What are the Least Desirable NFL Trade Destinations Ahead of 2025 Training Camp

With contract disputes and conspicuous minicamp absences being the top stories of this relatively slow portion of the NFL offseason, it won't be long before trade demands start to make headlines.

While some of the stars seeking new deals will eventually sign them, others will draw a line in the sand and request to be moved if they don't receive an extension. These players should be wary, though, especially if their current contract lacks a no-trade clause that gives them some semblance of a say in where they end up.

Not every landing spot is created equal, especially with so many rudderless organizations currently mired in the NFL's basement ahead of the 2025 season.

Using metrics such as the club's B/R Power Ranking, coaching staff, roster makeup and salary-cap space, courtesy of Spotrac, here's a look at some of the league's least desirable trade destinations.

Cleveland Browns

AP Photo/David Richard

B/R Power Rank: No. 29

Head Coach: Kevin Stefanski

2025 Cap Space: $20.2 million (No. 22)

The Cleveland Browns have long been one of the NFL's laughingstocks, and it doesn't seem that status will change in 2025.

The team entered the offseason with nothing but question marks at the quarterback position and now has one of the messiest signal-caller situations the league has seen to untangle. Not only did the Browns acquire a first-rounder-turned-journeyman in Kenny Pickett, but they also signed an aging Super Bowl champion in Joe Flacco to compete with him.

While those acquisitions made sense for a team expected to be without disappointing and injury-prone incumbent starter Deshaun Watson for an extended stretch, Cleveland introduced an unnecessary layer of turmoil in the draft by selecting Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders in the middle rounds.

Now on the cusp of a training camp in which four different players will be vying for reps, it's hard to envision the Browns making significant improvements on the 3-14 campaign that superstar Myles Garrett claimed was "more disappointing" than going 0-16 as a rookie. 

The Browns do have a respectable coach in Kevin Stefanski—who took the helm in 2020 and has guided the team to two of its three postseason trips since rejoining the league in 1999—and standout players like Garrett, Denzel Ward, Jerry Jeudy and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, but the concerns under center, middling offensive line talent and other roster issues will make it difficult for this group to contend.

With just a shade over $20 million in available cap space, the Browns may struggle to afford the little talent still available on the open market if they even manage to convince these players to sign with the downtrodden club.

While the team could explore trades to patch up holes during training camp, incoming players shouldn't be too thrilled about winding up in northeast Ohio.

Miami Dolphins

AP Photo/Lynne Sladky

B/R Power Rank: No. 21

Head Coach: Mike McDaniel

2025 Cap Space: $14 million (No. 27)

The Miami Dolphins went into the 2024 season with hopes of building on their back-to-back Wild Card Round exits and ended it with Tyreek Hill quitting on the team in a meaningless Week 18 contest.

Despite having the early portion of the offseason to sort things out, they still appear to be in disarray and lack clear direction ahead of training camp.

Given the issues that have been plaguing Miami, it shouldn't come as a surprise to hear rumblings that head coach Mike McDaniel has lost the locker room.

Multiple sources informed Sportskeeda’s Tony Pauline that the coach "has rubbed a lot of veterans the wrong way" despite his team posting a 28-23 record and earning playoff berths in two of his first three seasons.

The rumors that players are hoping to escape the organization coincide with Miami's brass shopping Jalen Ramsey around. While the veteran cornerback has yet to be moved, it appears to be only be a matter of time before a deal is orchestrated.

Ramsey isn't the only disgruntled veteran in South Beach. Edge-rusher Bradley Chubb recently admitted the Dolphins were "lying" about a culture change last season—a campaign that was sunk by injuries and locker room issues.

The draft didn't do Miami any favors, either. The team made a rather head-scratching decision on Day 1, selecting defensive lineman Kenneth Grant—the No. 26 overall player on the Bleacher Report Scouting Department's big board—at No. 13 overall despite the availability of prospects who better fit the team's plethora of needs.

While winning could quell most of these issues, victories won't come easy if Tua Tagovailoa continues to miss time with injuries. Having played just one full season since entering the league in 2020 and missing six games last year after signing a blockbuster extension, the quarterback may not be the long-term answer for this long-suffering squad.

Given the issues surrounding McDaniel, Tagovailoa's health concerns and potential for a rebuild in the near future, players should do their best to avoid being dealt to the Dolphins.

New Orleans Saints

AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

B/R Power Rank: No. 32

Head Coach: Kellen Moore

2025 Cap Space: $29 million (No. 14)

The New Orleans Saints have been a middle-of-the-pack squad in recent years, but it doesn't seem they will be going anywhere but down this coming season.

They are coming off a 5-12 campaign—their worst finish in nearly two decades—and could finally be entering a much-needed rebuilding phase under new head coach Kellen Moore following the dismissal of Dennis Allen following two-and-a-half fruitless seasons.

Moore isn't a bad hire by any means. Three of his last four offenses were top-five scoring units, including the Philadelphia Eagles team he just won a Super Bowl ring with. While he could be the long-term solution in the Big Easy, he will have his work cut out trying to get much more than an early draft slot out of this pockmarked roster during his first season as a head coach.

While there was initially some potential, albeit slight, for New Orleans to contend in a wide-open NFC South race, those chances took a nosedive when quarterback Derek Carr shockingly announced his retirement last month.

Carr's departure leaves the Saints with arguably the thinnest quarterback room in the entire league. This group includes a 26-year-old rookie in Tyler Shough (who didn't come off the board until Day 2) in addition to a pair of unproven, young passers in Spencer Rattler and Jake Haener who have both underwhelmed during their limited NFL action.

With only league-average cap space at GM Mickey Loomis' disposal and question marks across the lineup, New Orleans needs to stop kicking the financial can down the road, give up signing pricy veteran stopgaps, start offloading talent in exchange for picks and prepare for the future.

This simply isn't a team any NFL player should want to end up on via trade right now.

New York Giants

AP Photo/Seth Wenig

B/R Power Rank: No. 30

Head Coach: Brian Daboll

2025 Cap Space: $4.4 million (No. 31)

The New York Giants went from rating as one of the league's more promising teams to one of its most concerning within the span of just a few years.

After opening the Brian Daboll era with a 9-7-1 campaign in 2022—the franchise's best finish since 2016—and making an unexpected run to the divisional round, the team has since gone on to post disappointing 6-11 and 3-14 records, respectively, over the last two seasons.

Hindered by questionable roster decisions such as Daniel Jones' four-year, $160 million extension (the quarterback was benched and subsequently cut after a 2-8 start to last season) and refusing to give a market value deal to Saquon Barkley, who went on to be the catalyst behind a Super Bowl win for the Philadelphia Eagles, the G-Men find themselves in an unenviable position this offseason.

While both Daboll and GM Joe Schoen were granted one more opportunity to turn the ship around, they will be hard-pressed to put a winning product on the field in 2025. The Giants quarterback situation is one of the NFL's strangest, with both Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston coming aboard in free agency before being joined by No. 25 overall pick Jaxson Dart shortly after.

Big Blue loaded up with several other promising prospects this year, a rookie class headlined by edge-rusher Abdul Carter, but their presence—along with veteran acquisitions such as safety Jevon Holland—may not be enough to orchestrate the type of rapid transformation that both ownership and fans are seeking.

With a nightmarish salary-cap situation (only one team has less available dollars) and a regime likely on its way out with yet another reboot on the horizon, players should be wary about being traded to the Giants this offseason.

New York Jets

AP Photo/Adam Hunger

B/R Power Rank: No. 27

Head Coach: Aaron Glenn

2025 Cap Space: $37 million (No. 5)

The New York Jets are once again entering Year 1 of a new regime.

After parting ways with head coach Robert Saleh—whose term dragged on far too long before he was mercifully relieved of his duties just over a month into the 2024 campaign—the Jets brought in their fourth HC of the past decade.

Aaron Glenn may give this dysfunctional organization a shot at snapping the longest playoff drought in major American professional sports, but it's far from guaranteed his tenure will be a successful one.

The former Detroit Lions defensive coordinator has been tasked with coaching up a roster that has experienced a tremendous amount of upheaval this offseason, including parting ways with Aaron Rodgers after an immensely disappointing tenure.

The Jets should be fine defensively under Glenn after ranking in the top-four three years in a row, but their offense hasn't finished in the top half of the league since 2015—including last year when a lowly No. 24 finish ranked as the club's best offensive showing in the last six seasons.

Offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand will have to get creative to maximize this unit's potential, especially after Gang Green opted to sign Justin Fields rather than take a quarterback prospect early in the 2025 draft.

That decision could come back to haunt the Jets. Fields is now with his third club in as many years and has had limited success—especially as a passer—since entering the league as a first-round pick in 2021. Without a promising prospect behind him on the depth chart, he must play at a high level for New York to have a shot at making the postseason for the first time since 2010.

While the Jets boast some quality incumbent skill-position talent in Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall and an offensive line that looks improved following the first-round addition of Armand Membou, there are still more questions than answers surrounding the organization.

Until the Jets eventually prove to be competent under Woody Johnson's ownership, this team should be one that experienced NFL players try their best to avoid being traded to.