Potential Veteran WR Trades Add Juice to Underwhelming NFL Free-Agency Market
NFL teams won't rush to open the checkbook for wide receivers on the free-agent market in March. Barring extensions with their respective teams, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Jakobi Meyers will top a list of uninspiring names in this year's class. Clubs in need of a perimeter playmaker may gauge the trade market with some buzz around a few noteworthy wideouts.
Over the past few days, general managers and head coaches have answered pressing questions about offseason plans. In some instances, they allowed room for speculation with unclear or noncommittal responses to inquiries about specific players.
Based on the news and notes coming out of Indianapolis at the NFL Scouting Combine, we could see multiple teams trade a starting-caliber wideout, which would inject some life into the receiver market.
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Nearly two weeks away from the official start of free agency, let's take a look at who might land on the trade block and which teams could be interested in acquiring them.
DeAndre Hopkins
After the Arizona Cardinals fired head coach Kliff Kingsbury and general manager Steve Keim stepped down for health-related reasons, theScore's Jordan Schultz reported that owner Michael Bidwill would suggest trading DeAndre Hopkins in meetings with Keim's potential successors.
On Wednesday, when asked about Hopkins' status with the team for 2023, new head coach Jonathan Gannon said, "I'm not sure."
Gannon's unclear thoughts indicate that Arizona will at least consider a trade that involves Hopkins, who has a $30.8 million cap number in the upcoming term with two years left on his contract.
With Marquise Brown on the books for one more year at $13.4 million and due for a new deal soon, the Cardinals may see Hopkins as an expendable asset. The three-time first-team All-Pro will turn 31 years old in June, and he's coming off a couple of down statistical seasons because of injuries and a six-game performance-enhancing drug suspension. Since 2021, Hopkins has caught 106 passes for 1,289 yards and 11 touchdowns in 19 games.
Arizona can possibly fetch a third-round pick in this year's draft and a Day 3 selection in 2024 in exchange for Hopkins, who's still a top-notch wideout when he's on the field. In 2022, the Cardinals wideout ranked 10th in receiving yards per game (79.7).
Monti Ossenfort, the Cardinals' new general manager, may be willing to do business with the Tennessee Titans after he spent three years (2020-22) with the organization as its director of player personnel.
The Titans have a dire need at wide receiver after they released Robert Woods, who led the team with modest totals in catches (53) and receiving yards (527) for the 2022 term. Following an underwhelming rookie campaign (33 catches for 444 yards and a touchdown in 11 contests), Treylon Burks needs more time to develop into a reliable playmaker.
With Hopkins in a lead role opposite Burks, quarterback Ryan Tannehill may be able to bounce back from an injury-ridded campaign to balance Tennessee's Derrick Henry-dependent offense.
Brandin Cooks
Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio remained tight-lipped with the media about his top wide receiver on Tuesday.
"We'll do what's best for the team moving forward," Caserio said about a possible Brandin Cooks trade.
Though Caserio's comment doesn't give any indication that the team will move Cooks, the wideout had a clear thought early in January about what he isn't interested in going forward. According to Jonathan M. Alexander of the Houston Chronicle, the nine-year wideout doesn't want to be part of a rebuilding process.
Coming off a 3-13-1 season, the Texans just hired their third full-time head coach (DeMeco Ryans) in the last three years, and they have the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 draft with a huge question mark at quarterback. Clearly, Houston is in the process of a rebuild as Caserio tries to turn around the organization going into his third year as the franchise's general manager.
At this stage in Cooks' career, his timeline doesn't match up with the Texans, who are trying to establish a cultural foundation following constant turnover. Caserio should be able to get a fourth-round pick for a wideout who's racked up 1,037-plus receiving yards in six out of nine campaigns.
Caserio spent 20 years with the New England Patriots (2001-2020), rising through the ranks from a personal assistant to the director of player personnel. He can offer Cooks to the Patriots, who need speed at wide receiver.
In this trade scenario, Cooks would return to familiar grounds. He caught 65 passes for 1,082 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging a career-high 16.6 yards per catch with the Patriots in 2017.
Back then, the Patriots had offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who's now the Las Vegas Raiders head coach, and quarterback Tom Brady, who retired in February. However, Cooks can still make a significant impact, with New England set to lose Meyers and Nelson Agholor in free agency.
Cooks would reunite with Bill O'Brien, who served as the head coach and general manager of the Texans when they acquired the wideout and a fourth-round pick from the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2020 offseason.
Now the Patriots offensive coordinator, O'Brien can potentially get a known commodity in Cooks, who can help third-year quarterback Mac Jones' development.
Jerry Jeudy
Denver Broncos general manager George Paton seemed encouraged by Jerry Jeudy's growth when asked about the team's forthcoming decision on the wideout's fifth-year option, but he didn't give a clear answer on whether he'll keep him on the books for an additional term.
Jeudy finished the 2022 campaign on a strong note, racking up 117-plus receiving yards in two of the Broncos' last three games. Coming off a season in which he registered career highs in catches (67), receiving yards (972) and touchdowns (six), the three-year wideout seems like an ascending player at the position.
However, the MMQB's Albert Breer noted that Denver made Jeudy available before the 2022 trade deadline:
Though the Broncos have a new coaching staff led by Sean Payton, Paton is still the general manager who has influence over roster moves.
Breer linked Jeudy to the Patriots because of his technical route-running ability and Alabama ties to Jones, but the Chicago Bears may also jump in the mix to acquire the 23-year-old wideout if he becomes available.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Bears are "leaning toward" trading the No. 1 overall pick, which likely means they're going to build around quarterback Justin Fields. With wideouts Darnell Mooney and Chase Claypool already in place, Jeudy would round out an intriguing receiver trio in Chicago.
The Bears may have whiffed on their third-round pick from the 2022 draft in wideout Velus Jones Jr. (seven catches for 107 yards and a touchdown in 12 games). This offseason, they can try to swap a third-rounder for Jeudy, who's a productive talent when healthy.
Maurice Moton covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @MoeMoton.
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