Let the Brian Thomas Jr. rumors resurface. Jacksonville has essentially iced him out of the scheme and turned their attention to getting Parker Washington as much attention on the offense as possible. Thomas has less than 100 receiving yards this year in three games and doesn’t have more than three receptions in any other game. While the Jaguars could benefit from having multiple weapons, it feels like at this point, Thomas is better suited with another team that could use him more than Jacksonville.
The Las Vegas Raiders, New England Patriots and the San Francisco 49ers all have reason to dabble in the wide receiver market. Could Thomas be on their radars already? We’re roughly a month into the season, meaning there’s about a month until the NFL’s trade deadline. Here’s what it would take for each of these three teams to lure Thomas away from Jacksonville.
Las Vegas Raiders
Las Vegas doesn’t have hardly any Day 3 draft capital to work with in 2027 and isn’t really in the position to cough up all of its Day 3 picks. They swap picks with Jacksonville to keep a fifth round pick in 2027 while also surrendering a sixth rounder in 2028. The Raiders have been linked to Thomas throughout the offseason and preseason if the Jags were going to move on from him. They need help in their receiver room and Thomas is a great asset to start with.
Tre Tucker is currently the Raiders’ top receiver with 189 receiving yards through the first three games. With Thomas, this offense gets a weapon that can find a productive role in the offense. Kirk Cousins has been playing well to start his Raiders tenure and has relied heavily on the tight ends for passing production, with a combined 203 yards between the two of them this season. Thomas would be the perfect addition to this receiver room to give it a much-needed spark.
New England Patriots
New England had a busy offseason shoring up their receiver room just for Romeo Doubs to have some early struggles and A.J. Brown got hit with a hamstring injury that sent him to the injured reserve list. The result? The Patriots are 1-2 and Drake Maye is under a lot of criticism already. That leads them to needing immediate help in the receiver room, i.e., Thomas. This is a particularly low-cost move.
It would cost them at least one Day 3 pick and in this deal I did two, in the event the Jaguars value Thomas as a fifth-round value. Thomas isn’t going to be the impact player they were expecting Brown to be, but he could help stop the bleeding and give Maye a real weapon with Doubs’ early season struggles. Doubs was non-existent against Seattle but has 145 receiving yards in the last two games. He needs help and Thomas could be enough of a buffer to hold New England over until Brown gets back.
San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco needs receiver help badly. De’Zhaun Stribling, Ricky Pearsall and Christian Kirk are all on IR. Mike Evans is listed as questionable this week with a rib injury. It’s one more reason why the 49ers can’t be content with their current receiver room. Sure, Deebo Samuel is doing enough for now, but this isn’t sustainable if the 49ers want to be serious playoff contenders. That’s why Thomas could be the answer they need.
It’s a low-risk, high-reward type of deal. They need receiver depth and Thomas gives them that. At worst, he’s just a depth player that doesn’t really add to this offense like he hoped. At best, he takes pressure off Evans and Samuel and revives his career. Because he has a lot to prove after not building on his rookie season with the Jags. This might be the one team where it’s mutually beneficial to get a move done quickly. In New England he could quickly fall to the background when Brown gets back and in Las Vegas he might not become their preferred target.
In San Francisco, they need him more than the other teams. They’re going to do everything they can to get him the ball and diversify this offense, which Kyle Shanahan is very good at.
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