JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Jaguars could look a lot different come Tuesday afternoon. Or they might not. That middle line is what makes the chaos of the NFL Trade Deadline an annual event.

Nearly every team in the NFL faces questions around the NFL Trade Deadline, which falls on Tuesday at 4 p.m. this year. For some teams, it is about whether or not they are selling after disappointing starts to their seasons. For other teams, it is about becoming buyers when a window to win and, in the Jaguars' case, a window to compete for top playoff seeding is a reality.

With the Jaguars looking like perhaps the best team in the AFC, and even in the entire NFL, after a 6-2 start, there are plenty of reasons to think they could be active during this year's deadline. James Gladstone has swung all kinds of trades since being hired, including one at the deadline last year for Jakobi Meyers.

So, how do we think this year's trade deadline will play out for the Jaguars with just a few days left? We drop our final predictions below.

The Jaguars Don't Trade Brian Thomas Jr.

The biggest question swirling around the Jaguars and the trade deadline has nothing to do with whether they might have a big move up their sleeves to chase a Super Bowl window. Instead, it is about former first-round wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., who was one of the most productive receivers in football as a rookie but who has been out-produced in the Jaguars' passing game by Tanner Koziol over the last month.

It all makes sense from each side. The Jaguars have a spread-it-around offense that frequently switches in-game from being a run-first, multiple-tight end offense and one that is also comfortable spreading it out and throwing it all over the field. Parker Washington and Jakobi Meyers are the clear top two receivers in the pecking order, which means Thomas' only real snaps come when the Jaguars are in 11 personnel, which they are in at a lower rate this season.

Thomas entered 2026 with zero career games held without a catch. He now has three in the last four games, and he has just one catch since October 4 when he caught two passes for 17 yards and a touchdown in Week 4 against the Cincinnati Bengals. Since then, he had three targets and no catches in London against the Eagles, he was benched in the second-half of Week 6 against the Texans, he caught a touchdown against the Colts, and then he didn't see a target on Thursday Night Football against the Baltimore Ravens

The idea that Thomas is going to suddenly turn on a switch and become a big factor in the Jaguars' passing game seems unlike. This is an offense that has been low-volume in the passing game and whose explosive plays come over the middle of the field far more than out the outside. Thomas is a great talent, but he is not a great fit for the Jaguars' scheme or Trevor Lawrence right now.

With that said, there are also several teams who make sense as potential suitors for Thomas' skill-set. It would make sense for a team to see him as lost in the shuffle in Jacksonville but still tremendously talented, because that is simply what seems closest to the truth. From the Jaguars' angle, though, it also doesn't make sense to give away a player who does still command double teams down field for nothing.

If the best the Jaguars are getting offered for Thomas is a Day 3 pick that won't make them any better now, it doesn't make much sense to make the deal. The Jaguars are one of the NFL's best offenses with Thomas playing his minimal role, so I think they would be OK if that continued to be the case. The Jaguars could then to look to deal Thomas in March and the 2027 offseason instead of in-season when they are actively pushing for an AFC South title and the No. 1 seed.

If a team offers something along the lines of a second-round pick or even a top defender for Thomas, that may be tough to turn down. But are teams going to offer that when Thomas is such a non-factor in the offense? That remains to be seen, but for now there is zero reason for the Jaguars to lower what is likely a high asking price for Thomas.

My prediction is that no team ups the ante enough to make it worth it for the Jaguars to move Thomas. They like him, he works hard, and has never been a problem. Unless a team makes a big deal, I think the Jaguars will feel more than fine with keeping him, and I do not see a team making that big deal right now.

The Jaguars Add a Safety

The Jaguars have been hit hard at the safety position over the last few weeks. The room looked like the defense's potentially most deep position entering the season and it played well in the first few weeks, but Week 4 injuries to Eric Murray and Caleb Ransaw took things off-track from a healthy perspective. Ransaw has been on injured reserve since, while Murray missed a game, came back in Week 6, and then sustained a season-ending elbow injury in Week 8.

The Jaguars' current in-house options are Antonio Johnson, Rayuan Lane, Kaevon Merriweather, rookie Jalen Huskey, and practice squad safety Cam'Ron Silmon-Craig. Lane has made some big plays and was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week after a career game in Week 8, while the staff is clearly high on Merriweather.

But Huskey has not seen much time on defense and was arguably at fault for the long touchdown run the backups allowed the other night, leaving the Jaguars with a thin group of players they'd trust in a pinch in a defense that has long depended on multiple-safety packages. The safety depth has not been a big issue yet with the Jaguars playing two struggling passing games in back-to-back weeks, but the Chicago Bears and a rematch with the Houston Texans loom later in the year. So potentially does Josh Allen in the playoffs.

It would make sense for the Jaguars to add a veteran here who could step in and start across from Johnson right away, pushing Lane and/or Merriweather to the No. 3 and special teams spots
There are some interesting safety options that would check the boxes. Budda Baker would be a fan-favorite move. Jessie Bates might be the best fit for what the Jaguars actually need, and then there are a host of other high-floor options.

I can not put my finger on exactly which safety the Jaguars will add, but I do predict they add one. I think they recognize the need, and there is a market for the position entering the trade deadline weekend.

The Defensive Tackle Is ...

With Davon Hamilton out for the season, defensive tackle has been the most-talked-about potential target area for the Jaguars in most reports. This likely would have still been true had Hamilton not been injured since it has been reported that the Jaguars contacted the Tennessee Titans about Jeffery Simmons in a pipe dream. With Hamilton now out for the year though, the urgency should be there for the Jaguars to make a move.

The Jaguars' defense did well to slow down Derrick Henry and the Ravens' running game on Thursday Night Football in their first game without Hamilton anchoring their run defense, with backups Matt Dickerson and Albert Regis stepping up to fill the role. But the Jaguars will need the defensive line to set the tone for the run game for two more months, not just against a predictable Ravens front on a short week.

If the Jaguars do not add a nose tackle, they will have to rely on a platoon at the position through the rest of the season. The Jaguars showed they can get by with that against the Ravens, though the run defense was not as dominant down-to-down as it had been with Hamilton in the middle. The issue is, who would you add?

Vita Vea would be perfect, but the Buccaneers might not have reason to move him. Derrick Brown would be another seamless fit who could transform the front beyond 2026, but would the Panthers even trade him? Daron Payne would have been an easy connection, but his injury has nixed that. There are some cheap veterans who would improve the Jaguars' depth in a pinch, but those are not exactly big swings.

Instead, I think the Jaguars take a swing by sending a Day 3 pick to the New England Patriots for defensive tackle Christian Barmore. He would not change all that much about the nose tackle situation, but he would give the Jaguars a different dimension on third-downs and it stands to reason that the Patriots are shopping him with relative interest in dumping him within the next few days.

Adding a potential impact pass-rusher to join Arik Armstead, Josh Hines-Allen, and Travon Walker on third-down is what I think would give the Jaguars the spark they might be looking for inside. The scheme is working. They are creating pressure. And they have three veteran pass-rushers who they trust to win on passing downs, regardless of this year's sack numbers.

What if they added a fourth pass-rusher and became the kind of third-down defense that had covered all of its flaws? That could be what makes the difference in January, and I think the Patriots would be willing to play ball.