NFL Players Showcasing Highest Trade Value This Preseason

I can’t help it. I read the word "showcase" and television’s The Price Is Right immediately comes to mind.

Of course, some of this is more about the case and less about the show.

Submitted for your approval, here are five players in the NFL who could be with different teams if their employers decide to play Let’s Make A Deal with another club.

Remember, I am just thinking out loud here. To Tell the Truth, I am not putting any of these five players on the open market, rather just speculating on their futures with their current teams due to their present contract situations, as well as other circumstances.

In other words, no one’s in Jeopardy of going anywhere at the moment.

As usual, all financial information in this piece is courtesy of the fine folks at Spotrac (subscription required).

FS Jairus Byrd, Buffalo Bills

It has taken an awfully long time, but Buffalo Bills Pro Bowl free safety Jairus Byrd is back with the team.

The next question regarding the star defender is just how long he will be staying?

On Tuesday, Aug. 20, the team’s designated “franchise” player finally signed his one-year tender.

Be it free agency or trade, the franchise has had a bad habit in recent years of losing its best players and watching them thrive elsewhere. Running back Marshawn Lynch (dealt to Seattle in 2010) and free-agent departures such as cornerback Antoine Winfield and safety Donte Whitner have all been Pro Bowl players with other franchises.

So what is the possibility that Byrd, a two-time Pro Bowler with the Bills, would follow suit?

Buffalo’s defense has the potential to be very good in 2013 and that’s something that has been long overdue in Orchard Park. But could the franchise be ready to deal its most reliable defensive player and get something of value for him before he becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2014?

Stay tuned.

DE Jared Allen, Minnesota Vikings

This possibility has been on the docket for a little while and it is certainly worth exploring.

Would the Minnesota Vikings actually part ways with perennial Pro Bowl defensive end Jared Allen?

The relentless Allen is in the final year of a six-year, $73.2 million contract that he signed in 2008 when he was acquired via trade from the Kansas City Chiefs.

Since his arrival in the Twin Cities, he’s done nothing but produce. Allen has totaled 74 sacks in 80 regular-season games, including an astonishing 22 sacks in 2011.

But are the Vikings willing to bring him back for a 10th NFL season, and at what price?

In July, Allen joked about training camp and his availability this summer following offseason shoulder surgery.

Let’s see if anyone will be laughing when it comes to be contract time.

QB Mark Sanchez, New York Jets

There’s nothing definitive, but by all indications, rookie Geno Smith will be the starting quarterback of the New York Jets…on Saturday.

Despite a somewhat solid preseason, quarterback Mark Sanchez, who is in the second year of a hefty contract, won’t have the need to wear his shades because the future isn’t bright. At least not with the Jets.

The franchise drafted University of West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith in the second round in April and because of that, the Jets' first-round pick from 2009 doesn’t figure to be long for the Big Apple.

But could the Jets get something for the talented, but mistake-prone signal-caller on the trade market? In two preseason games this summer, Sanchez has completed 23 of 36 passes for 294 yards and a pair of touchdowns with both to tight end Jeff Cumberland.

However, he has also thrown a pair of interceptions in those games and yes, we are not “Lion.”

Is there value in a player who helped lead a team to two straight AFC title games in 2009 and 2010? Or are the Jets just going to simply discard a performer who has committed 52 turnovers over the past two seasons?

QB Nick Foles, Philadelphia Eagles

We all know that three is considered a crowd.

But that’s what happens when you are trying to put four behind you.

Confused? Well, the Philadelphia Eagles are trying to put a nightmare known as the 2012 season behind them.

A year ago, the Birds were just 4-12 following a 3-1 start. They tied for the league lead with 37 turnovers and gave up a franchise-record 444 points.

Exit head coach Andy Reid and enter Chip Kelly. With Kelly's new offense in town, the starting quarterback job was up for grabs.

This offseason, second-year pro Nick Foles has been right in the middle of the team’s signal-calling sweepstakes, along with veteran Michael Vick and rookie Matt Barkley. This week, it was announced that Vick will be the Week 1 starter versus the Washington Redskins.

So with Barkley in the fold, could the Eagles get something for Foles if they so choose? A year ago, the third-round pick from the University of Arizona completed 60.8 percent of his passes and threw for six touchdowns. But he was also picked off five times and lost three fumbles.

With an Eagles team in need of some more defensive help, is there a trade package that includes Foles? It’s an interesting thought for a franchise that is coming off its worst season since 1998.

QB Kirk Cousins, Washington Redskins

From the moment he was drafted in the fourth round in 2012, quarterback Kirk Cousins apparently wasn’t long for the Washington Redskins.

Don’t worry. He’s not going anywhere…yet.

After giving up a ton to the St. Louis Rams in order to move up to the second spot a year ago to draft quarterback Robert Griffin III, the Redskins stunned most by selecting the highly regarded Cousins three rounds later.

As Griffin, the NFL's offensive rookie of the year last season, recovers from his severe knee injury in January, no one is complaining now that the former Michigan State standout is fighting for old D.C.

This past Monday night, Cousins did suffer a foot injury against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and you could hear the collective gasp in the nation’s capital.

Then again, Griffin is on course to start the team’s season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles. Cousins has seen somewhat-limited action in the preseason, but has completed eight-of-10 passes for 71 yards and a touchdown.

The question here is, will Cousins be seeing limited action with the Redskins in 2014?