Once a relatively mundane benchmark on the calendar, the NFL's annual trade deadline has become a reliable engine of off-field drama, fueling speculation over which stars might be moved and which teams might sell useful pieces to contenders angling for an edge.
On Tuesday, two difference-making veteran receivers were dealt, potentially setting an appealing price for any teams looking to make a profit in the pass-catching market. Davante Adams was reunited with Aaron Rodgers in a deal that sent a conditional third-round pick from the Jets to the Raiders, while Amari Cooper landed with the Bills in a trade that sent two picks, including a 2025 third-rounder, to the Browns.
The trade block was kind to Las Vegas and Cleveland. Not everyone will be dangling established skill-position stars, of course -- but there should still be chances for struggling squads to boost their draft coffers before this year's trade deadline passes on Nov. 5.
Below are seven players -- listed in alphabetical order -- who should be made available, in my humble opinion. Note that this is not meant to be an exhaustive list of every tradeable player, or every player who has been rumored to be on the block; rather, my aim is to highlight those who are worth discussing for one reason or another.
Dealing five-time Pro Bowl receiver DeAndre Hopkins seems like an obvious move for the 1-4 Titans -- provided another team is willing to pay the right price. But if Tennessee doesn't like what's being offered, there's value in holding on to Hopkins for the final few months of his current contract. Yes, the 31st-ranked passing attack is scuffling, but Hopkins still carries a fair amount of the workload (20 targets, 14 catches, 175 receiving yards, one TD). Plus, if Will Levis is going to make any kind of progress as a quarterback in 2024, he obviously has a better chance to do so with Hopkins than without him.
Burks, meanwhile, has had little to do under new coach Brian Callahan, tallying four catches (on eight targets) for 34 yards. On his first target of 2024, he dropped the ball, and on the third, he lost a fight with Brandin Echols on a contested catch, resulting in Levis' third interception of the season. In this past week's loss to the Colts, Burks logged a season-low nine offensive snaps.
It is probably unfair, at least in terms of public perception, that Burks was drafted with the first-round pick in 2022 (No. 18 overall) that the Eagles sent over in exchange for A.J. Brown, who started fast in Tennessee and grew into a certified star in Philly. Burks missed 12 games over his first two seasons. He's had his moments (including a seven-catch, 111-yard outing in his sixth pro appearance), but he has most definitely not lived up to the hopes of anyone who thought he might step in as Brown's long-term replacement. That's not how Ran Carthon would have to sell him now, though; rather, the Titans GM would just have to find a team who liked Burks as a prospect in 2022 and continues to have interest. Tennessee could boost its draft capital while giving Burks -- who has one year remaining on his rookie deal after this season, plus a fifth-year team option for 2026 -- a chance to jump-start his career elsewhere.
The 1-5 Jaguars look like such underachievers in part because they theoretically have enough talent on the roster to compete. As such, they seem to be brimming with potential trade chips. Travis Etienne? Christian Kirk? Evan Engram? Cam Robinson? Travon Walker? Name the Jacksonville player, and you can probably find a trade chatterer out there arguing that he should be dealt. It would be fun to propose a bold move for the Jags, who'd appear to be one of the few no-doubt sellers in a sea of near-.500 squads. But I would be hesitant to move anyone whose departure might make life even more difficult on Trevor Lawrence, because ensuring the QB continues to develop is crucial to hastening this team’s journey back to relevance. Even if this is a lost season, weakening the offensive line or reducing the number of capable players around the 275 million dollar man could make it harder for him to avoid developing bad habits, ultimately setting Lawrence back to such a degree that a trade becomes counterproductive.
But I could see making more moves like Monday’s trade of Roy Robertson-Harris to the Seahawks, dealing useful pieces whose absence shouldn't impact Lawrence too much. Losing Cisco would not be easy on the secondary. And the Jags wouldn't exactly be selling high on the former third-round pick, who has shown promise in the past but was not doing much of note in Year 4 until he recorded the team's first interception of the year on Sunday. Some might see a Cisco trade as retribution for the harsh judgment he offered of the team following a blowout loss to the Bears in London, but to me, providing the veteran with a fresh start elsewhere while hopefully recouping some draft capital would be a logical way for everyone to move forward.
I understand why Dave Canales would not want to trade away one of the few reliably productive players on his offense this season. It's easy to play armchair GM and call on decision-makers to bloodlessly extract maximum value from each asset, but I imagine it's harder to actually put your team in a worse position to compete on Sundays, especially when you are a rookie head coach helming a franchise that has won three games since the beginning of last season. Johnson has cooled off some since his eight-catch, 122-yard outburst against the Raiders in Week 3, but he's still in the top 25 in receiving yards (340) and has shown he can be an effective weapon. He has also said he wants to stay in Carolina.
For all those reasons, it would be fine if Johnson were to remain on Carolina's roster through the deadline. Balancing the need to accomplish something on the field against the need to plan for the future seems like one of the more difficult aspects of dragging a cellar-dwelling franchise to respectability. That said, the Panthers and general manager Dan Morgan should be considering all options at this point in their timeline. They shouldn’t just give Johnson away, but a current contender in need of receiver help might come calling with an offer they can't turn down.
Last season, Kupp returned from injury to help Puka Nacua and Kyren Williams lift the Rams to the playoffs following a 3-6 start. Could he help kick off a similar rebound when he comes back from this season's high ankle sprain? Maybe, but with Aaron Donald out of the picture and Nacua currently on injured reserve, the climb is going to be significantly steeper.
NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero recently mused about the possibility of Kupp being dealt if the 1-4 Rams continue to scuffle, and that would make sense to me. His yards-per-catch mark in 2023 was a solid 12.5, and he's shown he can still bring it when healthy, reaching the 100-yard mark four times last season and for the 32nd time in his career in the opener this year. Still just 31, the 2021 Offensive Player of the Year can add some veteran savvy and playoff experience to a contender. Wherever the Rams decide to take their roster going forward, they can at least continue to build around Nacua, with rookie Jordan Whittington offering an encouraging spark so far this season.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Kupp has a chance to play in Week 7; he would presumably only help juice his value by putting together a nice showing or two before the deadline.
Figuring out how to turn around the 1-5 Browns feels like an impossible puzzle, the kind of scenario that a football simulation game might produce at the highest difficulty setting. Their older stars are being held back by Deshaun Watson's poor play at QB, and, thanks to the draft capital they gave to the Texans in exchange for Watson two and a half years ago, they don't have many young up-and-comers who could anchor a prospective rebuild. A fire sale would help accelerate things, but as The Athletic beat writer Zac Jackson pointed out on a recent episode of his podcast, many of the established veterans are on long-term extensions that might complicate the process of moving on from them.
Dealing veteran receiver Amari Cooper to the Bills was a great first start. Who could go next? Newsome, who had to answer questions about trade speculation even before the Browns' season went sideways, checks boxes that not every player in Cleveland does: The 24-year-old has potentially desirable upside and is free of the baggage of a long-term deal. The fact that he'll need a new contract after 2025, the final year of his rookie pact, also could put him out of whack with whatever plan the Browns develop for attacking the next few years. Newsome has had an up-and-down career and is currently performing at a less-than-stellar rate; he's been targeted 30 times, according to Next Gen Stats, allowing 18 catches for 294 yards, one score and a passer rating of 104.0. But he's still a former first-round pick who could intrigue the right partner.
Without adding a quarterback, the Dolphins are unlikely to solve their greatest challenge in 2024 -- the absence of Tua Tagovailoa since suffering a concussion in Week 2 -- on the trade market. I’m adding Ogbah here because he has been a consistent source of pass-rush production in a variety of circumstances. In his first two NFL seasons, he collected 9.5 combined sacks for a Browns team that went 1-31 in that span. In 2019, he chipped in 5.5 sacks for the Chiefs, though a torn pectoral kept him from participating in Patrick Mahomes’ first Super Bowl win. And in Miami, he's been an important contributor throughout both the Brian Flores and Mike McDaniel eras.
Turning 31 in early November, Ogbah's still putting in work, ranking third among Dolphins players in pressures (12, per NGS) and scraping together a pair of sacks on a defense that ranks third in passing yards allowed but has not been able to compensate for a feckless offense. That kind of reliability should fetch a decent price from a team seeking pass-rushing reinforcements, and at this point, the 2-3 Fins could give Ogbah a chance to hunt QBs on a contender.
Like the Jags with their young QB, if the Patriots want to give Drake Maye the best chance to grow on the field, there is merit to the idea of keeping as much help on offense around him as possible -- support for Maye might be more valuable than whatever they would get in a deal for an offensive piece. The defense, on the other hand, already ranks 24th in passing yards allowed per game and 26th in pressure rate (29.9 percent). How much of a difference would it make to part with one player, especially if a healthy market develops for pass-rushing rental help? Uche has topped 20 pressures in just two seasons so far, per NGS, and his 11.5 sacks in 2022 stand as an outlier, given that he managed seven combined sacks in 2020, 2021 and '23. But he's been a solid player, with his pressure rate this season (14.6 percent) ranking 21st among players with 80-plus pass-rush snaps, per Next Gen Stats.
Uche said this past spring that he left money on the table to ink a one-year deal to stay with the team drafted him in the second round in 2020 -- and as sweet as that might be, it indicates there was demand for him seven months ago. Someone who still wants in on the Uche party today might be willing to cough up some useful draft capital.
