The wildest parts of the 2024 NFL offseason are behind us, at least when it comes to transactions.
You’ll still see some interesting new contracts signed and there’ll likely be an intriguing trade or two between now and the start of the 2024 regular season, but the reality is the next time we’ll see significant player movement between teams is the November 5 trade deadline.
Based on veteran contract statuses and contender/non-contender statuses, let’s take a very early look at some potential blockbuster moves at this year’s deadline.
Obviously, this would entail Dallas falling out of contention by midseason. It’s improbable, but we’re going bold here, people!
And still, I really wouldn’t be shocked.
The Cowboys did nothing to improve in the offseason and are financially handcuffed by Prescott’s $55.5 million salary-cap hit in the final year of his current deal. Head coach Mike McCarthy looks like a lame duck, CeeDee Lamb is disgruntled and the team generally looks worse off now than it did at the end of last season.
The odds might be similar, but I view the Eagles as the clear-cut favorite in the NFC East. They have too much talent not to bounce back, while Dallas looks primed to regress.
And if that happens, the organization could very well decide it’s time to move on from Prescott, who has been part of just two playoff wins and has thrown four interceptions in the team’s last two postseason losses.
Quarterbacks rarely move in the middle of seasons, but most of the ingredients are there in this case. Now, if a contender were to suffer a major injury at quarterback, or if a team like Las Vegas or Seattle finds itself in contention in spite of what it has at quarterback, a deadline blockbuster involving Prescott could come to fruition.
They’ve been delaying the inevitable for several seasons. Now, the Saints are again just hanging by a cap thread while in football purgatory: not a contender, not a bottom-feeder.
Only eight teams have worse Super Bowl odds, but with a core of accomplished veterans in a soft division, it really wouldn’t be surprising if they were to win between seven and nine games for a fourth consecutive campaign.
But I get the impression this is a last gasp.
If they’re out of the picture by the end of October, I’d expect Mickey Loomis and Co. to make guys like Derek Carr, Alvin Kamara, Cameron Jordan, Ryan Ramczyk and Marshon Lattimore available.
From there, they’d tank for a high pick for the first time in decades as they finally accept that this window has to close.
The Lions are gearing up. A team that has never been to the Super Bowl can clearly smell it, and another strong offseason of shoring up and bolstering weak spots indicates they’re all-in.
But the NFC North should be quite competitive and the 49ers remain the betting favorite to come out of that conference.
With that in mind, I’d watch for the NFC’s leader in cap space to make one more splash ahead of the deadline.
Potential targets include Amari Cooper if the Browns aren’t competitive and Tee Higgins if the Bengals fall off again. Both walk-year veteran receivers could be game-changers in Detroit.
In other words, the Giants admit—just a year-and-a-half after giving him a huge new contract—that quarterback Daniel Jones isn’t the answer. And if that’s the case, the team likely knows it has to gain more draft capital to land that next franchise QB.
The “problem” is there is plenty of talent outside of that potential for Big Blue, with Malik Nabers and Brian Burns sprucing things up this offseason on either side of the ball and most of a core including Dexter Lawrence and Andrew Thomas still in place.
The Giants might accidentally compete, even if Jones continues to be ineffective.
That could force the organization to tank down the stretch, the first chapter of which would come with a trade involving a veteran like Darius Slayton or Bobby Okereke as well as future draft capital in return for a potential top-five pick.