In case you haven’t noticed, trade season has already arrived in the NFL. In the past, three in-season trades would have qualified as an unusually busy year. We just saw three take place Tuesday alone, as the Vikings landed running back Cam Akers, the Bills picked up receiver Amari Cooper, and the Jets finally reunited wideout Davante Adams with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who definitely has no ability at all to influence decisions in New York.
There will be more trades to come. With the league pushing the deadline by one week — it’s now Tuesday, Nov. 5, at 4 p.m. ET — franchises will have a better idea of whether they’re actually going to be competing for a playoff berth, which should inspire more deals at the buzzer. There are already five teams (the Jaguars, Giants, Browns, Patriots and Panthers) whose chances of making it to the playoffs are below 5%, per ESPN’s Football Power Index, and more should fall out of the picture in the coming weeks.
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Let’s run through the league and provide 12 trades that would make sense for both parties. Some of the names won’t be quite as sexy as Adams’ or Cooper’s, but there are players who are either buried on depth charts or in need of a fresh start who could be more helpful elsewhere. The goal is to find trades that could actually happen as opposed to the most spectacular-but-unlikely swaps.
Even after those two star wideouts moved, there are big names who could find new homes, including a former first overall pick and a multitime Pro Bowl player. I’ll start with the latter, a third big-name wide receiver who could end up going from a struggling team to the two-time defending champs:
Jump to an intriguing trade candidate:
Khalil Herbert | DeAndre Hopkins
Haason Reddick | Miles Sanders
Mike Williams | Bryce Young