In this article I wanted to take a look at some teams that could look to make trades before the NFL trade deadline. Who are the NFL Buyers and Sellers? There have been several names mentioned as players who could be on move. Brian Burns, Jerry Jeudy, Justin Simmons, and more have been discussed. In this article we are looking at teams that could be buyers or sellers at the deadline, and some players each team could move on from. We will give five sellers.
Let’s Start with The NFC Sellers
In the NFC we have 4 teams with one win or less in the Carolina Panthers, Arizona Cardinals, New York Giants, and Chicago Bears. One of these teams, namely the Bears, seem to believe they are closer to contention than the others, and they are currently locked and loaded with seven draft picks, six of which come in the first four rounds, including two first round picks.
Carolina Panthers
The Panthers currently hold just six draft picks in the 2024 draft. With Chicago holding their first round pick thanks to the trade that helped them draft Bryce Young last year, the Panthers won’t pick until the second round. This is one reason I expect the Panthers to trade away some of the players that are not in their long term plans. Here are a few players from the Panthers that could be traded in the coming weeks.
Brian Burns
Brian Burns is a former first round pick selected in 2019. Since he was drafted by Carolina he has collected 42 sacks while playing in 70 games for the Panthers. He has never had less than 7.5 sacks in a full season. He logged a career high in 2022 with 12.5 sacks. Given that Burns decided to declare for the NFL draft after his junior season Burns turned 25 before his fifth season in April of 2023.
Dating back to college, in 108 total games, Burns has collected 65 sacks, and has shown no signs of slowing down with 4 sacks in 6 games this year. Burns is scheme versatile able to play defensive end in a 4-3, or outside linebacker in a 3-4. Burns is playing out his fifth year option, and has set his price tag on an extension at 27-28 million a season. Nick Bosa just signed a 5 year contract extension worth $170 million that is worth an average of $34 million per season. This gives Burns leverage in his negotiations however, it also could be the entire motivation behind a trade.
A trade we can look to for potential value of Brian Burns was the Yannick Ngakoue trade that sent the Jaguars to the Vikings for a 2021 second round pick and a conditional fifth round pick in 2022. Burns could be worth even more than Ngakoue due to the fact that he has made no claims that he will not play for Carolina like Yannick once did. In theory Carolina could retain Burns, which gives the Panthers leverage in trade talks. I expect him to return a first round pick, and potentially more in return depending on the team.
Teams that Could See Value in Burns: Nearly Every Team in the League should see value in adding Burns.
Jeremy Chinn
Jeremy Chinn is also in the final year of his rookie contract, and looking for a significant raise in 2024 over the four year $5.2 million contract he signed when drafted in round two in 2020. Chinn is one of the hybrid players taking the league by storm. A strong safety who can legitimately line up at linebacker without his defense losing a beat.
Chinn at 6’3 225 pounds is the perfect size for this role. He also has experience playing cornerback or safety in college with Southern Illinois from 2016-2019. He originally entered college at 6’1 200 lbs, before growing 2 inches, and adding 25 pounds to where he stands today.
In three seasons and change with the Panthers he has collected 317 tackles, 12 for a loss, 12 qb hits, 4 sacks, 2 interceptions, and 2 fumble recoveries returned for touchdowns. He has developed into one of the best defenders in the league early in his career. Chinn is essentially a poor man’s Jamal Adams. No player in this role is worth the insane package that Adams helped recoup for Seattle, but it wouldn’t shock me to see the Panthers get a conditional 2nd or a 3rd round pick in return for Chinn if they decide to move on. The question is if this value would be worth trading him for. I would argue it is not, and that he is worth more to the Panthers than what that pick may provide.
Teams that Could See Value in Chinn: Philadelphia, Green Bay, Detroit, Dallas (Could play LB), Cincinnati,
Taylor Moton
Taylor Moton is one of the most consistent offensive linemen in the league. He signed a four year contract extension just under two years ago that will see his salary increase dramatically in 2024. It also sees a dramatic decrease in his dead cap number that could lead to conditions that make for a decent trade.
If the Panthers were to move on from Moton now, they would save over $5 million against the salary cap in 2024, but incur $24.495 million in dead cap. This might turn into another “Is the juice worth the squeeze” scenario for the Panthers. Moton has primarily played right tackle in the NFL, but has experience playing the left side as well. He has served as the starting right tackle for the Panthers but often was their top back-up option at Left Tackle when the starter went down he would slide over and start on the blindside, also playing left tackle on field goal unit, and playing as a tight end on both sides of the line early in his career.
While the circumstances are slightly different with Moton, a recent trade that feels very similar to this one would be that of Orlando Brown. Brown was a career right tackle who wanted to play left tackle but wasn’t going to be given that option where he was drafted. So he was traded to Kansas City along with a 2nd round and 6th round pick in exchange for a 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th round picks. I don’t believe Moton would be shifted to the left side, which was a big caveat for the Brown trade, and a part of why he was inherently more valuable. Moton could easily fetch the Panthers a first round pick in return, but to receive anything more it would require a package of draft picks similar to the Brown trade.
Teams that could see value in Moton: Washington, Dallas, Chicago, Buffalo, Indy, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Tampa Bay and Tennessee
Honorable Mention Trade Candidates for Panthers; Derrick Brown, Vonn Bell, Austin Corbett, Laviska Shenault Jr.
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals had already started dismantling this team before the season ever began. Many people have come out and said they believe they will make an attempt to move on from Kyler Murray after 2023. All of this has added up to thoughts that they are actively trying to tank for the top pick. (I would caution fans look at how they played Dallas a couple weeks ago before making assumptions) Regardless at the least, Arizona seems open to making deals involving their roster as it stands to secure a brighter future during a lost season.
Kyler Murray
Let me start by saying this is extremely unlikely on several levels. To put this in a very blunt fashion, the Cardinals would swallow an $81.5 million+ dead cap hit, to save $51.8 million in 2024 if this trade occurred and that isn’t counting the dead cap left from the rest of the 2023 season. Paying over $100 million to a player for him to “go away” is not only bad business, it’s borderline lunacy, and should definitely make fans question the Cardinals if it happens.
Now things could change quickly if Murray agreed to restructure his contract but why would you willingly restructure knowing that you hold the leverage in this deal until the 2027 season? At worst you force the Cardinals to trade you and eat that guaranteed money long-term while you go play somewhere else and collect money from Arizona for many years to come. If the Cardinals do end up with the top pick, their best course of action would be to trade it away for the largest return they could get and build this roster through the draft. Murray is just 26 years old, and still has his whole career ahead of him.
Budda Baker
Budda Baker has been on the trade block several times or so it seems. He signed a four year $59 million extension three years ago, and is now in the stage of the contract where enough of the guaranteed money has been paid out that he would save the franchise nearly $13 million if traded before the deadline. However, Baker is currently injured and that could throw a monkey wrench in any plans to trade him before the deadline. The good news for the Cardinals is that his deal only gets more trade friendly if they are forced to hold onto him into the offseason.
Baker has proven he is a quality safety at this level, and should garner attention from several teams in the NFL. Baker can play either safety position, and can be found near the ball on every play no matter which role he plays. In seven NFL seasons he has four seasons with 100 or more tackles, and has never logged a season with less than 74 so far. He has 7 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles, and 20 pass break ups over his last three seasons. He will be 28 before the 2024 season, but even at that age he should see interest from several teams even if the asking price is a 3rd round pick.
Teams that should show interest: Dallas, Philadelphia, Green Bay, Detroit, Washington
Dj Humphries
As mentioned before with Moton, left tackle is the position every team seeks out. Often times when you find one worth keeping, no trade value is worth the uncertainty of trying to find another player to fill those shoes. Arizona has a unique situation in that, they have a left tackle who is nearing a very trade friendly place in his current contract. As it stands, the Cardinals would save nearly $12 million but incur a dead cap hit of just over $6 million. The savings in 2024 really are what makes this move worth it.
Humphries coming off the books would account for a savings of just under $10 million in 2024. This coming during a season in which he would turn 31 years old. He is also playing out the worst season of his career according to PFF.com. Humphries has never in seven seasons graded out worse than a 64.5. In 2023 so far he is graded out at 58.4, and the worst part is, its not as if he has performed poorly in just one aspect. He is having a down year in pass and run blocking. This shouldn’t stop teams from making an offer. This trade would likely be closer to the trade that saw Duane Brown shipped to Seattle, but I would expect Humphries to cost less than Brown. A second round pick straight up, or a package of picks like a 3rd and 6th, or a young player the Cardinals can build around might do the trick.
Teams that could show Interest: Washington, Dallas, Chicago, Buffalo, Indy, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Tampa Bay and Tennessee
Honorable Mention; Zach Ertz, James Conner, Dennis Gardeck, Kyzir White, Marquise Brown
New York Giants
The Giants just signed Daniel Jones to a massive extension then promptly fell back to Earth after a solid season in 2022, their first, under new head coach Brian Daboll. In 2023 they have started 1-5, while surrendering 33 sacks in just 5 games, and sitting -3 in the turnover margin. Daniel Jones threw 2 touchdowns to 6 interceptions before getting hurt and watching Tyrod Taylor move their record to 1-5. They are lacking talent at wide receiver, across the offensive line, and in some positions in their secondary. With that in mind, why not recoup picks from players on expiring deals, and prepare yourself for a restock of talent in 2024?
Darren Waller
Darren Waller was supposed to bring an element of dominance to the Giants offense, a mismatch nightmare for opposing defenses. The thought was this one single move could open up the entire Giants offense unlike any other could. These high expectations for Waller were bound to lead to a let down by the Tight End, who hasn’t been the field stretching threat he once was with the Raiders for years.
In fact, despite all the talk about his lack of dominance at this point, Waller has actually already matched his reception number from 2022 having played in 9 games last year. So far this season he has 28 receptions on 41 targets in 6 games. He has only produced 10.1 yards per reception, which is the least of his career as a starter, he also has not scored a touchdown yet.
Looking back at Waller’s career, he really has only had two seasons in which we saw what he could truly do. In a two year stretch Waller had 262 targets catching 197 passes for 2,341 yards and 12 touchdowns. Since then, he has struggled with injuries that led him to miss 13 games over the last two seasons. The good news for Giants fans, is this was essentially a glorified one year deal for Waller.
The Giants structured his contract in a manner that, if their worst fears about this move were realized, they could move on via trade, or release after just one season. If he was traded the Giants would incur less than $2.2 million in dead cap in 2023, while saving $1.84 million. They would also take on $7.868 million in dead cap next season but save almost exactly $6.1 million. Moving on from Waller at this point shouldn’t be expected to bring in a high draft pick, as the Giants may be looking at no more than a 4th or 5th round pick in return at best. Some team will look at him as someone they can “Fix” and get back to his 1,100 yard seasons.
Some Teams that might consider trading for Waller; Titans, Cowboys, Saints, Dolphins
Mark Glowinski
Mark Glowinski was signed by the Giants before the 2022 season to a 3 year $18 million contract. Currently Glowinski is experiencing one of his worst seasons as a professional player since entering the NFL in 2015. Ironically before he joined the Colts, he was actually not far off of his 2023 Giants performance with the Seahawks in two of his three seasons. Grading out below 60 in all three years.
Glowinski had been consistently graded out at 60 or above since leaving Seattle and joining Indianapolis. His main area of concern is in the passing game where he has graded out at a 35 overall. In week one on 31 pass attempts Glowinski gave up 3 sacks, 1 hit, 5 hurries, and 9 total pressures. In weeks 2, and 4 he managed to allow just 1 pressure total, before another rough performance in week 5. On 24 pass blocking snaps he allowed 2 sacks, 3 hurries, and 5 pressures.
His contract has an out for the 2024 season, and its structured in a way that would cost the Giants under $4.3 million in dead cap space combined over 2023, and 2024. He would create a savings of $5.5 million in 2023, and $5.7 million in 2024. Glowinski may not have a large market for his services however.
Some teams that could be interested; Washington, Buffalo, Indy, Chicago, Jaguars, and Raiders
Saquan Barkley
Saquan Barkley is arguably the most dominant player on this Giants roster when healthy. The problem is, he is injured more often than he is not. He has missed 24 games due to injury, and that’s not even considering the amount of games he played below 100% along the way. Saquan is playing 2023 on a 1 year $10.091 million deal with the Giants thanks to the franchise tag, and will become a free agent this offseason. If the Giants were to franchise tag Barkley again, he would cost 120% of his 2023 contract value: $12,109,200 in 2024.
Currently Saquan isn’t having the best season of his career, although no one can blame him when the Giants made no attempt to improve at wide receiver this offseason. Barkley is the entire Giants offense at times, but at other times he comes out of a 2-game stretch with 34 yards on 19 carries. He can be frustrating as a fan, but as a GM, you have to love what he can do overall when he hits the field. He is one of the best dual threat backs in the league.
As a rookie he caught 91 passes, and during his career he has four seasons with 41 receptions or more for a grand total of 260 receptions. He can be that guy you can split out wide, or in the slot at 232 pounds which is exactly what makes him so dangerous. Given his cost, it might sound crazy, but sending him to a team that could insert another back more often and utilize Barkley more as a receiver at times, could keep him healthy, and explosive longer. His value even now knowing the injury issues should still be very high. It wouldn’t shock me entirely to hear the Giants receive offers for a low first round pick. Barkley will be just 27 years old in 2024, he is still an asset, and should be for at least the next three to five seasons especially if you can remove some of the injury risk. If I am a team like the Buffalo, I would have to think long and hard about adding Barkley, even for the cost of a first round pick.
Teams that could have interest: Buffalo, Minnesota, Tampa Bay, Los Angeles Rams
Honorable Mention: Adoree’ Jackson, Evan Neal, Xavier McKinney
AFC Sellers
New England
The Patriots have bottomed out since they let Tom Brady leave in 2020. Belichick and company have a record of 26-30 since that game changing decision. This season it’s been particularly bad at 1-5. Mac Jones has thrown just 5 touchdowns to 7 interceptions, and the passing game hasn’t been on point at all. The offense as a whole has averaged 3.4 yards per carry and scored just 8 touchdowns total.
Hunter Henry
Hunter Henry was picked up with the thought that he would help take this offense to the next level when Brady was walking out of the door. Henry is in the final year of the three year deal he signed when he came to the Patriots. If he is traded before the end of this season, the Patriots would recoup an asset for a player who could leave this offseason via free agency.
Henry is one of the more consistent tight ends in a league starved for talent at the position. He has never produced less than 478 yards in a season during his 8 seasons. He isn’t a super star by any stretch but several teams would benefit from adding a player like Henry to their roster.
Teams that Could be Interested: Dallas, Cincinnati, Green Bay, Jacksonville, Saints, Jets
Deatrich Wise
Deatrich Wise has quietly been a very valuable member of the Patriots defense for multiple years now. He’s coming off of a 2022 season in which he set a career high in sacks with 7.5 on the season. He has 25.5 sacks over his 7 seasons so far. He is having a down year when compared to his performance in 2022, but with 12 tackles, 1 for a loss, 1 sack, and 1 QB hit, he isn’t exactly washed up.
He is one player I feel would benefit tremendously from a change of scenery. At 6’5 280 pounds he is an ideal fit in a 3-4 at defensive end, but in a 4-3 defense or multiple front scheme he may have even more value being able to play inside as a defensive tackle on obvious passing situations, and outside at end in obvious run situations. He could be a fit for several teams across the league.
His trade value would likely be relatively cheap. Perhaps a 5th or 6th round pick. If traded he will cost the team just $5 million in dead cap over the next two seasons, while saving $6.5 million in 2023, and $5 million in 2024.
Teams that could be interested: Packers, Texans, Jaguars, Chiefs
Trent Brown
Stop me if you’ve heard this story before, Patriots let go of a veteran player during a contract year to bring in draft capital in exchange for a player they may not retain in 2024. Trading Brown now, could also end up being a situation where Brown hits free agency anyway in 2024, and could in theory return to the Patriots again in 2024 for a third stint with the team. Keep in mind New England has given up draft capital to bring Brown in twice. Recouping some assets for him now could only help them long term whether he is in their plans or not.
If he was traded the team would incur less than $2 million in dead cap space, and save around $10 million in cap space. His contract would be completely off the books by 2024. The other alternative is letting him leave via free agency and hoping to get a compensatory pick in exchange IF they don’t sign a like player to replace him.
Honorable Mention: Matt Judon, Adrian Phillips, Jonathan Jones, Kendrick Bourne
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos just traded away a total of 10 players and picks to acquire a quarterback, and head coach that have gone on to produce a 6-17 and 1-5 record respectively. Between these two alone, the Broncos brass is paying out $20 million a year to Sean Payton and Nathaniel Hackett, and another $28 million to Wilson for the 2023 season. Needless to say, they are not happy, and need to turn this situation around fast if they hope to find success in Denver at all. With the most expensive head coach/quarterback tandem in the league, the new ownership group will not stomach losing for long, you can produce this same record with a rookie head coach and rookie quarterback for a 1/4 of the cost or less.
Jerry Jeudy
Jerry Jeudy is reportedly unhappy in Denver. When he isn’t starting feuds with Hall of Fame receivers, he is half-ass running routes, and dropping passes at key moments. He is not taking the next step that we all hoped for as Broncos fans after his best season of his career in 2022. Coming off a season in which he just barely missed 1,000 yards, and scored 6 times. He has flashed number 1 receiver ability at times but struggled to set himself apart in this offense at others.
One fact that will promote many teams to look into him, is the fact that he still has the 5th year option, and the rest of 2023 on his rookie contract. He is currently making only $2.7 million this season, which would jump to over $12 million in 2024. This number is worth it, if you get 2022 Jerry Jeudy, and not 2023 Jerry Jeudy. When your entire receiver group has been eliminated by injuries and you’re second on your team in receptions, and yards after 5 weeks, you have to wonder if you’re truly a number one receiver if you can’t find success when there is no one else to attract attention from the defense? It’s been Courtland Sutton who has looked like the number one option for Wilson, not Jeudy.
With Jeudy finishing out this season for less than $2 million if traded I could see a team like San Francisco, who recently added Randy Gregory swinging a deal for Jeudy as thier third receiver before they decline his 5th year option and let him walk in free agency, and get a compensatory pick in return for a player who played less than one full season. Teams in a Super Bowl window make similar moves all the time.
Teams that could show interest: San Francisco, Cleveland, New York Jets, Chicago Bears, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts
Justin Simmons
The Broncos have a potential out in Simmons’ deal in 2024, but if they trade him this season, they will incur just $3.75 million in dead cap this season and next, while saving $14.4 million this season, and $14.5 million in 2024. Simmons also happens to be one of the more valuable players on the Broncos roster. If you are trying to rebuild, and gain draft capital it makes sense to start here.
Freeing up nearly $30 million in cap space over the next two seasons, could be enough savings to settle for trading Simmons for a 3rd round pick. I believe in a perfect scenario Simmons is worth more than a 3rd, but given that the Broncos don’t have much…if any leverage over other teams here, I can’t see them maximizing the return currently. Adding Simmons could be a huge move for several teams in both conferences, but this feels like a move that can only be done if Simmons moves to the NFC where the Broncos are less likely to face him.
Simmons just collected his 28th regular season interception, he also has 57 pass break ups, 3.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and 2 recoveries. He has scored 1 touchdown on an interception return. Simmons also hasn’t logged less than 4 interceptions since 2018. He is easily one of the best safeties in the league, even though we don’t often hear his name in those conversations. He is currently playing out what has amounted to the worst graded season of his career. Prior to this Simmons had just one season below 70, in 2018. Since then he followed it up with four straight years of a 70 or better overall grade.
Teams that might be interested: Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington, Los Angeles Chargers, Indianapolis
Garrett Bolles
Garret Bolles has quietly developed into a nice offensive tackle for the Broncos. This was a pleasant surprise after the way his career began. Once regarded as a bust, and a wasted first round pick, the Broncos stuck by Bolles during his darkest days, and were rewarded for it. As a rookie Bolles allowed 8 sacks, and 33 hurries. Each season the pressures, and sacks dropped, until 2020 when we really saw what he could do at his best.
In 2020 Bolles allowed zero sacks all season long, and just 5 hurries. This was easily the best season of his career, but since that year he has been better than he ever was prior to 2020. In fact, between this season, and the last three, Bolles has totaled just 33 hurries, matching what he gave up as a rookie, but doing so having played 2,565 snaps compared to the 1,107 he played as a rookie. One area Bolles could still improve on, but has already been much better is penalties. After double digit penalties for his first three seasons, he hasn’t had more than 8 penalties called on him. However he has still been called for 23 penalties over the past 4 seasons.
If the Broncos were to trade Bolles, they would take an $8 million dead cap hit over this season and next. They would be saving $13.825 million just in 2023 alone, and $16 million in 2024 when his contract escalates to $20 million a season. At 31 years old, Bolles isn’t getting any younger, but offensive linemen can often play deep into their 30’s and sometimes even into their 40’s. (I’m looking at you Jason Peters, or Ray Brown) Bolles is still very athletic, and could play many more seasons, which makes him every bit worth a 3rd round pick, and if the Broncos hold him into the offseason he could be worth even more to some teams. He is under contract until the end of the 2024 season, but this is a way for a team to get in before he gets to test free agency. It also gives that team one season to consider what they want to do with his contract long-term.
Teams That would consider Bolles: Jets, Cowboys, Washington, Bears, Titans, Saints, Rams, Jaguars, Ravens, and Vikings.
Honorable Mention: Patrick Surtain II, Courtland Sutton, Ben Powers, Josey Jewell
Final Word
There you have it. 15 players that could be moved by the trade deadline in just a matter of weeks. These teams and many others around the league could be dramatically reshaped depending on how this all works out. Will players be traded away from your team drop your thoughts in the comments below!
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