Jaguars GM forced a second GM to tip his hand
Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke made headlines earlier this month when it was revealed that he forced Bills general manager Brandon Beane to reveal details about who he was picking before he agreed to trade down. As it turns out, that wasn't the only time that Baalke made a general manager give up what […]
Jacksonville Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke made headlines earlier this month when it was revealed that he forced Bills general manager Brandon Beane to reveal details about who he was picking before he agreed to trade down.
As it turns out, that wasn't the only time that Baalke made a general manager give up what he was going for while discussing a trade.
New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen also was put on the spot by Baalke about who they were moving up to take. The Jaguars ultimately traded down from 24 to 25 with the Giants, then traded down again from 25 to 27 with the Bills.
The Giants released video on Thursday of the call from the draft in which Schoen and Baalke discussed the trade.
After seeing the Chargers pick WR Quentin Johnson from TCU with the 21st pick, Schoen noted that he thought the Ravens would take a cornerback – presumably Deonte Banks from Maryland who the Giants eventually selected. The Ravens instead went with WR Zay Flowers at 22. The Vikings were up, and Schoen seemed confident enough the Vikings would take Jordan Addison, which they did.
Then the phone rang for Baalke, and it was Schoen, who was nervous that either Kansas City or Buffalo was going to jump them and trade with Jacksonville for Banks. Schoen seemingly knew – presumably from their prior conversations – that who Baalke wanted was on the offensive side of the ball, as he simply stated, "you've got my word, it's defense."
And so Jacksonville moved down one spot and collected two additional draft picks: 160th overall (5th round) and 240th (7th round). The move recouped the 5th-round pick the team parted with as part of the Calvin Ridley trade in November 2022. With the 160th pick, the team selected Texas A&M safety Antonio Johnson, thought by some to be one of the potential steals of the draft.
Baalke then traded down again with Buffalo after getting Beane to give him some details on who he was drafting. Baalke picked up the 130th overall pick (4th round) to move down two spots, which he used to select versatile DE Tyler Lacy out of Oklahoma State. Lacy has a large frame, can play inside or at end, and can bring a pass rushing presence from straight up the middle.
So Baalke moved down not once, but twice while getting opposing GMs to give him info on they were doing, still drafted the offensive tackle he was looking for, and added two potential contributors on defense.
Not bad at all.
