Days after ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that Jacksonville Jaguars pass rusher Josh Allen has garnered some trade interest ahead of the Tuesday trade deadline, another report Saturday corroborated the claim that the Jaguars are getting calls about Allen.
According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, the Kansas City Chiefs “checked on the availability” of Allen, although he added that the Chiefs “may be a little more reluctant to part with their 2023 first-rounder.”
To this point, there’s no indication that the Jaguars are entertaining the idea of trading Allen. It’s not hard to understand why other NFL teams would check in, though.
Regardless of the potential the Jaguars have shown during the 2022 season, the team is still 2-5. The two other pass rushers listed by Breer as potential trade targets are Brian Burns and Bradley Chubb, who play for the 2-5 Carolina Panthers and 2-5 Denver Broncos, respectively.
Given how close the Jaguars have looked to being a competitive team, it’d be surprising if it shipped off arguably its best defensive player near the halfway point of the season.
On the other hand, Allen has been a good but not great player for the Jaguars in the three-plus seasons since he was picked in the top 10 of the 2019 NFL Draft. With his rookie contract nearing its end, the team will soon have to pay a premium to keep him for the long-term and that could be a price the Jaguars are hesitant to pay.
There’s not much reason to believe Jaguars general Trent Baalke — who somehow kept his job through two years of disastrous football — would care too much about anything beyond 2022, though.
