Jacksonville Jaguars general manager James Gladstone speaks during a press conference at Miller Electric Center Tuesday, April 15, 2025 in Jacksonville, Fla. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Jaguars' James Gladstone: The Baby Faced Assassin

Originally posted on Jacksonville Jaguars on SI
By Brock Vierra | Last updated Apr 25, 2025 2:00 PM ET

In the greatest film to hate, Kevin Costner's Draft Day, the fictitious general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars was portrayed as a nervous, naive, baffoon.

The current general manager of the Jacksonville Jaguars, James Gladstone, just showed the NFL that despite his youthful appearance and young age, he is not to be taken lightly.

The last executive hired in the 2025 offseason, Gladstone got a late start to his preparations, having his introductory press conference one day before the NFL Combine.

Did he care? No. What did he do? Make arguably the biggest draft day move of the 21st century to select one of the most athletically gifted, talented, hard-working, humble players in football history,

The Jaguars moved up from No. 5, giving up the No. 5 pick, the No. 36 pick, the No. 126 pick, and a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. He just fleeced Browns general manager Andrew Berry with that move.

This wasn't a trade to move up three spots; this was a trade to acquire a franchise-changing player, and he did it for pennies on the dollar.

Maybe it's mean. Maybe it's wrong to say, but the Browns are not exactly the hardest team to get the best of. I mean, this is a team who traded three first-round picks and gave a fully guaranteed five year/ $230 million fully guaranteed contract to DeShaun Watson.

At that time, the Watson was already a risky bet. And to this point, it is clear the Browns have had to do damage control to rebuild their roster and cache of draft picks since the deal.

In the three years since, Watson has only played in 19 total games with a record of 9-10 so it's safe to say Berry isn't the sharpest tool in the NFL shed.

Gladstone, a man in his early 30s, smelt the blood in the water and pounced.

The Browns may walk away from this draft with successful players, but Gladstone just put his team in Super Bowl contention with one move. A player like Hunter should not be as cheap as the Jaguars got him for, but that's what happens when you hire a baby faced assassin.