8 NFL Players Who Could Be Surprise Trade Pieces in 2024 Free-Agency, Draft Windows
The NFL Scouting Combine is in full swing in Indianapolis this weekend, as this year's top collegiate prospects work out for NFL teams. Before you know it, free agency will be upon us. The NFL draft in Detroit will follow soon after.
There's another way that NFL teams can improve the roster—by trading with another club. It's a way for teams to add veteran talent as buyers or draft capital as sellers. Trades aren't as common in the NFL as in MLB or the NBA. But they do happen—in recent years we've seen star players like quarterback Aaron Rodgers and wide receiver Tyreek Hill change teams in that way.
Now, there are obstacles that must be overcome with every trade, whether it's salary-cap ramifications, compensation or even just finding the right trade partner. For all eight of the players listed here, those obstacles are significant—so much so that if these players are actually dealt it will be a surprise.
But there are also reasons enough why these players could be dealt and enough potential demand for their services that it's possible they could be changing teams this offseason.
WR Davante Adams
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There have been trade rumors floating around Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams for some time now. Specifically, one rumor—a deal that would reunite Adams with quarterback Aaron Rodgers on the New York Jets.
So, what would make a trade involving Adams a surprise?
The fact that Las Vegas general manager Tom Telesco all but shot down the deal with a three-word response to reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine.
With that said, this wouldn't be the first time in league history that a GM swore up and down that a player wouldn't be traded, only to turn around and trade said player.
The Raiders managed to win eight games last year despite a nightmarish quarterback scenario, and it's not hard to imagine Telesco believing the team isn't that far off if they can address that mess under center in free agency or the draft.
But it's also possible that the Raiders won't be able to acquire a veteran signal-caller like Kirk Cousins of the Minnesota Vikings or Justin Fields of the Chicago Bears. And that an early run at the position in the first round of the NFL draft means that the top four or even five prospects at the position are drafted before the Raiders pick at No. 13.
If that's the case, the Raiders are staring at another season with huge question marks at the game's most important position. And if a Jets team that is 100 percent in "win now" mode comes calling with a big offer for the 31-year-old, it's hardly inconceivable that Telesco could reconsider just how ironclad his views on Adams really are.
DT Jonathan Allen
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As the Washington Commanders struggled through yet another miserable season in 2023, defensive tackle Jonathan Allen made it clear to reporters in December that he was tired of stacking losing seasons.
"I've been dealing with this for seven years," Allen said. "I'm tired of trying to build character. My character is built well enough. I'm trying to win."
Since then, the Commanders have blown up the coaching staff and front office, and Allen's tune changed considerably while speaking to USA Today Sports.
"I'm excited, man," Allen said. "[GM] Mr. [Adam] Peters and Coach [Dan] Quinn, I think we've done a lot of great things; we've brought in a lot of winners, guys who've been to Super Bowls, guys who have been a part of winning Super Bowl organizations. I am excited. It matters a lot; my goal has always been to win a Super Bowl," he said. "But I want to win it here. Obviously, winning a Super Bowl someplace else would be great, but it wouldn't be the same as winning it here. I went to high school in this area; I grew up a Washington fan, so, obviously, I want to win here."
Reality check—the Commanders aren't winning the Super Bowl in 2024. Or 2025. The team will all but certainly draft a quarterback second overall, but that's hardly the only area of need in the nation's capital.
Washington showed a willingness to trade big-name defensive linemen last season, dealing both Montez Sweat and Chase Young. The Commanders have another big-money defensive tackle on the roster in Daron Payne. And while cap space isn't an issue in D.C., a franchise embarking on what amounts to a ground-up rebuild can use all the draft capital it can get.
WR Stefon Diggs
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This might well be the most surprising potential trade on this list—Super Bowl contenders do not generally trade away their No. 1 wide receiver. And as Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Beane told reporters after the season, despite his late-season fade the team still considers Diggs a No. 1 wideout.
"We have to continue to put weapons out there to keep teams from bracketing him or locking him down in different ways to take him away," Beane said. "... Stef can still play. I'm sure he would love to have that deep ball again. He'd be the first to tell you. He's super competitive. He's going to work his tail off this offseason. I know there's various reasons or questions on this or his production ... but I still see Stef as a No. 1 receiver."
However, Diggs was a bit more nebulous when discussing his playing future.
"I feel like I take it day by day," he said. "Obviously, there's a lot of changes going on, a lot of things going on. I can't really put the carriage before the horse, you know what I'm saying? But I got a great offseason in front of me to put a lot of work in and kind of build around what we got and what we're doing. I can't tell you what the future holds, but I'm still being me."
With fellow receiver Gabe Davis set to hit free agency, the Bills would need a complete overhaul of the position if the team traded Diggs. But there were rumblings over the latter portion of last season that Diggs wasn't happy with his diminished production down the stretch, and it's not like we haven't seen the 30-year-old essentially force his way out of town.
Cue Minnesota Vikings fans nodding solemnly.
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QB Geno Smith
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These are supposed to be surprise trades. And to be clear, from more than one perspective, the Seattle Seahawks trading quarterback Geno Smith would be a surprise.
Financially, the deal would save the Seahawks essentially nothing. The Seahawks would actually lose $600,000 in cap space (per Over the Cap) by dealing Smith after recently restructuring his contract while incurring a dead cap hit of $27 million.
That's not a Russell Wilson hit—but it's a hit.
Also, while speaking to reporters, Seattle general manager John Schneider sounded like a man who was committed to Smith, even after the 34-year-old's level of play declined in 2023 relative to his Comeback Player of the Year season in 2022.
"I think Geno had a good season," Schneider said. "It was a little bit opposite of last year. He started out real strong last year and things dipped a little bit the second half. And then I thought this year he started out not quite as strong as last year and then finished in a real strong manner."
But dealing Smith would clear $25 million off the books in 2025. And there could be interest in him—Smith isn't an elite signal-caller, but he's a capable veteran quarterback with a relatively reasonable contract for the position.
It's admittedly unlikely that Smith would be dealt—especially after his contract was restructured. But it's not impossible that Seattle would take a run at Justin Fields or become so enamored with one of this year's rookie signal-callers that it tres to move up from No. 16.
Trading the team's starting quarterback wouldn't exactly be uncharted waters for Schneider. And the last time he stunned the league by doing it, it was the right play.
EDGE Joey Bosa
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There's a new head coach in Los Angeles in Jim Harbaugh, and after meeting the coach, veteran edge-rusher Joey Bosa came away impressed.
"We sat down and probably talked for 30 minutes, an hour a couple of weeks ago," Bosa told Jared Schwartz of the New York Post. "Great first impressions. … I have a lot of confidence in him and the staff that he's bringing around him. I think he seems like a really genuine guy, which you don't find that a lot in coaches all the time. He's interesting. He loves football more than anything. I think all he wants to do is win. The way he talked about his feelings toward this job and toward the future was pretty exciting."
The question now is whether Bosa will be a part of the rebuild in La-La Land.
When healthy, Bosa is arguably the best defensive player on the Chargers roster—as recently as 2021 he made the Pro Bowl with 51 tackles and 10.5 sacks. He was the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2016.
But durability has been an issue for the 28-year-old—Bosa has played in just 14 games over the last two seasons combined. He isn't cheap, either—Bosa's cap hit in 2024 is $36.6 million.
The cap-strapped Chargers could clear about $14 million off the books if they deal Bosa between now and March 15. When he's healthy, Bosa is a borderline elite player at one of the game's most valuable positions.
After an injury-marred 2023, it would be surprising if a trade partner was willing to pony up the sort of compensation it could take to pry Bosa away from the Bolts. But Los Angeles does have Khalil Mack on the roster coming off a career year, and the Chargers have multiple holes on the roster to fill on both sides of the ball.
RB Alvin Kamara
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After the Saints retained head coach Dennis Allen and restructured the contract of quarterback Derek Carr, it appears they are content to make one more run with the roster relatively intact.
However, even after a litany of financial shenanigans, the Saints are still $17.1 million over the 2024 cap, and that could lead the organization to shop some of its higher-priced talent—and there is only one player on the roster with a higher cap number in 2024 than running back Alvin Kamara. In fact, the 28-year-old carries a higher cap hit than any running back in the league.
A few years ago, that may not have been that big a deal. But Kamara is coming off a season in which he set a new career low in scrimmage yards. In two of the past three seasons, Kamara has failed to gain four yards per carry. New Orleans spent a Day 2 pick last year on Kendre Miller—ostensibly as Kamara's successor. And Kamara has reached the point in his career where running backs generally begin to decline.
The argument can be made for shopping Kamara. But the reason a trade happening would be an upset is financial.
A Kamara trade before June 1 would only clear about $1.5 million off the books.
However, it's possible that a trade that also involves Kamara extending or restructuring his contract could make sense to a contender. And with Kamara's cap hit ballooning to over $29 million in 2025, New Orleans would have to at least consider an offer that includes any real draft pick compensation.
S Justin Simmons
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If the Denver Broncos (as expected) release quarterback Russell Wilson, the dead cap hit that comes with it is going to leave a crater in the Mile High City. The Broncos are going to need to clear space around just about any way they can.
And as Cody Benjamin wrote for CBS Sports, sending veteran safety Justin Simmons packing would be one way to do it.
"An eight-year veteran of the Broncos, Simmons is arguably the heart and soul of a perennially tough defense," he said, "and he hasn't lost his ability to track the ball at age 30, totaling 30 interceptions in his career. But he's entering the final year of his contract, and Denver—which is projected to be $24 million over the cap—could save an immediate $14.5 million by sending him elsewhere. With other stalwarts like Patrick Surtain II already in the secondary, perhaps now is the time the two sides will consider a split."
Trading Simmons would be a blow to the Denver defense—the argument can be made that he's the team's best defensive player, and no safety in the league has more interceptions since 2019. He's heading into a contract year with a cap number of $18.3 million.
Simmons' consistently excellent play should appeal to a number of NFL teams with a need at safety—teams who could extend Simmons post-trade to lessen the cap damage in 2024.
If the Broncos are going to blow it up this year, they might as well go all-in.
WR Deebo Samuel
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There was a time not that long ago when Deebo Samuel of the San Francisco 49ers was considered one of the most dangerous offensive weapons in the NFL. In 2021, Samuel topped 1,400 receiving yards and scored eight rushing touchdowns. The 28-year-old played a major role in two Niners teams that made the Super Bowl.
But now, Grant Cohn of All 49ers believes that Samuel's effectiveness as a player has diminished—and that San Francisco should be looking to move on.
"It wasn't long ago that Samuel WAS the 49ers offense," he said. "He was their No. 1 receiver and the best running back, too. Any time he touched the ball, he was a threat to score a touchdown. Now, he's not a particularly effective running back anymore—the 49ers hardly ever hand him the ball because they don't need to. They have Christian McCaffrey and Elijah Mitchell. So, a big part of Samuel's game is gone. Plus, he isn't particularly dangerous running end arounds, reverses and jet sweeps anymore—it seems the league has caught on to those gimmick plays. In addition, Samuel never has been a good route-runner, and he's getting worse. He absolutely cannot beat quality man-to-man coverage, as we saw in the Super Bowl when Chiefs nickelback Trent McDuffie shut him down."
There's one major stumbling block to a potential trade with Samuel—his contract. Samuel carries a massive $28 million cap hit for 2024, and almost $22 million of that would stay on San Francisco's books after the deal.
However, there could be a team out there with cap space who doesn't share Cohn's assessment. Who believes that Samuel can still be a versatile offensive force in the NFL.
And with quarterback Brock Purdy and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk set to receive massive extensions by 2025, if someone makes an offer, the 49ers need to listen.
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