NFL trade rumors: High prices keeping moves at bay
The NFL trade deadline will pass on Tuesday, Oct. 31. It's a fitting capstone for spooky season, with fans league-wide terrified about their team's potential to make a catastrophic mistake at the very last second.
Recent years have seen the volume of trades, and especially blockbuster trades, increase exponentially. Teams are comfortable swapping picks or making bold swings to improve their championship odds. We have also seen teams appear to blow it up, only to rebound with a miraculous return to contention after the deadline (see: Detroit Lions, 2022).
It's truly the turning point in the season, a crossroads at which every team can sink or swim depending on their decisions. And, not every team has a concrete grasp on its plans right now. It's constantly evolving, right up to the final buzzer. That's why no player is ever truly off the table.
Take, for example, the Washington Commanders. The front office was waiting until the results of Sunday's game finalized to make decisions about the roster. The Minnesota Vikings weren't in tear-down mode... but Kirk Cousins just hurt his Achilles. Maybe, now, the Vikings will have to get bold.
While a lot of moves appear to be percolating around the league, not much has happened yet. The potential hangup, per NFL insider Josina Anderson, is a wall of high asking prices.
This is typical trade deadline posturing, of course. Any smart GM will keep the asking price high until the 11th hour, when it really becomes time to negotiate and hammer out a deal that makes sense for both sides. Most teams in the contenders circle or on the fringe will look to get better. Teams on the outside looking in should — operative word should — try to move off stars who don't factor into future plans.
Of course, that's not how it always works out. A prime example is the Las Vegas Raiders, who appear determined to keep Davante Adams despite a lost season and no real future for the 30-year-old in an offense built around Jimmy Garoppolo or Aiden O'Connell.
And yet, by that same token, we can't truly count out an Adams trade. Or a Derrick Henry trade, Or a Saquon Barkley trade. Teams may be asking too much for half-season rentals, but all it takes is one desperate suitor riding a sugar high from Halloween festivities to get the ball rolling.
NFL trade rumors: Bears' Jaylon Johnson drawing interest from contenders
On paper, the Chicago Bears are prime trade deadline sellers. Chicago is 2-6, dead last in the NFC North and well outside the contenders circle. The Bears were the worst team in football last season, so there's a precedent. The team is young, rebuilding, and currently navigating a period without their starting QB. It's time to throw the damn towel!
The Bears could throw all that out the window and stand pat. Heck, there are even rumors about Chicago star-hunting for Chase Young. That would certainly be an unexpected zag from a franchise rooted to the bottom of the NFL standings, but the NFL is often a nonlinear league. Teams don't tank and rebuild the same way they might in basketball or even baseball.
If Chicago does decide to listen to offers on key pieces, however, defensive back Jaylon Johnson is sure to have a market. According to league insider Benjamin Allbright, the San Francisco 49ers, Buffalo Bills, and Dallas Cowboys have interest in acquiring Johnson's services.
Johnson is in the final year of his rookie contract. A second-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Johnson has spent his entire career to date with Chicago. He's on track for his best campaign yet, with two interceptions and a forced fumble across six weeks of action. At 24 years old, he is fully on the upswing. It's no wonder why contenders desire him.
The Cowboys, Bills, and Niners all have the Lombardi trophy in their sights. Dallas and San Francisco rank near the top of the league defensively. Buffalo's pass protection is solid, but Johnson could elevate them to another level. That's especially valuable with the offense in such a haywire state week-to-week.
NFL trade rumors: Kyler Murray expected to stay with Cardinals despite interest
Kyler Murray hasn't played NFL football since he suffered a torn ACL last December. The former No. 1 pick participated fully in practice last week, and was even declared "fully healthy" by head coach Jonathan Gannon, but the Arizona Cardinals still held him out. It's probably smart to proceed with an abundance of caution given Arizona's paltry 1-7 record.
As Murray gears up to return, however, his name has been popular in the trade rumor mill. The Cardinals went 3-8 with Murray under center last season. A lot of Murray's previous luster was lost, leading some to question his future with the franchise. Murray signed a five-year, $230 million contract before the injury. Once considered a fair price for a rising star, it is now viewed by many as an albatross hanging around Arizona's neck.
Still, the Cardinals is expected to stay with the Cardinals past the trade deadline, according to The Athletic scribe Dianna Russini.
The wording from Russini is worth noting: the Cardinals are "not shopping" Murray. That could be interpreted as the Cardinals not making calls, but still being open to receiving calls. If that is the case, expect at least a couple of NFL teams to poke around the phone lines before the 4 E.T. deadline on Tuesday. Murray put up respectable numbers despite Arizona's team-wide struggles last season — 2,368 yards, 14 touchdowns, and seven interceptions with a 66.4 completion percentage in 11 starts — and he remains a two-time Pro Bowl quarterback at 26 years old.
It's fair to wonder how Murray will look post-injury, but modern medicine generally treats QBs kindly and Murray has the natural talent to return to some level of stardom, or at least high-level starterdom. In today's QB market, it wouldn't be hard for the right team to justify the Murray gamble financially. Of course, few teams need him more than the Cardinals, who clearly can't win games with Joshua Dobbs at signal-caller.