The Jacksonville Jaguars may be closer to moving on from Brian Thomas Jr. than anyone expected a month ago. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported Saturday that several teams around the league believe the third-year wide receiver could be traded before the Nov. 10 deadline, noting that Thomas has no catches over the past two weeks and that “something has to give.”
Thomas was the breakout star of the 2024 draft class, finishing his rookie year with 87 catches for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns. Now he is buried in a receiver room that has moved on without him, and the Jaguars (4-2 and leading the AFC South heading into their bye week) are suddenly facing a roster question with real trade-market consequences.
From Rookie Star to Benched in London
The slide has been steep. Thomas had 48 catches for 707 yards and two touchdowns across 14 games in 2025, a sharp drop from his rookie output. This season he has nine receptions for 105 yards and one touchdown through six games, and all of that production came in the first four weeks. He caught three passes for 40 yards in Week 1, three for 40 in Week 2, one for eight in Week 3 and two for 17 with a touchdown in Week 4. Against the Eagles in Week 5 and the Texans in Week 6, he finished with zero catches.
The Week 6 game was the low point. In the 34-31 loss to Houston at Wembley Stadium, Thomas played a season-low 15 snaps after a drop and two missed connections in the first half, and head coach Liam Coen sat him for the entire second half. Asked about it afterward, Coen said “guys have to step up and make plays,” and described the receiver rotation as a week-to-week decision rather than pointing to an injury. Thomas has zero catches on five targets over the last two games.
Fowler framed the situation bluntly. Jacksonville has resisted trade interest in the past because of Thomas’s talent and deep-threat ability, but the team now has other options. Josh Cameron, a sixth-round pick in April, has earned a growing share of snaps, Jakobi Meyers and Parker Washington lead the wideout group, and Travis Hunter has shown he can contribute on offense while also playing cornerback. The Jaguars’ use of multiple-tight-end sets has squeezed the outside receiver snaps even further. Fowler named Kansas City as a team that has been looking around for a receiver, with Pittsburgh also interested to some extent.
Another possible landing spot has been floated by Sports Illustrated’s John Shipley, who pointed to Washington after the Commanders lost Terry McLaurin to a knee injury. Quarterback Jayden Daniels was Thomas’s passer during their final seasons at LSU, which adds a familiar connection to that speculation. That is analysis, not a report of active talks, but it shows how quickly a team in need could emerge.
What the Betting Market Is Saying
Thomas’s fall shows up clearly in the numbers prop bettors care about. A published projection model earlier this month had him pegged for 64.5 receiving yards in a favorable matchup, with an illustrative sportsbook line of 57.5 yards. Through six games he is averaging 17.5 yards per game, and he has not topped 8 yards in any game since Week 2. For anyone watching receiving-yardage markets, his overs are tough to justify at any realistic number while his snap count sits where it is.
The bigger market question is about the team. Preseason win totals for Jacksonville were posted in the 7.5 to 8.5 range depending on the book, and at 4-2 the Jaguars are already well on their way to clearing the lower of those numbers. Preseason division odds had the Jaguars at +320 at one outlet and +218 at another, trailing the Texans at the time, and the Week 6 loss to Houston kept the race tight. Those are preseason prices rather than current lines, so check live odds before drawing conclusions, but the direction is clear: Jacksonville has outperformed expectations with Thomas contributing very little.
That is the key betting takeaway. If the offense is winning without him, a trade barely moves Jacksonville’s futures, while a team that adds him could see a modest bump in its passing-game outlook. Kansas City and Pittsburgh would be the clearest cases, as would Washington if it decides to chase a receiver. Any move would also reshape the player prop market overnight. A change of scenery, particularly one that gives him a quarterback he trusts and a defined role, would turn a dormant prop line into one worth watching again.
The Jaguars return from the bye on Nov. 1 against the Colts in a division game that matters for the AFC South race. How Thomas is used in that matchup, and whether the Jaguars are still holding him when the Nov. 10 deadline arrives, will likely tell us everything we need to know. Jacksonville has said no before, but with his role shrinking week by week, the case for saying yes has never been stronger.
