We are less than a week away from the NFL trade deadline. Between now and Oct. 31 at 4 p.m., various general managers across the league will be on the phone trying to wheel and deal to improve their club either for the rest of this season or to gain a building block for the future. Of course, not everyone will be hitting the dance floor as some clubs may simply like what they have and stand pat through the deadline. And that’s what we’ll be trying to parse through here.
Below, we’ve collected every team in the NFL and bunched them up into three groups: Teams that will be buyers at the deadline, sellers, and those who will stand pat and not make a deal.
Buyers
The Chiefs are the defending champs and are once again in the thick of the Super Bowl conversation, so they should certainly be looking to add at the deadline. They already made a move to acquire Mecole Hardman from the Jets, but they should be on the prowl for more big-game hunting at the receiver position, especially if names like Mike Evans or Marquise Brown are on the block due to their looming free-agent statuses. Not only would that help them in their chances to repeat, but would be a strong building block for the offense going forward with Travis Kelce in his age-34 season.
Baltimore is another team that could look to add on the offensive side of the ball, possibly for added depth in the backfield. The Ravens could swing big and inquire about the possibility of plucking Derrick Henry out of Tennessee or adding a depth piece to the likes of Gus Edwards and others. Also in the AFC North, the Bengals have historically been quiet at the deadline and may once again simply opt for their roster to get healthy as opposed to adding to it, but they can go on a run and having as much talent as possible is vital in hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.
The Lions and Jaguars are both 5-2 on the season and looking to crash the party in their respective conferences. On top of being in similar situations, they could be in the market for similar players. Both could use help at pass rusher, so they could find themselves in a bidding war for the likes of Danielle Hunter or Brian Burns to help put them over the top on that side of the ball. The Bills could also look to add on defense as they’ve been hit with several injuries. Linebacker could be an interesting avenue for them to go down, especially after losing Matt Milano for the year.
In the NFC West, the 49ers could stand to add to their secondary as they gear up for the stretch run. While they have a dominant front seven, they were gashed by the Vikings through the air on Monday, possibly exposing a weakness in their title hopes. Meanwhile, Seattle is a sneaky 4-2 on the year and always seems to be active in trade discussions. The team signed Frank Clark but could stand to add even more help at pass rusher.
The Eagles may have already made their big deadline splash by acquiring safety Kevin Byard from the Titans, but you can never rule out GM Howie Roseman at this time of the year. It wouldn’t be shocking if Philly pulled off another move considering it is arguably the top team in the NFC and pushing for another Super Bowl appearance.
Sellers
Tennessee has already indicated it’s in sell mode after starting the year at 2-4 and in last place in the AFC South. The club recently traded away star Kevin Byard, which is the type of move that signals that nearly everyone on the roster could be available. And that includes star running back Derrick Henry. The Titans have aging pillars on their roster and new GM Ran Carthon could be eager to start the rebuild as early as this deadline.
New England’s upset over the Bills may have shined a glimmer of hope this season, but the Patriots should still consider ridding themselves of some pieces on their roster that they don’t see as a long-term option. After all, they are still 2-5 on the season and have the Dolphins next up on the schedule in Week 8. Players like Kendrick Bourne, Mike Gesicki and Jalen Mills are each in the final year of their deals and could be valuable rentals to contenders down the stretch.
Similar to the Patriots, the Vikings are a team that may feel inspired following their upset win over the 49ers in Week 7. That moved them to 3-4 on the year, but they could still look to sell off some pieces, including pass rusher Danielle Hunter.
Denver is another 2-5 club that appears to be sinking to the bottom of the league. The Broncos have been circled as a possible seller for weeks with pieces like wideouts Jerry Jeudy and Courtland Sutton, and tackle Garett Boles possibly on the block.
With Chicago and Carolina, these two teams are at the bottom of the barrel in the NFL. The Bears are 2-5 and have Justin Fields injured, so it’ll be undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent in line to start in Week 8. They could look to move corner Jaylon Johnson — who had two interceptions last week — and/or veteran safety Eddie Jackson. Meanwhile, Carolina is 0-6 and there have been rumblings of a potential Brian Burns trade as the Panthers continue to rebuild their young roster. The Colts already put Anthony Richardson on the shelf for this season, so they could look to rid themselves of some pieces that are meant to stick around for the full rebuild beyond this season.
Stand pat
As you might expect, there’s a large contingent of teams that are in the middle and may not make a deal for a variety of reasons.
You could make a case for the Jets and Falcons to possibly try and swing for the fences and acquire a quarterback to upgrade their chances of a playoff run, but the most common name floated out there, Kirk Cousins, doesn’t seem like he is on the move. They are pretty stable outside of that spot and there hasn’t been too much from those clubs to have the front offices go in either direction at this deadline.
Teams like the Buccaneers, Commanders, Saints, Packers and Giants haven’t shown enough that they are worth investing heavily in at the deadline outside of maybe a minor move. Given where they each are in the standings, GMs may be more inclined to simply let things play out as-is instead of giving up future assets. The Cowboys, Chargers, Steelers and Browns are teams that already have solid rosters and just need to play to their talent level to put themselves in contention.
The Texans are knocking on the door of a playoff spot as things currently stand, but they may be a year or two away under C.J. Stroud before they fully start investing in individual seasons.
2023-10-26 12:07:00
#Identifying #teams #buyers #sellers #stand #pat
