Trent Baalke: Jaguars could’ve traded third time, but didn’t like risk

The Jacksonville Jaguars were confident enough in their available options to move down from No. 24 to No. 25 via a trade with the New York Giants. Then they did it again, sliding back to No. 27 after a deal with the Buffalo Bills.

According to Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke, the team could’ve made a third deal Thursday night. Instead, the team finally decided to make a pick and select offensive tackle Anton Harrison.

“[We] had opportunities to move back some more,” Baalke said Thursday night. “We felt at that point in time there was too much risk involved. We felt really good about the pick. Coach [Doug Pederson] and I looked at each other and said, ‘Let’s make the pick.’”

Last week, Baalke told reporters that the Jaguars had “two or three guys” in mind for their first-round pick. While he didn’t reveal who the other players were after picking Harrison, he certainly implied that he had more than one viable option with the No. 24 pick.

“We felt we would still get one of the three guys we were targeting,” Baalke said of his decision to trade down. “Had an opportunity to move back again. Definitely ended up with a player that was rated very high on our board, a lot of value.”

In the three selections that happened in front of the Jaguars after trading down, cornerback Deonte Banks, tight end Dalton Kincaid, and defensive tackle Mazi Smith came off the board.

Baalke also told reporters Thursday night that the Jaguars will “absolutely” consider packaging their newly added picks (fourth-, fifth-, and seventh-round selections) to move up in later rounds.