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By Jayesh Pagar
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Since Monday, plenty of people around the NFL have said the Jaguars paid too much.
A first-round pick, two second-rounders, and a fifth is a steep price for two defenders in the middle of a season.
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But general manager James Gladstone wasn’t just bidding against a price tag. He was bidding against a team Jacksonville knows far too well, and that changes how those deals look.
ESPN insiders Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport laid it out in their trade deadline notebook this week.
“[The Jaguars and Bills] were in competition for some of the same players ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline,” Schefter and Rapoport wrote.
According to the report, Buffalo and Jacksonville were the two most aggressive teams in the talks with the Eagles over Jordan Davis. The same two teams led the chase for Falcons safety Jessie Bates III.
Gladstone won both. He sent a 2027 first and a 2029 second to Philadelphia for Davis, plus a 2027 second and a 2028 fifth to Atlanta for Bates.
Jacksonville needed both, too. Starting safety Eric Murray and defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton had just gone on injured reserve. Bates has 14 interceptions since 2023, and Davis, 26, is one of the best run stoppers in football.
The Bills were left to pivot. The Cardinals turned them down on Budda Baker, so Buffalo sent a second-round pick to Tennessee for safety Amani Hooker and a fifth.
That part hits home in Jacksonville. The Bills ended the Jaguars’ last season, with Josh Allen answering two late Jacksonville leads with fourth-quarter touchdown drives in a 27-24 playoff win.
This time, the Jaguars got there first.
Jacksonville is 6-2 and has won five of six. Davis and Bates will sit Sunday at the 1-7 Titans to get the bye week they never had. Both are expected to debut against the Giants.
The bigger test comes in January. If the road to the Super Bowl runs through Buffalo again, the Jaguars will have two more answers ready.
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