My (18M) online friend (27M) recently made some weird/creepy jokes. They apologized, but I now question their motives. What do I do?

I am 18 (MtF). My online friend is 27(M). I met him 4 years ago, and have been friends for ~2.5-3 years. We met in a tech Discord server. I one day reached out to DM him (He never reached to me prior, to be clear), and we slowly became friends. Mainly chatting about tech, politics, and media we shared interest in. Until recent it was completely normal.

(This happened a few weeks ago).

Recently however, he had made some weird jokes that were uncomfortable. These were essentially "You should do/send X... Just kidding tho." And seemed to have started after I turned 18. Some examples were him "jokingly" suggesting he order me something and I send him my address. Another was joking I should send him a picture of myself once (He did not request a nude or anything tho).

Eventually, I put my foot down. I told him these jokes were creepy, extremely comfortable and firmly told him to stop. He provided a (To me it seems) genuine apology, and said he wasn't trying to pursue a relationship.

I decided to give him a 2nd chance, and these jokes have since stopped. However, I really question his motives now... I can't think of him as just a friend who happens to be older. He said that he didn't really put any thought into the jokes. But I find it hard to believe these were just random, and I do wonder if he is a groomer now.

I really want to give him the benefit of the doubt. He was a chill dude before all this and was a supportive friend otherwise. I'd hate to lose him, but I'm worried I'm just trying to convince myself he's not a pred when it seems like he is...

I do wanna mention, I looked into signs of groomers, and he doesn't seem to line up with them... Besides the jokes, he's never asked to (Jokingly or otherwise) buy me something, or ask for a photo of me. He hasn't tried to isolate me from friends or family (Has actually encouraged me to move in with supportive family, as I am in shitty situation irl). He didn't lie about his age. Etc. But beside the age gap, chatting with me more often than my other friends (Not sure if he's just chatty like I am, or if it's special attention), and then these jokes (And the timing of them)... I don't really have any other red flags.

Is this dude almost certainly a pred? Do I cut him off? Or since he has apologized and stopped, and does not exhibit other signs of grooming, should I give me a 2nd chance, albeit with caution?