It might have been the touchdowns allowed at Cincinnati
in Week 2 when he simply wasn't competitive or the touchdown allowed against Houston
in Week 3 when he bit on a relatively mundane double move, or the long completions he allowed against Kansas City last Monday when he showed an overwhelming lack of awareness.
No, the Jaguars
' decision to trade starting cornerback Tyson Campbell to the Cleveland Browns
late Wednesday night wasn't prompted by a single mistake or that he was a brooding teammate or was whining about the defensive system.
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It was about a lack of production, not being a scheme fit, his salary cap hits in 2026 and beyond and maximizing the team's first 4-1 start since 2007.
This was no time for the Jaguars
' brass to get comfortable. It was time to get better in general and better ahead of the Nov. 4 trade deadline in particular.
Out is Campbell less than 16 months after signing a four-year, $76.5 million extension
.
In is cornerback Greg Newsome
II less than six months before he becomes a free agent.
"We felt we got a player in Greg who fits the scheme," general manager James Gladstone told me during an early Thursday morning phone call. "He has what we call, 'Vision of the quarterback,' and has the ability to play the ball more naturally while at the same time, it gives us flexibility for future years knowing that Tyson had a big salary on the books."
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This was a short-term move to help the Jaguars win the AFC South and a long-term move to create spending options in 2027 and beyond and was the Jaguars' first in-season, player-for-player trade since, well … never. This was the first.
Take a bow, Mr. General Manager.
Money, skill set poor match
To use a term from another sport, cornerbacks in the NFL are occasionally "horses for courses." The best guys, the elite guys, the shutdown guys, they can play zone or man, inside or outside and win NFL Defensive Player of the Year like Denver
's Pat Surtain.
The majority of the cornerbacks, though, are scheme-specific. The zone players excel when they have eyes on the quarterback, can read the receiver's route and have great anticipation. The man-coverage players excel when they have their back to the play and have the ability to stick to the receiver and flip their head around for the football at the last minute.
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Campbell, as the first five games showed, was not a find-the-football-and-catch-the-football player. Physical, yes. Fast, sure. Good teammate, of course. But no interceptions in his final 27 games with the Jaguars and the four touchdowns allowed this year was enough evidence to show Gladstone it simply wasn't working. The Jaguars lead the league with 10 interceptions and Campbell didn't have any.
Newsome checks the box for what the Jaguars want.
The other benefit from this deal is financial … but later on.
The Jaguars weren't looking to shed salary – they absorbed the final $9.66 million of Newsome's pro-rated salary this year and, according to a league source, the team will have a $19.5 million "dead" cap hit next year. A significant hit regardless of how much the cap goes up.
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(A sidebar on the Campbell contract: What a ridiculous deal constructed by former general manager Trent Baalke, who was clearly in the mode of handing out extensions to try and convince owner Shad Khan the Jaguars were building through the draft. Why else sign Campbell after his third year?)
For 2027-28, a league source said the Jaguars created nearly $50 million in new combined cap space by trading Campbell. Hello, money for defensive end Travon Walker
's extension or new deals for running back Travis Etienne
or linebacker Devin Lloyd
, agreements that can be reached soon and built to push the big cap hits down the road.
And let's not close the door on Newsome, who has 12 games to see if he loves playing for the Jaguars and the team has 12 games to see if they love having him here.
"Greg is more suited to zone-oriented (defense), which aligns on how we're approaching the game," Gladstone said.
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More deals on way?
How the Jaguars are aligning this season is they're in it to win it.
What a message Gladstone sent to the players and coaches with this deal, a message stating he believes in what they've done over the first five games. This administration will never sit back and be happy with the status quo. We understood that months ago.
Translation: Expect another potential trade or two before the Nov. 4 deadline.
A bonus for the Jaguars in the trade was moving up as many as 50 spots by flipping Philadelphia
's seventh to the Browns
for Cleveland's sixth if the Eagles
continue to win and the Browns continue to lose.
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The Jaguars still have 13 picks in next spring's draft, including three apiece in the fifth and seventh rounds and two in the sixth round.
The Jaguars won't have room for 13 drafted players on next year's roster so Gladstone will continue canvasing the league for rental players. I think the Jaguars need receiver and safety help.
Gladstone has made the deal with 1-4 Cleveland and teams like the New York Jets
and Giants, Miami
, Las Vegas
and New Orleans
could (and should) be looking to off-load veterans for low-round draft picks. Draft picks can be used in October-November for the same kind of benefit if used in late April.
The Jaguars are off to a great start record-wise, run game-wise and takeaway-wise and the general manager rewarded them accordingly by trading for Newsome.
O'Halloran can be reached at rohalloran@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union:
Jacksonville Jaguars trade shows they aren't just feel-good story
