Shortly after the 2023 NFL draft ended, Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke told reporters that there was a point during the third day when “15 or 16 teams” spurned his efforts to trade up.
On Thursday night, it was revealed that all those failed trade tries were actually pretty fortuitous for the Jaguars.
In the latest episode of “The Hunt” — a behind-the-scenes docuseries about the Jaguars’ offseason — cameras inside the draft room showed Baalke working the phones during the fourth round.
“The frustrating thing is how many calls we have made. We can’t get a trade?” Baalke can be heard saying to head coach Doug Pederson.
But those frustrations turned into celebrations when the player they were purportedly targeting, Florida linebacker Ventrell Miller, was available to select with the No. 121 pick anyway.
“We try to trade with 23 teams, we get him anyway,” Baalke is shown saying with a laugh. He’s then shown telling Miller over the phone that the Jaguars tried to make 20 trades to come up and get him.
It isn’t a shock that the Jaguars tried to use their ample draft capital in Day 3 to move up. However, it’s a little surprising that Miller was the player all along.
Few expected Miller, who played most of his final season at Florida with a foot fracture, to be picked that early. While the Jacksonville front office thought more highly of the linebacker, evidently Baalke and co. were also convinced that Miller wasn’t going to stay on the board long.
All’s well that ends well for the Jaguars, who didn’t lose draft capital to land Miller, despite their best efforts.
