Jaguars trade for Jessie Bates III and Davon Godchaux to chase the AFC

The Jacksonville Jaguars made their bet on this season Monday, acquiring safety Jessie Bates III from the Atlanta Falcons and defensive tackle Davon Godchaux from the New Orleans Saints in separate trades a day before the NFL trade deadline, ESPN reported. At 6-2 with a three-game lead in the AFC South, Jacksonville spent future draft picks to patch two injury holes in a defense that has carried it to the top of the division.

The bigger deal cost a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick. Bates, 29, is in the final year of a four-year, $64 million contract and has played parts of nine seasons with the Falcons and the Cincinnati Bengals. He made the Pro Bowl in 2023, his first season in Atlanta, and has 28 career interceptions, with at least one in every season of his career.

He steps in for starter Eric Murray, who went on injured reserve with a season-ending elbow injury he suffered on the first play of Week 8. Murray did not have an interception or pass breakup this season, but the team valued him as a communicator on the field, ESPN's Michael DiRocco wrote in an analysis of the trade. Bates brings that and better ball skills. He has also missed three games in his nine-year career, while Murray has missed seven since signing with Jacksonville in March 2025.

The secondary needed the help. Injuries to Murray, Caleb Ransaw and Antonio Johnson forced the Jaguars to lean more on a special teams standout and a practice squad player. Both played well, but the numbers show the gap. Jacksonville ranks second in the league in points allowed per game at 15.1, yet 22nd in passing yards allowed at 229 a game. It leads the league in turnover ratio at plus-9 and ranks third with 11 interceptions.

Bates also gives defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile more options. With two safeties who can play close to the line of scrimmage, in base or nickel packages, and a better blitzer than Murray, the coordinator can be more creative, DiRocco wrote. The hope in Jacksonville is that Bates does for the defense what receiver Jakobi Meyers did for the offense after a similar deadline trade last season, a move that keyed a surge to a division title. Getting through the AFC means beating quarterbacks like Buffalo's Josh Allen.

The second trade was cheaper. Jacksonville sent New Orleans a conditional 2028 sixth-round pick that could become a 2027 sixth-rounder if the Jaguars acquire one, according to Pro Football Rumors. Godchaux, 31, replaces nose tackle DaVon Hamilton, who is out for the season with a torn quadriceps. Hamilton was the key to a run defense that ranked first in the NFL when he got hurt. In the first game without him, last Thursday's 33-10 win over Baltimore, the Jaguars gave up a season-high 172 rushing yards, and their run defense slipped to fifth at 89.3 yards a game.

Godchaux, a 10th-year veteran who played for Miami and New England before a trade to the Saints, will start at nose tackle next to Arik Armstead. His role in New Orleans had shrunk this season, and he played only 12 snaps against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. The two acquisitions will use up most of Jacksonville's remaining cap space, Pro Football Rumors reported.

The deal carries a longer-term question. Jacksonville signed Meyers to a three-year extension after last year's trade, so an extension for Bates is not out of the question. But the Jaguars are projected to be $15.4 million over the 2027 salary cap, according to OverTheCap figures cited by ESPN, and still have to weigh a possible new contract for receiver Parker Washington.

For Atlanta, the trade is a bet on the future. The Falcons fell to 3-6 after Sunday's 34-17 loss to the Bengals in Madrid, though they remain one game out of first place in the NFC South. Bates is headed for free agency, and the club was unlikely to re-sign him. New general manager Ian Cunningham has said he wants to build through the draft after Atlanta made just five picks in 2026, and the Falcons project to have the most salary cap space in the league next offseason, more than $142 million, according to Spotrac figures cited by ESPN.

This is the first season for president of football Matt Ryan and coach Kevin Stefanski. Second-year safety Xavier Watts, who had five interceptions as a rookie and has patterned his game after Bates, will take over the role. Young defensive backs Billy Bowman Jr. and Avieon Terrell are also in line for bigger jobs.

The Jaguars play at the 1-7 Tennessee Titans on Sunday. More deadline and contract news is in the Sports Sector, including the Giants' latest cornerback extension.