The Jacksonville Jaguars surprised many observers by trading linebacker Joe Schobert to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday, and the details of how it happened are a bit different depending on who you talk to.
On Sunday, Schobert admitted that from his perspective, the trade “came out of the blue.” The 27-year-old, who signed as a free agent with Jacksonville a year ago, added that he spoke to some of his defensive coaches who were also “shocked” by the trade.
Schobert said Jaguars GM Trent Baalke had told him that the Steelers had called 12 hours before the trade and were “persistent” in their desire to land the linebacker.
“I wouldn’t put you in it if it wasn’t a good situation for you and your family, coming up to Pittsburgh, good team,'” Schobert said Baalke told him, via Brooke Pryor of ESPN. “That’s what I was told.”
Comments made by Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, however, suggest things happened differently.
“It presented itself to us, but it didn’t take us long to consider it because we’re highly familiar with his skill set and productivity,” Tomlin said.
If the trade presented itself to the Steelers, then the Jaguars were likely shopping Schobert around the league. It doesn’t really match with the notion that the Steelers were aggressively trying to get Schobert and spent a day wearing the Jaguars down. Considering the price to get Schobert was only a sixth-round pick, it also suggests the Jaguars didn’t put a high premium on getting top-level value for the linebacker.
Baalke hasn’t always been popular with his players. It probably doesn’t matter all that much that these stories slightly differ, but it’s a bit weird that the Jaguars might be that anxious to get rid of Schobert considering his age and productivity.
