NFL Trade Ideas That Can Reshape the League in 2024
Blockbuster trades have become an NFL staple in this era, highlighting offseason conjecture, buzz and reaction and lingering well into each regular season.
Recent moves like Matthew Stafford for Jared Goff (and change), A.J. Brown to the Eagles and Jalen Ramsey to the Rams have had significant impacts.
What's next?
Here are a handful of potential deals that could rock the league in 2024.
New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals Swap Daniel Jones and Kyler Murray
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Both the New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals are locked into massive contracts with their young 2019 first-round picks at quarterback, and neither has reason to be completely satisfied with the returns. Each team has had just one winning season since that draft.
So why not make a swap?
Murray's a little more costly (his deal averages $46.1 million per year compared to $40.0 million for Jones), but he's also clearly more accomplished as a top pick and a two-time Pro Bowler (Jones was drafted sixth and has never been a Pro Bowler). As a result, the G-Men would likely have to sweeten the pot a bit, but they'd at least be saving the Cards some cash and potentially help them expedite a rebuild.
It would be really interesting to see what coordinator Mike Kafka might be capable of doing with Murray in the Giants offense, and what a fresh setting could do for both quarterbacks.
Pittsburgh Steelers Acquire Justin Fields from Chicago Bears
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The Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves in a tough position. It sure as heck doesn't appear the long-term quarterback answer is on the roster, but they also keep winning enough that they lack the draft capital to land a primo passing prospect in this year's draft. Meanwhile, they remain competitive and talented enough to reach the postseason, but they also lack salary-cap space.
You know what they need? A cheap, talented quarterback with upside who could very well come into his own in a new setting with a stable franchise.
We just described Justin Fields, who at 24 is a phenomenal young athlete with the ability to become a star but may have worn out his welcome after three years of limited improvement as a passer in Chicago.
If the Bears decide to go down a new quarterback path with the top pick in the draft, they could very well decide to deal Fields out of the conference to a Steelers team that has little reason not to give him a shot.
New York Jets Acquire Davante Adams from Las Vegas Raiders
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The Aaron Rodgers-Davante Adams connection is impossible to ignore.
Rodgers is returning from injury and running out of time to win with the New York Jets. And his former go-to receiver from Green Bay has been a hot trade candidate for some time as the Las Vegas Raiders undergo their own regime transition.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Jets inquired with the Raiders about Adams ahead of this past year's trade deadline. They were reportedly rebuffed, but that doesn't mean a deal is necessarily off the table. In fact, a source tells Schefter that Gang Green will again pursue the 31-year-old six-time Pro Bowler this offseason.
Regardless, if it were to go down, it could pave the way for the Jets—who already have a stellar defense—to truly contend for the Super Bowl with a healthy Rodgers in 2024.
Dallas Cowboys Acquire Stefon Diggs from Buffalo Bills
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Adams-to-Dallas chatter has already picked up, but the Adams-Rodgers reunion makes more sense, so we'll roll with this inter-conference deal between two perennial contenders instead.
In this case, the cap-strapped Buffalo Bills could decide to finally move on from star wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who has on several occasions appeared disgruntled in the last year and is coming off a slightly disappointing season.
And if so, the increasingly desperate Dallas Cowboys could be willing to take Diggs off Buffalo's hands via a trade that would likely have to go down after June 1 for salary-cap reasons.
In Dallas, Diggs would be joining his younger brother, Trevon, so there's a chance he'd be willing to work out a new, team-friendlier deal with the 'Boys. That would be huge, as would his presence for a squad that was easily one of the best in football but again fell flat in the playoffs this past season.
Detroit Lions Acquire Justin Simmons from Denver Broncos
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Yeah, this one isn't as glitzy as the rest. But when you consider how close the Detroit Lions got to the Super Bowl in 2023, a deal for a game-changing defender could be the type of move that puts the team over the top in 2024.
Veteran safety Justin Simmons fits that profile and addresses a need for a defense that has plenty of room to improve after ranking 13th in DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average) in 2023, per FTN.
Simmons is on the wrong side of 30, and a Denver Broncos team that simply hasn't been competitive can save $14.5 million by moving on ahead of a walk year for the two-time Pro Bowler, per Spotrac.
Here, they can send him out of the conference to a team that could get more bang for its buck with him as a contender in 2024.
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