NFL Analysis
10/18/24
9 min read
5 NFL Trade Ideas For Super Bowl Contenders
The NFL trade deadline is still more than two weeks away (Nov. 5), but we’ve already seen a flurry of action.
Davante Adams and Amari Cooper were dealt ahead of Week 7 as the Jets and Bills gear up for a postseason run. However, you can rest assured that they won’t be the only players traded in the next few weeks.
General managers have become more aggressive in making trades, and player movement is becoming much more common. What deals could unfold in the next few weeks that could change the league's landscape moving forward?
Here are five trade ideas that could shake up the second half of the 2024 NFL season:
>> READ MORE: Grading NFL's Latest Trades
5 NFL Trades For Contenders
Lions Acquire Jets EDGE Haason Reddick
The Detroit Lions can't replace Aidan Hutchinson. He was the best defensive player in the NFL through six weeks and was well on his way to winning the Defensive Player of the Year Award. However, that doesn’t mean the Lions shouldn’t make a move. They need more EDGE rush help with Hutchinson and Marcus Davenport out for the season.
The top rusher available is Haason Reddick, who is in a contract dispute with the New York Jets. However, Reddick has recently changed agencies, and it appears that Drew Rosenhaus wants to get Reddick back on the field as soon as possible. They've allowed him to explore trades, which means a deal could happen relatively quickly.
The Jets would prefer to send Reddick to an AFC team so they don’t have to fork over a 2025 second-round pick to the Eagles. Still, the Lions might be willing to pay more than any AFC team due to their massive need on the edge. Reddick would like a new deal, and the Lions have shown a willingness to spend money on their current roster.
Reddick would give the Lions speed and explosiveness off the edge, something they don't have on the roster with Hutchinson out. There aren't any free agents available with his athleticism or pedigree (four straight seasons with 11.0+ sacks).
WHAT AN OFFICIAL WELCOME BACK PARTY FOR HAASON REDDICK
— Josh Reynolds (@JoshReynolds24) October 8, 2023
Back-to-back sacks to close it out. LFG.pic.twitter.com/9TUfNZKEbL
Considering that the Lions are legit Super Bowl contenders, this move needs to be made relatively soon. It seems highly likely that Reddick will be dealt with in the upcoming days; it's just a matter of where the Pro Bowl pass rusher will land. Detroit seems like a pretty good destination.
Trade Compensation
Lions Send: 2025 2nd Round Pick
Jets Send: Haason Reddick + 2025 5th Round Pick
Commanders Acquire Titans WR DeAndre Hopkins
The Washington Commanders have a 1.5-game lead in the NFC East, and this appears to be their division to lose. The Cowboys are a mess, and the Eagles have major issues on both sides of the ball. Sitting at 4-2, the Commanders have an easy schedule the rest of the way, and 10+ wins certainly aren’t off the table.
Washington has been one of the league’s top offenses through six weeks (29.7 PPG), but it has been reliant on Terry McLaurin, Zach Ertz, and Austin Ekeler to carry its passing offense. All three players are 29 or older, and Ertz and Ekeler don’t have the best track record when it comes to injuries. Jayden Daniels would really benefit by having another option in the receiving game that can beat 1-on-1 coverage.
DeAndre Hopkins is the best receiver who might be able to, and he is stuck on one of the league’s worst pass offenses. The Titans are 1-5, and it’s clear that they have no chance of making a second-half run to the postseason. While they likely won’t be “sellers” at the deadline, trading a 32-year-old Hopkins does make sense as they try to rebuild the offense.
Another reason why this fit makes sense is that Hopkins has already played in Kliff Kingsbury’s offense when he was the head coach in Arizona. Hopkins loved playing with Kingsbury and averaged nearly 80 receiving yards per game in their final year together (2022).
Hopkins isn’t capable of posting those types of numbers anymore, but the Commanders don’t need him to. They just need him to be a reliable and consistent No. 2 receiver, and he can certainly still do that.
Trade Compensation
Commanders Send: 2025 3rd Round Pick
Titans Send: DeAndre Hopkins + 2025 6th Round Pick
Packers Acquire Browns CB Greg Newsome
Maybe it’s foolish to think that the Browns are in fire-sale mode, but they are 1-5 with a difficult schedule coming up. They won't give away players, but trading away players who likely won’t be on the 2025 roster isn’t a bad idea.
Greg Newsome is a former first-round pick at cornerback who is set to play on the fifth-year option in 2025. His cap hit for next year is $13.3 million, which is more than reasonable for a quality cornerback.
Newsome has missed time in every season, but when he is on the field, he's been a plus player for the Browns. With the Browns already having so much money committed to Denzel Ward and the rest of their defense, a trade would make sense.
The Eagles get AJ Brown on Greg Newsome on 2nd and 6 so they take a shot deep but it falls incomplete. pic.twitter.com/hduA3Kl0aD
— Shane Haff (@ShaneHaffNFL) October 15, 2024
The Green Bay Packers have been searching for another quality cornerback to pair with Jaire Alexander, and Newsome seems like a perfect fit. They have the cap space to absorb his salary, and Newsome’s ability to play outside and in the slot would make a ton of sense in Green Bay.
The Packers are clearly in a Super Bowl window, and adding Newsome for a mid-round pick would make a lot of sense for both parties.
Trade Compensation
Packers Send: 2025 3rd Round Pick
Browns Send: CB Greg Newsome
Chiefs Acquire Browns WR Elijah Moore
The Kansas City Chiefs missed out on Davante Adams and Amari Cooper as other AFC contenders snatched them up. It wasn’t unexpected, but it is a reminder that other teams are actively adding weapons to their passing attack while the Chiefs have one of the league’s worst receiving corps.
Kansas City doesn’t have the cap space nor draft capital to make a big move at receiver, but it doesn't necessarily need to make one. Instead, the Chiefs could use another slot receiver who can make plays after the catch.
Moore has caught just 16 passes for 95 yards this season, averaging only 9.5 yards per reception. However, that might be more of a quarterback stat than anything else. Moore is a fantastic route runner who can make plays after the catch, but his biggest knock is that he is a smaller receiver who is a slot-only player.
The good news for the Chiefs is that they don’t need another outside receiver. Instead, they need someone who can beat 1-on-1 coverage from the slot. Moore has shown he can do that consistently, provided he has an accurate quarterback.
He is just 24 and is an unrestricted free agent after the 2024 season, which means the Chiefs wouldn’t have to give up much to acquire him. But he would be a significant upgrade over Skyy Moore and JuJu Smith-Schuster, which is all the Chiefs need right now.
Trade Compensation
Chiefs Send: 2025 5th Round Pick
Browns Send: WR Elijah Moore
Steelers Acquire Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett
The Pittsburgh Steelers have been hunting wide receivers for months, but they missed out on Brandon Aiyuk, Davante Adams, and Amari Cooper. Van Jefferson is their No. 2 receiver, and he has totaled just 62 yards in six games.
The Steelers have one of the league’s worst wide receiver situations, and it’s pretty clear they need to make some moves before the playoffs.
The receiver market is pretty bare, but one player that does make sense for Pittsburgh is Tyler Lockett. With Russell Wilson expected to be the starter moving forward, it only makes sense to give him one of his favorite receivers of all time. From 2015-2021, Lockett played 111 games for the Seahawks.
Wilson was his quarterback in 109 of those contests, and together, they combined for more than 6,000 yards and 45 touchdowns. Lockett averaged a whopping 9.7 yards per target, the second most among receivers during that stretch.
Only Julio Jones (9.8) averaged more than Lockett when Wilson was his quarterback. Watching them connect on deep passes in Seattle was always a thing of beauty, and the deep passing attack has been greatly missed in Pittsburgh for a while now.
RUSSELL WILSON WITH THE 🌙 BALL TO TYLER LOCKETTpic.twitter.com/YxaHNZSfnF
— PFF (@PFF) December 12, 2021
It wouldn’t take much for Pittsburgh to acquire Lockett. He is 32, and his game has regressed during the last few seasons. However, he would be the perfect fit opposite George Pickens and would give Wilson someone he could trust in big moments in the passing game.
It also makes sense for Seattle, as Jaxon Smith-Njigba becomes more of a focal point in the offense. There aren’t enough targets to go around with the current receiving corps, and giving Smith-Njigba a few more looks moving forward seems understandable, considering their first-round investment in the player.
This trade makes sense for both parties and should be possible, assuming they can figure out the financials. But pairing Lockett and Wilson together again would be fun to watch.
Trade Compensation
Steelers Send: 2025 4th Round Pick
Seahawks Send: WR Tyler Lockett + 2025 7th Round Pick
