The Jacksonville Jaguars just sent a loud message to the rest of the AFC: they’re not waiting around.
With the Nov. 10 NFL trade deadline closing in, Jaguars general manager James Gladstone went after impact talent in a hurry.
First came Pro Bowl safety Jessie Bates from the Atlanta Falcons, a move that cost Jacksonville a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick. Atlanta didn’t exactly have to move him, either, with the NFC South still wide open and no team better than 3-5.
Gladstone still pushed the deal through, showing exactly how aggressively Jacksonville is treating its window. And he wasn’t done. Just hours later, the Jaguars swung again, sending a 2027 first-round pick and a 2029 second-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for defensive tackle Jordan Davis, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported.
That’s how a contender acts when it believes the moment is now.
For the Pittsburgh Steelers, sitting at 6-2 entering Week 10, that kind of urgency should be impossible to ignore. Their path through the second half of the season looks a lot friendlier than it did earlier in the year, and the idea of chasing the AFC’s No. 1 seed doesn’t feel far-fetched. But Jacksonville just reminded everyone that being in the mix and truly going for it are two different things.
The AFC is wide open, and that’s exactly why the Steelers should be paying attention. The Jaguars may be the most complete team in the conference, and after these trades, they only got stronger. Other contenders have obvious flaws: the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals have defenses that can get exposed in shootouts, while the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs have offenses that can bog down through the air.
Pittsburgh, though, has a couple of real strengths of its own. Over the past five games, the Steelers have been among the NFL’s best teams at running the ball, with Jaylen Warren leading the way.
They’ve also held up well against the run on defense. That gives them a foundation.
Still, there’s room to sharpen the roster before the deadline. The Steelers don’t need to chase the exact same kind of deals Jacksonville just made, and Bates or Davis wouldn’t have been the obvious fit. But Omar Khan should be calling around, checking on available wide receivers and cornerbacks, and seeing whether there’s a player out there who can make a real difference.
That matters even more when you look at the clock. Khan is trying to take advantage of a short window with a soon-to-be 43-year-old Aaron Rodgers and one of the league’s oldest defenses. And the schedule may not be nearly as forgiving next year, when the Steelers are set to face the AFC West and NFC West.
If 2026 is the better time to attack a softer slate, then Pittsburgh needs to treat this deadline like a chance to add one more piece that can move the needle. Jacksonville just showed how serious a contender can be when it knows the moment is there.
In Other News...
Steelers Midseason MVP Debate Says Everything About Their 6-2 Start
At the midway point of a 6-2 start that has Pittsburgh sitting atop the AFC North, the Steelers internal MVP conversation says a lot about how this team has been winning. The debate has centered mostly on running back Jaylen Warren, whose workload and production have made him the most obvious offensive driver, with his scrimmage yards and weekly impact carrying real weight in a season where Pittsburgh has leaned on consistency more than flash.
Zach Frazier also drew support in the voting, which is its own kind of compliment for an offensive line player. His value has shown up in the kind of work that usually gets noticed only when it goes wrong, and that speaks to how important the middle of the line has been in keeping the Steelers on track. For a team with playoff aspirations, the fact that the MVP discussion includes both a back and a center tells you this start has been built from the inside out. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers Trade Deadline Talk Suddenly Includes Some Big Names
The trade deadline chatter around Pittsburgh has started to widen beyond the usual fringe names, with a few recognizable veterans now surfacing in the conversation. Patrick Queen, Mason Rudolph, Jaquan Brisker, Yahya Black and Alex Highsmith are all being discussed in different hypothetical scenarios, depending on what the Steelers want to address and how they view their roster and contract picture.
Queen in particular adds a layer to the discussion because his status makes any long-term planning more complicated, while Highsmiths name comes up for a different reason tied to the teams edge-rush depth. Nothing is official, of course, and there has been no confirmed move, but the fact that these kinds of names are even part of the deadline talk says plenty about how Pittsburgh may have to balance present needs against what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers Face One Big Trade Deadline Question At Wide Receiver
The Steelers wide receiver picture is still being shaped by health as much as by the trade market, which is why the front office is keeping a wide net out ahead of the 2026 NFL Trade Deadline. Pittsburgh has been linked to a long list of possible targets, from Josh Downs and Dontayvion Wicks to bigger-name options such as Brian Thomas Jr., Quentin Johnston, Hollywood Brown, Jauan Jennings, Keenan Allen, Calvin Ridley, Ladd McConkey and DeVonta Smith, but not every name on that board is equally realistic. Cost and fit will matter, and the most impactful players are viewed as difficult gets.
What makes the situation tricky is that the Steelers may not need to force anything if the roster starts to heal in time. The team is waiting to see whether injured players can return soon enough to soften the urgency at receiver, and that could end up being the deciding factor in whether Pittsburgh actually pushes a deal across the finish line or simply stays patient. For now, the deadline question is less about chasing a splash and more about whether the current group can be stabilized without paying a premium. [Read more 🡒]