Brian Thomas Jr's Road to Jaguars Redemption Must Begin Now

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The 2026 NFL Draft has come and gone, and there have been plenty of changes to the Jacksonville Jaguars' roster.

One change that never happened? Brian Thomas Jr., who is much of a key Jaguars piece today as he was before the draft when people pondered whether the Jaguars would use him as a chess piece in a draft trade.

But 250+ picks flew off the board and Thomas, as predicted by us, went nowhere. The Jaguars explained this would be the case a month ahead of the draft, and the fact that they drafted two receivers in thesixth round clearly does not change this.

But for Thomas to remain a core part of the Jaguars' long-term, then his road to redemption after last year's struggles must begin now, and no later.

brian thomas — Dec 14, 2025; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. (7) reacts after scoring a touchdown in the first quarter against the New York Jets at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Travis Register-Imagn Images | Travis Register-Imagn Images

Thomas' Road

For Thomas, there might not be a more important offseason in his career. That is not to say this offseason will determine his place in the league, but it will certainly play a role in whether Thomas is an actual long-term piece for the Jaguars, or if they have their eyes set elsewhere in the future. With Jakobi Meyers, Parker Washington, and the drafting of Travis Hunter, the Jaguars are certainly not facing a shortage on receivers.

The Jaguars, of course, have never seemingly been actively pushing for a Thomas move. Other teams would certainly be interested in the former first-round pick after he broke records as a rookie, even with his numbers going down across the board last season. But even with Thomas' production taking a step back, the Jaguars have routinely had his back and made it clear they value the LSU product.

brian thomas touchdown — Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. (7) runs up field during a touchdown run during the first quarter in an NFL football game at EverBank Stadium, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025, in Jacksonville, Fla. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union] | Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“No, we haven't, and there hasn't been a ton of dialogue around that front as teams check in simply because it seems like—I know the word reputable came up earlier—I don't think there's been any reputable statement. We don’t have any real action on any of those fronts," Jaguars general manager James Gladstone said in March.

"I think you think back to where we landed at the end of the season, where our passing attack was. We have no interest in disrupting the momentum. We look forward to continuing to build off of where we left things and know that Brian Thomas is a big piece to that puzzle and we don’t want to make sure that that gets disrupted at any time.”

That is exactly why Thomas was not moved during the NFL Draft weekend. The Jaguars are a better team with Thomas than without him, and trading him for help this year would have meant trading for a 2026 first. There was not much value to find at the bottom of the first-round this year, which always made it more likely the Jaguars would not trade Thomas elsewhere before or duing the draft.

But the next few months are now critical. Offseason programs do not make or break seasons, but it could serve a chance for Thomas to get some real momentum after his struggles in 2025. If you remember, those struggles began with an uneven training camp and then carried over to the regular season as he had issues adjusting to being the focal point of the passing game and a middle of the field target.

If Thomas can pick up momentum now and then carry it over to camp and then the regular season, then he could prove to be even more indespensible to the Jaguars' offense than he already is. If he doesn't, then the murmurs from outside of Jacksonville about his future will not be going anywhere. With so many talented players at receiver alongside him, the pressure is on Thomas to produce now.

Next year's trade deadline serves to be the next big date to look at when it comes to Thomas, though one would presume the Jaguars would prefer an offseason trade over an in-season trade as to not harm the flow of the offense in the present. But Thomas can completely put that out of the Jaguars' minds with a strong performance this offseason, followed by even stronger performances in camp and then in Week 1.

The Jaguars are better with Thomas; they know it and so does everyone else. It is in their best interests for him to have an improved season compared to a year ago. But we might know as early as within the next month just how likely that is to happen during the 2025 season.

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