NFL trade rumors: High prices keeping moves at bay
The NFL trade deadline will pass on Tuesday, Oct. 31. It’s a fitting capstone for spooky season, with fans league-wide terrified about their team’s potential to make a catastrophic mistake at the very last second.
Recent years have seen the volume of trades, and especially blockbuster trades, increase exponentially. Teams are comfortable swapping picks or making bold swings to improve their championship odds. We have also seen teams appear to blow it up, only to rebound with a miraculous return to contention after the deadline (see: Detroit Lions, 2022).
It’s truly the turning point in the season, a crossroads at which every team can sink or swim depending on their decisions. And, not every team has a concrete grasp on its plans right now. It’s constantly evolving, right up to the final buzzer. That’s why no player is ever truly off the table.
Take, for example, the Washington Commanders. The front office was waiting until the results of Sunday’s game finalized to make decisions about the roster. The Minnesota Vikings weren’t in tear-down mode… but Kirk Cousins just hurt his Achilles. Maybe, now, the Vikings will have to get bold.
While a lot of moves appear to be percolating around the league, not much has happened yet. The potential hangup, per NFL insider Josina Anderson, is a wall of high asking prices.
Temp Check: One team this morning said they’re feeling like other teams are still asking too much for a half-season rental. Meanwhile, another team just checked in as I type this & said they’re still open to considering a deal that “makes sense” regardless of winning yesterday. pic.twitter.com/CQadvh0mhz
This is typical trade deadline posturing, of course. Any smart GM will keep the asking price high until the 11th hour, when it really becomes time to negotiate and hammer out a deal that makes sense for both sides. Most teams in the contenders circle or on the fringe will look to get better. Teams on the outside looking in should — operative word should — try to move off stars who don’t factor into future plans.
Of course, that’s not how it always works out. A prime example is the Las Vegas Raiders, who appear determined to keep Davante Adams despite a lost season and no real future for the 30-year-old in an offense built around Jimmy Garoppolo or Aiden O’Connell.
And yet, by that same token, we can’t truly count out an Adams trade. Or a Derrick Henry trade, Or a Saquon Barkley trade. Teams may be asking too much for half-season rentals, but all it takes is one desperate suitor riding a sugar high from Halloween festivities to get the ball rolling.
