play1:36Schefter: NFL trades will happen this weekAdam Schefter details to Pat McAfee the buyers and sellers in the NFL trade market.
play1:22Why Stephen A. puts Dolphins’ woes on McDaniel, not TuaStephen A. Smith explains why Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel needs to be fired after Tua Tagovailoa expressed his frustrations.
Bart Scott proposes Cowboys trade for Trey Hendrickson (0:47)Bart Scott makes an interesting trade proposal that Dallas should trade for Trey Hendrickson. (0:47)
Schefter: NFL trades will happen this weekAdam Schefter details to Pat McAfee the buyers and sellers in the NFL trade market.
Why Stephen A. puts Dolphins’ woes on McDaniel, not TuaStephen A. Smith explains why Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel needs to be fired after Tua Tagovailoa expressed his frustrations.
Stephen A. Smith explains why Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel needs to be fired after Tua Tagovailoa expressed his frustrations.
It’s one of the best times of the year. NFL trade winds are blowing, and we’ve already seen a number of players move in midseason deals. Most in-season trades involve a player on the bottom of an NFL roster moving for a swap of Day 3 picks, but we’ve also seen an interesting swap of starting cornerbacks in Greg Newsome II and Tyson Campbell, plus a starting quarterback switch teams in Joe Flacco (which was apparently enough to irk Mike Tomlin in his news conference Monday).
After a handful of trades last week, though, there have been no notable swaps this week. I’m here to help. As general managers get on the phone and try to piece together deals, I’ve come up with 13 moves that make sense for both teams. I’ve aimed for realism over sheer entertainment. So while I’d love to dial up a bunch of superstars being shipped around for fun, the goal here is to find deals that could actually happen in real life before the trade deadline at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 4.
In this year’s column, we have a legendary quarterback, a handful of former first-round picks and a first-team All-Pro on the move. Let’s dig in.
Jump to an intriguing trade candidate: Trey Hendrickson | Jaelan Phillips Jakobi Meyers | Russell Wilson Riq Woolen | Taysom Hill | Kyle Dugger
That brings us to the Browns, who have turned to Quinshon Judkins as their starter and have no intentions of contending in 2025. Ford has become a passing-down back for Cleveland: He played 31 offensive snaps in last week’s loss to the Steelers, and 29 of those snaps were on Dillon Gabriel dropbacks. The two exceptions were Ford’s only two carries of the game.
Giants get: WR Jakobi Meyers, 2026 fourth-round pick, cash considerations Raiders get: CB Deonte Banks, 2026 fifth-round pick
Meyers has been quiet for the Raiders this season. After a 98-yard day for Las Vegas in the opening-week win over the Patriots, Meyers has averaged just 46 yards per game since. The 28-year-old is in the final year of his three-year, $33 million deal, and while Meyers requested a trade in camp, the Raiders declined to deal their top wideout. This will likely be his last season in silver and black, and Vegas probably wouldn’t mind moving the $7 million remaining on Meyers’ deal in 2025 elsewhere.
Banks is owed $3.9 million guaranteed over the next three years, so the Giants would shed some money as part of this deal, too. They would add a much-needed receiver for Jaxson Dart, who is down his top wideout with Malik Nabers out for the season. Darius Slayton is also battling a hamstring injury. Meyers is probably best in the slot, where the Giants prefer to use Wan’Dale Robinson, but he took the majority of his snaps out wide in 2024 and still managed a 1,027-yard campaign.
Eagles get: CB Riq Woolen, 2026 fifth-round pick Seahawks get: CB Kelee Ringo, 2026 fourth-round pick
Let’s swap frustrating cornerbacks. The Seahawks have seemingly fallen out of love with Woolen, who was benched for stretches in 2024 and got off to a rough start in 2025. The 6-4 cornerback gave up a big gain to Ricky Pearsall and was outjumped for the game-winning touchdown by Jake Tonges in Week 1. He has already committed six penalties in five games, including two flags for pass interference. In the final year of his deal, Woolen likely is going to be wearing another uniform in 2026.
The Seahawks would get some draft capital and their own developmental prospect in Ringo, who hasn’t been able to regularly crack the starting lineup in Philadelphia. Ringo has one extra year of team control, and he would slot in as a reserve cornerback when star Devon Witherspoon is healthy. The Seahawks would also lock in some draft capital, which wouldn’t be guaranteed if they let Woolen leave in free agency. They might see this move as addition by subtraction, frankly.
Furthermore, the Lions are dealing with a secondary that’s already battered by injuries. Free agent addition D.J. Reed (hamstring) is on injured reserve, while Terrion Arnold narrowly avoided a multimonth shoulder injury. Arnold, a 2024 first-round pick, was struggling even before he went down hurt. One way to help that secondary is to have a more efficient pass rush, especially without needing to blitz.
Adam Schefter details to Pat McAfee the buyers and sellers in the NFL trade market.
I’ve pitched a Hendrickson-to-the-Lions trade before, and it has come with more draft capital going to the Bengals. This wouldn’t be as lucrative of a deal. Why? Timing. If the Lions were going to acquire Hendrickson during the offseason, it would have been as part of a move to sign the star pass rusher to an extension. Now, with Hendrickson in the final year of his deal, this would be a pure rental. The Bengals are closer to losing Hendrickson for nothing in free agency.
Why Stephen A. puts Dolphins’ woes on McDaniel, not Tua
The Dolphins are unlikely to sign Phillips after the season. They’re also more likely to be active in free agency than the Lions, which could cause any potential compensatory pick for Phillips to be nullified. This would be a little less than what the 49ers sent the Commanders a couple of years ago for Chase Young — another young, talented edge rusher with a significant injury history. It feels like a logical move for both sides.
Getting one former Giants quarterback has worked out well for the Colts, with Daniel Jones currently leading the NFL in QBR (79.7). Why not try to collect the whole set? In all seriousness, Indy needs a backup behind Jones, who has completed a full season as a starter without missing time with injuries just once in his seven-year pro career. Jones’ sack rate is thankfully way down, but he’s still taking hits on 13.3% of his snaps this season.
Enter Wilson, who is clearly surplus to requirements in New York after being benched for Jaxson Dart. Wilson has made fill-in appearances twice over the past three weeks while Dart was being evaluated for injuries, but the Giants could easily turn that role over to Jameis Winston, who has been the third quarterback all season. Wilson didn’t look great for most of his brief tenure in New York, but we did see him torch the Cowboys for 450 yards and three touchdowns in Week 2.
The Steelers need another wideout across from DK Metcalf. Calvin Austin III averaged a middling 1.5 yards per route run this season before suffering a shoulder injury. Roman Wilson, the team’s third-round pick in the 2024 draft, has two catches in six games across his first two pro campaigns. Ben Skowronek is an ideal fourth or fifth wideout given his work as a blocker and on special teams, but he has played 45 offensive snaps in five games.
Let’s reunite Hill with his biggest fan. Sean Payton’s Broncos have plenty of playmakers, but they could always stand to add another threat on short yardage and in the red zone. Evan Engram has been a disappointment so far (137 yards), and though the Broncos have occasionally gotten Adam Trautman and Nate Adkins involved in the passing game, there’s nobody in the league quite like Hill.
And while Kellen Moore would obviously prefer to have a player with Hill’s unique talents on the field, the Saints would add a little bit of extra draft capital in the process. Hill would get a chance to go play for a team with meaningful football ahead in the final days of his NFL career, and I suspect he wouldn’t need too much lead time to learn the playbook.
Even mediocre young left tackles can be valuable, as Dan Moore Jr.’s free agent contract showed, but Jones’ future is likely elsewhere. The Bears will go with Theo Benedet as their left tackle for now, and second-round pick Ozzy Trapilo is entrenched as Chicago’s swing tackle and the next man up. Tackle depth is always nice to have, but the Bears could use help elsewhere.
Even a below-average left tackle like Jones would be a massive upgrade on what the Raiders are likely to run out over the next couple of months, and they could potentially land a compensatory pick if Jones leaves after the season. Adding what might be essentially a short-term tackle could seem odd for a team out of playoff contention in the AFC, but the Raiders just need to be able to reliably run their offense right now.
The safeties aren’t the only problem in Buffalo, but they’ve definitely been a concern. And with Damar Hamlin on injured reserve, there isn’t really any viable alternative for the Bills.
Stephen A.: Cowboys need a win more than Commanders
Stephen A. Smith explains why the Cowboys need a win more in Week 7 than the Commanders.
Dugger’s not that far removed from being a valuable player for Bill Belichick in New England, though, and while the 29-year-old’s previously elite traits might have slipped after an ankle injury, there are just too many teams in need of help at safety. The Patriots would need to eat most of the $6.5 million remaining on Dugger’s contract, but I’m not sure they really trust him to be on the field in games that matter unless it’s absolutely necessary.
In the final year of his rookie deal, Taylor-Britt is owed $2.4 million. It would be a surprise if he returned to the Bengals next season, so this would be an opportunity to move somewhere with a meaningful track record of turning around frustrating careers. He would step in as a reserve cornerback on the outside for the Commanders, who are allowing more yards per dropback without pressure than any other team in the NFL.