Eagles

The Athletic Gives Jaguars a D- on the Jordan Davis Trade, While Eagles Get an A+

By Matt Schultz

Published: Nov 11th, 2026 · 9:21 AM EST

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Now this is nice to see: After the Eagles sent Jordan Davis to the Jaguars on Monday for a 2027 first-round pick and a 2029 second-round pick, Daniel Popper at The Athletic graded the trade for each side, giving Jacksonville a D- and the Eagles an A+:

Jaguars grade: D-

This was a significant overpay for general manager James Gladstone and the Jaguars. Davis is a very good run defender, but he does not offer nearly enough as a pass rusher to command this type of return. Davis has eight pressures this season. He’s never tallied more than 28 pressures in a season. He has 9.5 career sacks in the regular season. Over the past two seasons, 112 players have played at least 400 pass rush snaps, according to TruMedia. Davis ranks 104th among those players in pressure rate at 7.1 percent.

The comparison for this trade was the Quinnen Williams deal last year. The Jets received a first-round pick, a second-round pick and defensive lineman Mazi Smith from the Cowboys. Williams is a better player than Davis. Most importantly, he is a more impactful pass rusher. Over the past two seasons, Williams ranks 26th in pressure rate among players with at least 400 pass-rush snaps at 13.4 percent — almost twice the rate of Davis. Williams finished with at least 50 pressures in four straight seasons from 2022-25.

I can respect the aggressive approach from the Jaguars, who are bona fide contenders. They also have team control over Davis at a reasonable price. According to Over The Cap, Davis is due $18.4 million guaranteed in 2027. If he is on the roster on March 15, the third day of the 2027 league year, he will have another $26 million guaranteed in 2028. So the salary comes out to $22.2 million per year over two seasons for Davis. That average per year would rank 16th among interior defensive linemen.

Eagles grade: A+

This is an impressive return for Roseman, and the Eagles are now loaded with future draft capital. They now have two first-round picks in 2027, and two first-round picks in 2028, their own and the Patriots’ pick from the A.J. Brown trade. They also own two second-round picks in 2029. That is a ton of ammunition to use in whatever fashion Roseman sees fit. They could stick and pick. They could trade any of those picks for veteran players. They could package them to move around in the draft. As our Jonathan Jones wrote in our trade deadline live blog, “What the Eagles have now is total optionality.”

This clears the way for the Eagles to extend Ojomo, who is on the final year of his rookie deal. It is always difficult to hand out three large contracts to one position group. The Eagles are also paying Jalen Carter a top-of-market contract. They will incur a palatable dead-money charge of $15.4 million for Davis in 2027, according to figures from Over The Cap.

Roseman is doing the right thing, turning a losing season into future opportunity.

Making a trade that makes sense for your team is good. Winning a trade outright is even better. But then there’s absolutely fleecing the team you’re dealing with – when you win a trade by such a huge margin that your trade partner instantly feels embarrassed and regretful and starts sweating a little after realizing what a massive mistake they’ve made. I’m man enough to admit that, as a fantasy manager, I’ve been in both positions many a time, and being the winner is a way better feeling. Thankfully for Eagles fans, that’s where Howie is right now.

Howie straight-up tricked James Gladstone on this Jordan Davis trade. He bamboozled him. He took the man to the cleaners. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of Jordan Davis and appreciate everything he did in Philadelphia – but from a value perspective? He was a first-round pick in 2022 who’s dipped since his career peak in 2025, and Howie just got a first and a second for him. That’s a huge return – not that we should be surprised. This is just what Howie does.

He got the Patriots to overpay for A.J. Brown, netting a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-rounder for a guy who can’t stay on the field. He got the Ravens to overpay for Cam Jurgens, landing a 2027 fifth-round pick and a 2028 second-round pick for an O-line liability who hasn’t looked anywhere close to what he was before his post-Super Bowl back surgery. And on Monday, he did it with Jordan Davis.

It’s a shame that the trade deadline has come and gone. Would’ve been fun to watch Howie do more of this stuff. But “eight picks in the top two rounds in the next three seasons” sounds pretty good to me. I’ll take it.