The Jacksonville Jaguars made their move a day before Tuesday’s trade deadline. On Monday they acquired safety Jessie Bates III from the Atlanta Falcons for a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick, pending a physical. The Falcons restructured Bates’ contract before the deal was completed. Bates broke the news himself before either team announced it. “WOKE UP A JAGUAR!” he posted on X.
A few hours later, head coach Liam Coen spent most of his regular Monday video news conference talking about his new safety. He said there was little homework to do because people who had coached or played with Bates kept contacting the Jaguars about him.
Liam Coen’s full Monday news conference on the Jessie Bates III trade. Video: Jacksonville Jaguars on YouTube. Quotes are from the Jaguars’ and Falcons’ Monday news conferences and the teams’ official announcements.
“Pretty much a no-brainer”
“It’s pretty cool to see the amount of people that have reached out to us versus the amount of homework we had to actually do on people that he worked with,” Coen said. “So it was pretty much a no-brainer from that standpoint.” He added: “The amount of text messages I’ve received from people that have been around him, coached him, been in the building with him, all I’ve heard is that he makes people around him better.”
Coen knows Bates from the other sideline. As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator in 2024 he game-planned against him twice. “The playmaker that he is, competed against them twice a year in Atlanta, there in Tampa, so much impact on a game, right?” Coen said. “He punched out balls against us, critical interceptions, had 14 tackles yesterday. Then the human being and the competitor that we look at thinks that it’ll be a really good fit in the locker room, culturally.”
Asked what he sees on tape, Coen gave a list: “Instincts, awareness, route recognition, concept ID, sure tackler at the second and third levels, you know, ability to see things before they happen.” He also pointed to the 14 tackles Bates made in Sunday’s 34-17 loss to the Bengals in Madrid. “I gotta believe our open-field tackling and space tackling improved today,” he said.
Not a “coming-to-Jesus moment” about the secondary
The Jaguars are 6-2 and lead the AFC South by three games after beating the Ravens 33-10 on Thursday night. Coen said the trade did not come out of panic about the secondary, even though Jacksonville lost starting safety Eric Murray for the season with an elbow injury and also has Caleb Ransaw on injured reserve. Kaevon Merriweather and Rayuan Lane III have been filling in.
“It wasn’t necessarily like a coming-to-Jesus moment where you’re like, ‘Oh, the secondary,’” Coen said. “It was more just over the span of the season, and obviously losing Eric, and I think Kaevon and Rayuan, and those guys have filled in really nicely for us, and the opportunity to get, arguably, a top-5 player at this position to continue to help us evolve and ascend was the whole point of it all.”
Coen compared Bates to Jakobi Meyers, the receiver Jacksonville added in a midseason trade in 2025. He also pointed out that Bates reached Super Bowl LVI with the Bengals. “Anytime you add a veteran player that’s been a captain, been a leader … that’s helpful,” he said. “He was on a team that went to the Super Bowl in 2021 so he knows what that looks like and what it takes to ultimately get there.”
Durability was part of it too. Bates has started all 139 NFL games he has played for the Bengals and Falcons. “It’s a physical, volatile position,” Coen said. “We always say in the NFL, right? The best ability is availability, and that is a real thing … at the end of the day, I think we got better today.”
On getting Bates ready for Sunday’s game at Tennessee, Coen said the work will mostly be about language rather than football. “It’s more the checks and balances in between plays, the communication from two-by-two to three-by-one, the motions, the checks, our verbiage,” he said. “Cover three to cover four … he’ll understand and know and be able to play those, line up and play.”
General manager James Gladstone said in the team’s announcement: “Jessie has been a proven playmaker on the defensive side of the ball for the last 8+ seasons. His skillset complements our style of play and the person he is aligns with our culture.”
Stefanski: “In no way, shape or form would we punt on this season”
In Atlanta, head coach Kevin Stefanski was asked what trading his captain says to Falcons fans. Like every team in the NFC South, the Falcons have three wins. “I think our fans are smart enough to know that in no way, shape or form would we punt on this season,” Stefanski said. “Obviously, not where we want to be. We want to play better, but we’re very much in the thick of this thing and we trust in the guys that we have. I understand the question, and I understand the question in light of the trade.”
“There is that business of football,” he said. “Guys are traded. Guys leave in free agency. Guys get injured. All of the above. It’s our job as coaches and players to navigate those times. Do you have to step up when you lose somebody? Absolutely. And it’s never just one person.” Stefanski said the decision came out of talks with general manager Ian Cunningham and president of football Matt Ryan. “Obviously, I know there is a short-term and long-term tension there. I get that part of it. But feel really, really comfortable in how we landed at our decision.”
Bates, 29, is in the last year of the four-year, $64 million contract he signed with Atlanta in 2023. He leaves with 14 interceptions for the Falcons, three of them returned for touchdowns. This season he has one interception, three forced fumbles and a fumble-return touchdown. Since he entered the league in 2018, no safety has more passes defensed (74) or forced fumbles (14). Xavier Watts, Sydney Brown and DeMarcco Hellams are now the only safeties on Atlanta’s active roster. Bates posted his own goodbye: “ATL Forever Grateful!”
The Falcons’ farewell video for Jessie Bates III. Video: Atlanta Falcons on YouTube.
Godchaux joins him
Later on Monday, Jacksonville made a trade with a second NFC South team. The Jaguars acquired defensive tackle Davon Godchaux from the New Orleans Saints for a conditional sixth-round pick, again pending a physical. Godchaux, 31 and in his 10th season, adds depth inside with DaVon Hamilton already on injured reserve with a quad injury. “Much like Jessie, he has been a productive player in this league for a number of years and provides stability up front to further solidify our defensive line,” Gladstone said.
The Jaguars play at the 1-7 Titans on Sunday. The trade deadline is Tuesday.
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