It's really happening...

Thursday night, the Jacksonville Jaguars went into Baltimore and won by 23 points and nine different players caught a target. And the guy who made the Pro Bowl as a rookie got zero. Not zero catches, but zero targets. Two years ago, Brian Thomas Jr. had 1,282 receiving yards in his rookie season. And this season, through eight games, he has only 117. That's less than he had game as a rookie and every time his name comes up in a trade rumor there's one team sitting next to it and it's the Pittsburgh Steelers with a breakdown some new reports that have dropped and discuss how folks it's more real than it ever has been surrounding the Steelers acquiring Brian Thomas Jr. ahead of the deadline this Tuesday at 4 p.m eastern because nobody falls this far this fast without a reason and let's look at his yards year by year 1282 as a rookie rookie 707 last year, 117 this year. Per game, that's about 75.4 yards as a rookie, down to 14.6 now. And he isn't even on the field. He played 78% of his snaps last year. This year, it's only 44. And Parker Washington, he leads that room with almost 500 receiving yards. Then Jacoby Myers, and that's before you even count Travis Hunter. So this isn't just a slump. It is a team in Jacksonville that is winning games, and they're winning it without him. And in London, they sat him for the entire second half, and his coach, Doug Pederson, said that he needs to play better. Then following that in his last four games, he has a combined 12 yards, one catch, seven targets. And over the last three games before Thursday, Parker Washington got 21 targets. Brenton Strange got 17 targets. Myers, 16. Thomas, 7. And the part that gets a lot of people is that before the Colts game, Cohen said he was going to help us make plays this week. I bet it. I know it. And then he barely even played. He caught one pass for 12 yards that day and then yesterday he caught absolutely nothing. And to his credit, he's not complaining. He said everybody goes through adversity. You've just got to keep fighting through it. And even Trevor Lawrence said that he'd been impressed with the way that he's handled himself and that he's worked harder and kept his head down. Now, one NFL executive told Fox Sports, I love Thomas as a rookie. I don't know what happened and I don't think anyone knows what happened, but there is one Important aspect here, in Jacksonville, he might be a problem, but in Pittsburgh, he could be the answer to a big problem that they're facing on their own. Now, before everyone says, you know, BTJ's washed, he's not that good, let's rewind a couple of years. Now, I've covered on the channel before, he was fantastic as a rookie, 87 passes, good for almost 1,300 yards, 10 touchdowns. This year, he has no games over 40. His best day was Las Vegas in December, 2024, when he put up 132 yards. He's a deep threat. He's a guy that kind of excites exactly what this Pittsburgh Steelers offense doesn't have and what they need. The talent doesn't just disappear in two years. It seems that the role has now, again, he hasn't been fantastic ever since that rookie year, but if you're the Steelers now, it's more clear than ever that he's going to be available. I cannot see a world where Jacksonville keeps him, even though they're winning, they're not using him. So the question isn't whether he can play. I think it's whether or not he's going to get an opportunity on this deal. The Steelers team that still has a guy like Jeremy Bernard. Now, why are the Pittsburgh Steelers linked so much? And it's because they aren't necessarily, you know, shopping for their future here. They're 6-2 top of the AFC North, but it's a very tight division between Cincinnati being a half game back at 5-2, the Browns who the Steelers just beat being 5-3, and we look at who's catching the ball. It's not Michael Pittman Jr., it's not Roman Wilson. I mean, it's DK Metcalf to a degree. He had four yards last game, but he leads the team with 378 yards, and he's the only Steelers receiver with over 300. And even he's been a letdown. He's been targeted 64 times, which is the most on the team. And Graziano called it a disappointing season. And Rodgers, people are saying he needs a second guy that defenses actually have to worry about. Because right now, if you take away Metcalf, realistically, Rodgers is thrown to tight ends. Darnell Washington, obviously Pat Fryermuth, and you have Jeremy Bernard as well, but he's still a rookie. And stuff like that will work in games in October, especially against mediocre teams. But it's not going to work in January. And honestly, it's something we saw last year when they played the Texans in the playoffs. And got absolutely dominated. The next four names on the list for receiving yards are a running back, two tight ends, and Jeremy Bernard at 284. So the hole is a second receiver behind Metcalf, and I think even if you don't want to, if you're super high, rather, on Jeremy Bernard as a WR2, I still think Brian Thomas Jr. could have an interesting role. But again, one of the question marks is, you have Michael Pittman Jr., what do you do with him? Now ESPN's Dan Graziano says, Pittsburgh believes it has the defense, the run game, and the line to make a real run in Aaron Rodgers' final season. It just needs a pass catcher. And NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah. Maya said it straight, Brian Thomas Jr. is the one that would make the most sense. Then he added, I don't know if Jacksonville will be willing to do that in conference, and remember, both teams are in the AFC, so again, he fits, but there's also other teams that are interested. As Michael Florio reported, the Chiefs, the Steelers, and the Commanders all have interest in Thomas, but he also reported the Steelers have greater interest in Colts receiver Josh Downs. Here's the twist here. Downs is the Chiefs' backup plan if they can't get Thomas. So the Steelers and the Chiefs are basically targeting the same players, but it seems that Downs is more likely to go to the Steelers, and we'll kind of see what happens with the Chiefs. But at the end of the day, it's two teams, two receivers. So whatever Kansas City picks, Pittsburgh might get the other one because obviously the Chiefs have a bit more draft capital and even insiders can't really agree right now. Some people have Thomas going to Kansas City. Eric Williams of ESPN or Fox has obviously Pittsburgh landing Brian Thomas Jr. So there are a lot of teams involved and I think it'll come down to a who the Steelers like more, which in turn kind of brings me to point B. They're willing to overpay for. We even have former offensive coordinator Todd Haley saying on our radio, Get Brian Thomas Jr. Don't wait for the Chiefs to get him. And then Jeremy Fowler says the teams that are interested are confident Jacksonville will eventually move him. And he also wrote that Jacksonville must make a firm decision because Rappaport says he's an area of interest for a lot of other teams. I mean, surely after another game yesterday where they dominated the Ravens, albeit a Mickey Mouse Raven squad, they need to go out and actually move him. I mean, he's not getting any. Now, the question will be, how much will he cost? The Athletics' Jonathan Jones said he'd likely get a Jackson Day 2 pick, which is a second or a third. You have Yahoo! Jory's Epstein saying that a third-round pick is roughly what the league expects, and other people are saying a third or a fourth. And Florio put the problem in one sentence. The price tag doesn't reflect his current usage, and that's the problem here. If Jacksonville is pricing him like he was as a rookie, no one else is actually going to pay that. Now his salary is very favorable. Next year, it's going to be 2.79 million. This year, it's 1.07. Compare that next to DK and some of the other guys. You're not just adding a receiver who has upside, but you're adding someone who costs basically next to nothing to pair with DK Metcalf, which means you wouldn't have to rush it. You also have the option of a fifth year, which is the team decision. So Downs costs about the same, right? If you're comparing the two. But at the end of the day here, the reports from Fox and other insiders at ESPN are saying that Downs is going to cost about a third round pick, but he's a free agent in March. So for the same pick... One is a rental, one is a three-year bet. Pittsburgh has the picks. They own two second rounders, or rather two third rounders in 2027 and two second rounders in 2028. And let's rewind back to last year when Mark Cabaly reported that the Steelers did indeed call Jacksonville about Thomas before last year's deadline. It fell through. So the money works, the picks are there. It's just going to be who blinks first. Now, what's the holdout here? The GM, James Gladstone, called reports that they were shopping him fraudulent a while ago, back in March. And after Thursday, Jacksonville radio host Brent Martineau said, I still feel like Brian Thomas Jr. is going to be here past Tuesday. So, there is four days, but what doesn't make sense is, obviously, they're winning games. They're not winning them because of Brian Thomas Jr. And it makes really no sense for them to keep him, hold a rookie kind of, or not a rookie, a former really good rookie kind of hostage here just because they might use him. here and there. He is signed through 2027, so maybe Jacksonville sees upside beyond that. And Jacksonville does have to decide on the fifth year option for 2028 this offseason. If you pick it up, you're paying for a guy you don't throw to. If you decline it, you're trading him with less value than he has now. And at the end of the day, every single week that he sits, folks, his price drops, which is exactly why teams like Pittsburgh are calling now. My take is that they should go ahead and just probably pay the third-round pick, maybe the fourth-round pick for him. His value is going to continue to plummet, but you can't wait anymore. The Jacksonville Jaguars don't have another game in between now and the trade deadline because this is the lowest point you'll get Brian Thomas Jr., and if you don't act on him or Josh Downs soon, another team that are maybe more desperate like the Kansas City Chiefs who really are without a bunch of their receivers will act because if they wait, Kansas City picks first, then the Steelers will be left with leftovers. Let me know down below what your thoughts are. See you later.