The Jacksonville Jaguars may be surprisingly willing to trade a player they invested a lot of draft capital in little more than a year ago.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, multiple teams believe the Jaguars are willing to trade cornerback C.J. Henderson, the ninth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Henderson and the team do not appear to have any issues with each other, but the Jaguars are content with their other cornerbacks and may be willing to move him.
A surprise: Multiple team execs believe #Jaguars corner C.J. Henderson — the ninth overall pick in 2020 — is available via trade. Jacksonville has given impression in some league circles that it's shopping Henderson, a high-pedigree player one year into rookie deal.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) August 8, 2021
A source says things are good with the team and Henderson, who just returned from the Covid-19/reserve list. So maybe they hold onto him. But the team likes its corners and Henderson would have interest.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) August 8, 2021
It’s not often that a team appears willing to trade a top-ten pick after just one year, especially when there don’t appear to be any issues at play. Henderson was unable to make a huge impact as a rookie after suffering an injury eight games into the year which required offseason surgery. Jacksonville also drafted cornerback Tyson Campbell 33rd overall, and brought back both Sidney Jones and Tre Herndon from last year.
Regardless of how justified it is, it’s not a great look to trade a former high draft pick so quickly, even if it was a previous regime that made the selection. Maybe it fits with Urban Meyer’s win-now mentality, and they’re not interested in waiting to develop Henderson.
