2025 NFL Draft: As decision-makers resoundingly doubt Jaguars’ trade for Travis Hunter, Jacksonville stands by ‘bold’ strategy

The reviews were surprisingly unanimous. And surprisingly … surprising.

“Huge value grab by CLV,” one NFC executive texted.

“Horrible trade” for Jacksonville, an AFC assistant chimed in. “They gave up so much. They are trying to be smarter than everyone.”

Perhaps it was jealousy. Or perhaps a league rooted in its systems and traditions will turn out to be right that prevailing wisdom could have saved the Jacksonville Jaguars from a whiff.

But contrary to the fan perspective on Jacksonville trading up from the fifth to second overall pick of the 2025 NFL Draft to select Colorado wide receiver/defensive back Travis Hunter, coaches and front-office members across the league consistently panned the trade.

Sources from seven different teams preferred the Cleveland Browns’ outcome, they told Yahoo Sports. The Browns drafted Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham fifth overall while adding a high 2025 second-round pick and a 2026 first-round pick, in addition to swapping picks 104 and 200 for 126.

The league respects Hunter’s skillset and character, expecting a successful career from him. But coaches and executives questioned the cost Jacksonville paid.

One NFC assistant considered what it would take for the Jaguars to prove the lost draft capital was worth jumping three spots.

“Make Trevor [Lawrence] legit," the assistant texted. “If that happens it was worth it.”

Otherwise?

“Jax got hosed. Unless he’s a hall of famer.”

So how did this shocking trade happen?

Travis Hunter meant more to Jaguars than he did to Browns

The Jaguars and Browns worked through this trade for “the better part of two weeks,” Jacksonville general manager James Gladstone said in a news conference late Thursday night.

Both sides were intimately familiar with the cost of surrendering first-round picks.

Cleveland dealt a haul that included three first-round selections for quarterback Deshaun Watson in 2022, a move that team ownership recently characterized as “a swing and a miss.” Gladstone grew up in the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams, who famously won a Super Bowl with general manager Les Snead’s aggressive strategy that has become affectionately known as “f*** them picks.”

“I’ve probably got some familiarity with the f***-them-picks sort of process,” Gladstone said. “So for our fans, I’ll tell you: Don’t be scared. This is something I’m uniquely positioned to navigate. We ended up bringing Travis Hunter to Jacksonville.”

The Jaguars prioritized acquiring the generational two-way player because they believe he will elevate the club on and off the field, with first-round-worthy traits at both receiver and cornerback.

Catch passes and exploit zones in the defense as a sly receiver? Head coach Liam Coen and Gladstone expect that from their new Jaguar. Find the ball and swipe it from opponents’ possession? Club brass expect to see that, too.

The Jaguars charted a vision in concert with coaches, personnel evaluators, athletic trainers, sports scientists and equipment staff. That vision could change.

“We’ll have a plan right now of [him] primarily on offense with learning the defensive system and practicing on the defensive side of the ball as well throughout this offseason program,” Coen said. “As we continue to grow, we have to be fluid throughout this whole process.”

Coen and Gladstone know that line one needs to be elevating 2021 No. 1 overall pick Lawrence from the good player he’s been to the generational player many thought he would become. They’re banking on the addition of generationally expected player plus generally expected player to equal generational team performance.

“We have a plan in place,” Coen said, “and that’s really where we’ll start.”

The Browns, meanwhile, needed significant capital to restock a roster still hurting from the picks they lost in the Watson trade that didn’t pay off.

General manager Andrew Berry’s goal with the second overall pick was “to make the maximum impact on the team.” (For those wondering whether Hunter would have been his choice at two, Berry quipped: “That’s going to have to go to my grave.”)

Graham excels as an interior rusher who can play the inline run game and stretch zones, one NFC executive told Yahoo Sports. He’s “a great fit for the ‘attack’ front at three tech[nique],” another AFC assistant said.

The Browns and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz value attacking defensive linemen who “use movement, quickness, power to really re-establish the line of scrimmage, get upfield and ultimately rush the passer,” Berry said. Cleveland expects Graham will disrupt quarterbacks with his knack for penetration.

“To move down three spots, still get a top-notch prospect in the trenches, adding a pick in what we view is the sweet spot for this year’s draft class, and adding a first-round pick next year in a class that quite frankly we think will be stronger in the first 30 picks?” Berry said. “Both in the short term and over a multi-year time horizon, it was a fit for what we wanted to do.”

Could Jaguars and Browns both eventually win? For now, Hunter benefits most

In the long run, there may not have to be a loser in this trade.

The Jaguars took a bold trade that league decision-makers question. It could still pay off.

The Browns opted for a less sexy first round than many anticipated. They, too, could be better off for it.

Cleveland understood the reality of its roster and team lifecycle, knowing winning in 2025 is not actually the most important thing right now. Rebuilding a team that has faltered comes first. A defensive line with Graham alongside star edge rusher Myles Garrett concerns AFC North opponents and more. There’s patience to their strategy that contrasts the approach of the New York Giants, who selected Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter third overall before doubling back to No. 25 to take Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart.

Jacksonville, meanwhile, was comfortable splashing for Hunter rather than “settling” for a fifth overall player along the lines of running back Ashton Jeanty or an elite offensive lineman.

Gladstone did not seem perturbed in the aftermath. He knew he was charting a new course, and philosophized with phraseology and mannerisms reminiscent of Snead as he explained his difference in opinion from most of the league.

“Over the course of your life, you experience moments in which you didn’t do something out of fear,” Gladstone said, “and you also experience the moments where you take the leap, and begin to level and balance the sensations that come with each. I know every step that I didn’t take related to fear I regretted.

“So that’s not something I intend on doing the rest of my life.”

It’s too soon to say whether the Jaguars will be better off. But it seems likely, especially in 2025, that Hunter’s ceiling is higher with Lawrence and the Jaguars than it would have been this year in quarterback-wilderness Cleveland.

Gladstone said the strategy driving this move wasn’t a one-off. Instead, consider it an indicator of Jacksonville’s ethos to come.

“This was certainly a statement of how we plan to move, how we plan to operate,” Gladstone said. “When there’s an opportunity to be bold, we’re not going to flinch.”