Jaguars Load Up on Defense and the Colts Deal Keenan Allen and Josh Downs as the NFL Trade Deadline Closes

The Jacksonville Jaguars did not wait for Tuesday's 4 p.m. ET deadline to make the loudest noise of the week.

On Monday, Jacksonville acquired safety Jessie Bates III from the Atlanta Falcons, defensive tackle Jordan Davis from the Philadelphia Eagles and defensive tackle Davon Godchaux from the New Orleans Saints, the club announced. By the time the window closed Tuesday, the rest of the league had caught up: the Indianapolis Colts traded Keenan Allen to the San Francisco 49ers and Josh Downs to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Minnesota Vikings brought back Kirk Cousins, and several other clubs filled holes before the cutoff, according to NFL.com's deadline tracker and official team announcements.

Jacksonville's three-trade Monday

The Jaguars, 6-2 and leading the AFC South, sent a 2027 first-round pick and a 2029 second-round pick to Philadelphia for Davis, a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick to Atlanta for Bates, and a conditional sixth-round pick to New Orleans for Godchaux, the club said. Atlanta restructured Bates' contract before the trade was completed, Jacksonville announced, and the Bates and Godchaux deals were pending physicals when they were posted.

Head coach Liam Coen, speaking Monday after the Bates trade became official and before the later deals were announced, did not overcomplicate the pitch. "We got better today," Coen said, according to the team's official account of the moves, as the Jaguars prepared to play the Tennessee Titans (1-7) on Sunday at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.

General manager James Gladstone, on Tuesday, pushed back on the idea that the day was simply an all-in lunge. "The idea that this is an all-in move isn't necessarily how I characterize it," Gladstone said, per the Jaguars. "I characterize it as getting better as a football team and prioritizing getting better as a football team." He later added, "This is about team building."

The context inside the building was injury as much as ambition. Jacksonville last week placed nose tackle DaVon Hamilton, a centerpiece of a run defense the club said ranks first in the NFL, on injured reserve, and Gladstone said that was an area where the Jaguars "did not want to feel void of options." Bates, Gladstone said, also fits a team that had already placed safety Eric Murray on injured reserve.

Davis, 26, was the No. 13 pick in the 2022 draft and is under contract through the 2028 season, the Jaguars said. In Philadelphia he had 193 career tackles, 17 tackles for loss, 15 quarterback hits, 11 passes defensed, 9.5 sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery, according to the club. Bates, 29, has 869 career tackles, 74 passes defensed, 28 interceptions, 14 forced fumbles and four touchdowns across stops with the Cincinnati Bengals and the Falcons, the Jaguars said. Godchaux, 31, has 487 tackles, 27 quarterback hits, 23 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks in 145 career games, per the team's announcement. Bates and Godchaux are in the final seasons of their contracts, Gladstone noted Tuesday.

Tuesday's flurry before 4 p.m.

The Vikings' move was the one already sitting in the middle of the news cycle. Las Vegas traded Cousins to Minnesota for a 2027 third-round pick, a deal we recapped Tuesday afternoon after reports from ESPN's Adam Schefter, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero, and one NFL.com later listed among the day's completed trades.

The Colts kept selling. San Francisco acquired Allen for a 2027 sixth-round pick, and Kansas City acquired Downs and a 2027 seventh-round pick for a 2027 fourth-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick, according to NFL.com and ESPN's deadline reporting. In two swings, Indianapolis moved a pair of receivers and added mid-round capital.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, the Denver Broncos acquired linebacker Daiyan Henley from the Los Angeles Chargers for a 2027 fourth-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick, NFL.com and ESPN reported. The Buffalo Bills acquired safety Amani Hooker and a 2027 fifth-round pick from the Tennessee Titans for a 2027 second-round pick, per ESPN and theScore. At the buzzer, the Baltimore Ravens and the Falcons swapped interior linemen: Baltimore received center Ryan Neuzil, and Atlanta received guard Andrew Vorhees and a 2028 sixth-round pick, according to NFL.com and ESPN.

Monday also included a Lions addition that officially landed on the same week as the Jaguars' haul. Detroit acquired safety Andre Cisco from the New York Jets for a 2028 sixth-round pick, NFL.com's transactions list and ESPN reported.

What the day leaves behind

Jacksonville is the club that changed its defensive room the most, and it did it a day early. A first-round pick and a future second-rounder for Davis is real money, but it is also a player signed through 2028, which is why Gladstone did not want the haul described as a one-year sprint. Bates and Godchaux are shorter bets. If they fit the way the front office described, the Jaguars can try to keep them. If they do not, the cost is already paid in mid-round and late-round picks.

The Colts, already in the middle of a sell-off that earlier this season included trades of DeForest Buckner and Quenton Nelson, used deadline day to move Allen and Downs. That is a receiver room being taken apart in public. The 49ers and Chiefs, both still playing for something, were happy to take the parts.

Cousins going back to Minnesota is the human headline, and it does not need another retelling here. The rest of Tuesday was quieter and still telling: Denver paid mid-round picks for a Chargers linebacker, Buffalo paid a second-rounder for a safety, and Baltimore and Atlanta figured out an offensive line swap with the clock running down.

The deadline is closed. The Jaguars have new pieces to install before Sunday in Nashville. The Colts have two fewer receivers and a few more draft picks. Everybody else has to live with the roster they kept.

Here is NFL.com's deadline tracker (opens in a new tab) and the Jaguars' official reports on the trades (opens in a new tab) and on Gladstone's comments (opens in a new tab). More NFL coverage on Undrafted.

Sources: NFL.com, Jacksonville Jaguars, ESPN, theScore.

Photo: Jacksonville Jaguars