The name that makes the most sense for the Jaguars at the trade deadline may also be the one that never gets serious traction: DeForest Buckner.
The Colts’ collapse has opened the door for them to shop veterans, and the fire sale already started Tuesday when they dealt future Hall of Fame guard Quenton Nelson to the Seattle Seahawks for a third-round pick and a future fifth-round pick. That puts Buckner, a defensive tackle in a contract year, right in the middle of the conversation.
On paper, he checks just about every box Jacksonville needs. Even at 32, Buckner is still one of the NFL’s best interior pass-rushers, and he would immediately lead the Jaguars in both pressures and sacks.
Jacksonville has been searching for real juice inside for years, and Buckner would bring more to the pass rush than most available interior defenders. He could also wind up helping the Jaguars land a compensatory draft pick in March if he ends up being nothing more than a rental for the rest of 2026.
The fit is obvious. The Colts are reportedly willing to move on from top players.
The Jaguars have the picks to put together a serious offer. And Buckner looks like the exact kind of defender this team needs in the middle of the defense.
Still, none of that changes the bigger reality: a trade between these two teams for Buckner feels dead on arrival.
The reason is simple, at least from Jacksonville’s point of view. The Colts and Jaguars do not do business with each other when it comes to trades. And if Buckner is moved, the likeliest destinations are the San Francisco 49ers or Chicago Bears, not Jacksonville.
That shouldn’t be mistaken for a decision James Gladstone somehow missed. The Jaguars general manager shouldn’t be blamed when Buckner inevitably lands elsewhere. The AFC South connection makes Jacksonville a nonstarter in this sweepstakes from the beginning, and the Colts are not about to do the Jaguars any favors.
Yes, Indianapolis has already given up on its AFC South chase. Yes, the Colts will likely lose to the Jaguars twice in 2026 even if Buckner stays put. But history says a Buckner-to-Jacksonville deal would go against the grain in a division where trades have almost never changed anything meaningful.
The Jaguars have made only two player trades with AFC South teams: in 2025, when they sent Christian Kirk to the Houston Texans for a seventh-round pick, and in 2020, when they sent a sixth-round pick to the Tennessee Titans for linebacker Kamalei Correa. Correa played six games for the 1-15 Jaguars and finished with seven tackles.
Those moves were harmless. Kirk was never going to swing the AFC South race, and the Titans knew Correa wasn’t going to alter anything for a struggling Jaguars team.
Buckner would be a different animal entirely. He would matter immediately, and that’s exactly why the Colts, with placeholder general manager Ed Dodds making the calls, have no reason to help Jacksonville in a meaningful way.
So while Buckner is the perfect theoretical target for the Jaguars, the odds of it actually happening are close to zero. In this case, the cleanest fit is also the least realistic one.
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