The Jacksonville Jaguars will get their 2023 NFL season underway in Week 1 by traveling to the Midwest to face their AFC South rival, the Indianapolis Colts on the league’s opening Sunday. There are several Jaguars trades that the team could make before then. Jacksonville could look for another wide receiver or add depth to the offensive line. But the best move the team can make with Week 1 on the horizon is to improve their secondary, especially at the safety position. That is why Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker is the player to target for a last-minute Jaguars trade before Week 1 of the new season.

The Jaguars must trade for S Budda Baker before Week 1 of the upcoming season

The Jaguars made the playoffs in 2023 for the first time since 2017 and for just the fourth time this century. Trevor Lawrence and company then shocked the NFL world by pulling off a miraculous comeback to beat the Los Angeles Chargers and move on to the second round.

That team was just the ninth franchise in NFL history to go from having the No. 1 pick in the draft to making the playoffs in the same year. Now, the team has to build on that success, and the defense is a huge part of that.

In 2022, the defense in Jacksonville was solid. The Jaguars D ranked 12th in the league in scoring and sixth in takeaways, but 24th in yards allowed.

As the Jaguars head into Week 1 of the new season, the defense is again looking pretty good (although not elite). The team already has a solid core, which is why they didn’t draft a defender until the fourth round of the 2023 draft.

Jacksonville has Folorunso Fatukasi and Roy Robertson-Harris up front, with pass-rushers Josh Allen and Travon Walker coming off the edge. Linebackers Devin Lloyd and Foyesade Oluokun are both up-and-coming stars, and at cornerback, Tyson Campbell, Tre Herndon, and Darious Williams do a solid job.

At safety, Andre Cisco is a young player who is improving every season and fits in well with the rest of the defense. Rayshawn Jenkins, on the other hand, is a player that the Jacksonville front office could think about upgrading. He had a career year last season, but was that for real?

While the Jaguars could use an upgrade at safety ahead of Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season, the Cardinals are going the other way. The team is having a fire sale. In the span of a few hours on Thursday, the team made three trades. They sent LB/S Isaiah Simmons to the New York Giants, offensive lineman Josh Jones to the Houston Texans, and brought in Cleveland Browns quarterback Joshua Dobbs.

The first two moves are cleaning house, and the third one indicates the team doesn’t think Kyler Murray will be returning from his ACL injury anytime soon and has no backup plan at QB.

All this means more trades could be imminent, and All-Pro safety Budda Baker could be the next to go. He’s already requested a trade once this offseason, and if Arizona is trying to tank (as it seems like the team is), then Baker would fetch a nice return.

This is a win-win deal that would upgrade the Jaguars secondary at a position of need and bring in a veteran leader and a playmaker to help the whole locker room as it tries to make the next step to Super Bowl contender. That’s why the Jaguars should strongly consider this trade before Week 1 of the new season.