Trent Baalke: ‘There’s a chance’ Jaguars trade up on Day 2

Jacksonville has already traded once, down the order, in the early stages of the 2024 NFL draft. Could another move, perhaps this time upward, be in the Jaguars’ near future?

Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke isn’t ruling the possibility out as the second and third rounds of the selection ceremony approach on Friday evening. In fact, he shared that Jacksonville has already begun the legwork on a potential trade-up in the second.

“I mean, we’ve already reached out. There’s a chance we do some things to try to move up,” Baalke revealed on Friday afternoon, although he added there are “no guarantees that that’s going to happen.”

After sliding six spots down to Minnesota’s No. 23 pick, receiving the No. 167 (fifth-round) selection and third and fourth-round slots in 2025, Jacksonville has a total of 17 picks over the next 13 rounds (eight in 2024, nine in 2025) to barter.

The Jaguars took LSU wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. with their delayed first-round selection, leaving the cornerback, edge rusher, defensive line and offensive line positions as needs Jacksonville is expected to address by the end of the draft.

Baalke indicated that the Jaguars aren’t pressed to move up to target a position of need as he believes the board continues to stack up nicely for the club.

But if a trade opportunity presents itself, for the right player at the right value, Jacksonville seemingly intends to pursue it.

“We feel good at the pick we’re at that we’re gonna get a good football player,” Baalke expressed. “So if the opportunity arises and we can move up, we’ll do so. If we stand pat, we’ll do that. And there’s a chance we’ll move back.

“You know, everything’s on the table right now. We feel the board is in good shape, we like a lot of the options that we have in front of us. We’ll just see how the early round goes.”

Day two of the 2024 NFL draft will begin at 7 p.m. ET. The event will be broadcast on ESPN, ABC and NFL Network.