Jacksonville Jaguars trade for Minnesota Vikings guard Ezra Cleveland
Ahead of Tuesday’s 4 p.m. NFL trade deadline, the Jacksonville Jaguars reinforced their offensive line by trading for Minnesota Vikings guard Ezra Cleveland. In exchange, the Vikings received a 2024 sixth-round draft pick from the Jaguars.
Cleveland was a second-round pick by the Vikings in the 2020 NFL Draft. Throughout his two-and-a-half years with the team, he started 49 of his 53 career games. Through the first six games of this season, he had earned a 70.4 pass-blocking grade from Pro Football Focus and allowed just one sack on 248 pass-blocking snaps.
He joins a Jaguars’ offensive line that has allowed 19 sacks in eight games. He will likely take over for Tyler Shatley at left guard with Pro Bowler Brandon Scherff manning the starting right guard spot.
READ MORE
Nov. 9 (UPI) — Former front-office executive and coach Tom Coughlin will be inducted into the Jacksonville Jaguars ring of honor in 2024, the franchise announced Thursday afternoon.
“It means a great deal to me, it really does,” Coughlin said in a video posted by the Jaguars.
Cleveland could make his debut with the Jaguars in Week 10, when they return from their bye and take on the San Francisco 49ers.
Coughlin, 77, was the first coach of the Jaguars, who played their first season in 1995. He later returned to the franchise in 2017 to serve as executive vice president of football operations, a role he held until 2019.
Coughlin led the Jaguars to a 68-60 record over eight seasons, which included four postseason runs. The
Jaguars fired Coughlin in 2002. He went on to post a 102-90 record in 12 seasons with the New York Giants, a tenure that featured two Super Bowl titles.
