed to a possible Ojomo second contract and an eventual Carter trade. Instead, it is Davis departing this D-line. The Eagles will have some big shoes to fill at nose tackle, but draft ammo has served this franchise well in the Roseman era.
Despite rostering Trevor Lawrence on a $55MM-AAV contract, the Jags have found a way to keep adding. While Bates could hit free agency in March — though, Jacksonville has exclusive negotiating rights with the All-Pro until the legal tampering period — Davis is locked down long term. James Gladstone, who worked under Les Snead during the height of his “eff them picks” mantra, has proven to be one of the NFL’s most aggressive GMs. The young decisionmaker is betting big on he and Coen’s current nucleus. The rest of this season will help determine if the Jags have overextended themselves.
It will be interesting to see how the other AFC contenders respond to Jacksonville’s explosive Monday. Teams have until 3pm CT on Tuesday to finalize trades this year.
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