James Gladstone doesn’t want the Jaguars’ recent flurry of trades mistaken for a reckless “all-in” push.
Jacksonville’s GM said the moves for Jessie Bates and Jordan Davis were about improving the roster, not chasing a headline. “I characterize it as getting better as a football team,” Gladstone said, adding that every decision he makes is aimed at what’s best for the organization and the team.
The price was steep. To land Bates, the Jaguars sent away a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick. Davis cost even more: a 2027 first-round pick and a 2029 second-round pick went to Philadelphia.
That kind of draft spending naturally invites the familiar comparison to the Rams’ “F them picks” reputation, especially with Gladstone’s background alongside Les Snead in Los Angeles. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell wasn’t sold on the amount of draft capital Jacksonville gave up, and the moves quickly sparked the usual questions about how much the Jaguars value future selections.
Gladstone says that framing misses the point.
“I know the idea of ‘eff them picks’ has kind of taken a hold and it’s a headline; it’s really not the approach or the process,” Gladstone said, via NFL.com. “As you think back to my experience in Los Angeles, over the time that I was there from the 2017 draft to the 2024 draft, we were able to have the third-most selections in the NFL across all 32 teams.
But there was a narrative around ‘eff them picks’ tied to us. It’s in the volume of picks that’s important, and it ties back to how we operated in free agency this past spring.”
For Gladstone, the real game is keeping the pipeline full, and compensatory picks are part of that equation. The Jaguars let Devin Lloyd, Travis Etienne, and Greg Newsome leave in free agency this offseason, a move that fits the compensatory pick formula and can help create more draft flexibility down the line.
Those future picks can either add more selections to Jacksonville’s draft stash or give the team room to trade from its current board, knowing compensatory picks may still be waiting in April.
“Not signing external free agents is an important piece when you have internal free agents signing elsewhere that can earn you a compensatory pick, thus supplementing the loss of any other draft selection that you may choose to use outside the three days that exist in April to make a selection,” Gladstone continued, “It’s a very symbiotic process that encompasses a lot of layers to it, but it’s certainly not ‘eff them picks.’ While that’s been characterized as the approach, it’s not necessarily -- we actually value picks. We don’t always use them on the three days that exist in April.”
Even after sending away those early-round assets, Jacksonville still has seven projected picks in next year’s draft. The Jaguars also plan to keep building through Rounds 3-7 after using premium capital to add Bates and Davis.
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Titans Catch A Break Before Jacksonvilles New-Look Defense Fully Arrives
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For Jacksonville, it means a game that was already going to be watched closely for signs of the new-look defense will come with two key pieces still sidelined. Bates and Davis are expected to make their debuts next week against the Giants, leaving the Titans with a brief opening before the Jaguars upgraded front and back end are all in place. [Read more 🡒]