NFL Trade Deadline: 5 Players Who Will Be Moved Before Season Begins

An incredible amount of moves have been made since the 2011 NFL lockout ended and free agency officially began. Teams have been scrambling to fill needs and recruit top talent onto their roster.

A number of teams have decided to go in a different direction at certain positions and plenty of quality starters from last season have found themselves on the trading block.

Impact quarterbacks like Kevin Kolb and Donovan McNabb have already found themselves moved early in the offseason. Arizona and Minnesota were two teams that were rumored all during the lockout to make a move for a new QB and followed through.

The Miami Dolphins might still be looking to add another QB to compete for the starting job in South Beach. They recently signed ex-Panther backup Matt Moore to a two-year, $5 million deal, but could still bring in a quality, starting-caliber QB to add some excitement to the position battle.

Teams were shocked to find out that Nnamdi Asomugha signed with the Eagles, who just added Pro Bowl CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and already had Asante Samuel. A number of squads that were burned by Asomugha are going to make a push to trade for another high quality CB from the Eagles to bolster their secondary. DRC or Samuel may find themselves in a new spot in the next few days.

Those are just a few of many moves that have happened, so let us now look ahead at some of the potential deals that could go down before the regular season begins. 

5. Carson Palmer

Carson Palmer is a 97 regular season game veteran but has just two playoff games under his belt. One doesn't even really count, as he threw just one pass before having his knee obliterated by Kimo Von Oelhoffen in 2005.

He led the Bengals to their first playoff series in 15 years and then got them back four years later. He was loyal to the team that drafted him first overall in 2003. He just simply wanted to win football games and the Bengals clearly could not effectively do that. 

After a 4-12 2010 campaign, Carson requested to be traded. 

Bengals owner Mike Brown responded by saying,

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“Carson signed a contract. He made a commitment. He gave his word. We relied on his word. We relied on his commitment. We expected him to perform here. He’s going to walk away from his commitment. We aren’t going to reward him for doing it.”

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If Brown softens his stance on Carson's request, it would be possible for him to be traded this offseason. It would be a good idea in my opinion to get this done and at least get some value out of the player. 

4. Zach Miller

Zach Miller is currently available in the free agent market. He is one of the best tight ends in the league and has all the skills necessary for the position.

He is big, he is fast, he can catch and he can block. He should be one of the most sought after TE's in the league but there hasn't been much noise being made publicly about him moving for some reason.

 Miller has put up solid stats in Oakland with subpar QB's throwing to him, so look for him to break out and become a top five talent at the position if he has a real quarterback to play for.

The Dolphins are apparently interested in getting Miller, and if they cannot sign him, look for them to try to work out a sign and trade or some other method of acquiring the Pro-Bowl caliber TE. Other teams who could use Miller include the Bears and Cardinals.

The Bears recently moved starting TE Greg Olsen to Carolina for a third-round pick and have a huge hole to fill and money to spend.

Miller is born and raised in Tempe and played his college football at Arizona State University. He would be a great fit on the team and would be a solid target for new QB Kevin Kolb to find if he lands in Arizona.  

3. Osi Umenyiora

Osi Umenyiora is currently holding out, wanting to force new negotiations concerning his contract.

Osi is apparently going to hold out until the team pays him like a top five defensive end or trade him to a team that will.

There are a ton of teams that need a solid DE and the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens are apparently highly interested in making a move for Osi.

While Osi could just be using trade rumor interest to pressure the New York Giants into giving him a bigger contract, things could escalate quickly.

Look for the Giants to try and pay Osi, but if they decide to go in another direction this holdout could get ugly and end with a trade.  

2. Asante Samuel

The Eagles are now shoulder to shoulder with the Green Bay Packers as Super Bowl favorites next season. 

The addition of Nnamdi Asomugha has given them three elite cornerbacks. The team already had Asante Samuel on the roster and acquired Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie in the Kevin Kolb trade. 

They obviously think very highly of Rodgers-Cromartie since they traded a very valuable backup quarterback to get him, and he has proven to be an elite young corner in this league. 

Nnamdi is one of the best cover corners in the game and completely shuts down half of the football field. He is not going anywhere anytime soon. 

This means Asante Samuel is the most likely to be traded. Samuel has stated he wants to remain on the team and be apart of the best backfield possibly ever assembled on a football field. 

The Eagles will most likely try to keep him, considering he is due just $5.9 million this season and can afford to keep him on the roster. 

However, the right offer could come along and the Eagles would certainly have to consider giving him up if it helps them fill a more pressing need. It will be interesting to see what happens as the team fields offers over the next few days.  

1. Kyle Orton

Kyle Orton is the odd man out in Denver. Tim Tebow, the teams first-round draft pick last season, is the future of the Broncos franchise and going to be the starter this year.

Orton is due to make $8 million and the Broncos most likely do not want to pay him that much to hold a clipboard. 

The Dolphins are apparently done with the Chad Henne experiment and ready to move forward with him on the bench. Orton would be without question the starter on that team and help them to compete in a very tough AFC East.

Minnesota and Arizona were two other potential landing spots for Orton but they solved their QB issues early in the free agency period. 

Look for Miami and Denver to continue negotiations for Orton over the next few days and have something worked out soon.