Philly Front Office

It has only been 2 weeks, but there are some pretty clear bad teams in the NFL right now. The following 7 teams are not only bad now, but should stay bad enough to sell by the trade deadline. Here are all the pieces not only worth trading for, but the team in question would (or should at least) be interested in dealing.

Arizona Cardinals

Despite the Week 1 win over the Chargers, the Cardinals are still very bad and in need of a full tear down.

• Budda Baker – S – Baker seems like he has been with the Cardinals forever. He is now 30 and has no more guaranteed money on his contract after 7 straight Pro Bowls. It’s time to go. Arizona should at least not be giving out another extension. He has $14m in base this year and $16m next year but can also be cut with no penalty. He will probably not be as expensive as you would think.
• Josh Sweat – EDGE – Sweat was AWESOME last year with 12 sacks and 4 forced fumbles. There is no way he is following that up this season. While they should have traded him in the offseason, here we are. He has $10m in base this year but would also come with $16.5m in dead cap next season. They would need to get paid well for that. With less production, giving Arizona enough to take that cap hit might be tough.
• Marvin Harrison Jr – WR – Harrison has to go. He looked like one of the most sure thing prospects ever coming out of Ohio State and has simply fallen flat in the desert. It is now Year 3 and he has 1 catch in 2 games. As of right now they can’t exercise his 5th year option. He’s only 24 and needs a change of scenery.
• Isaac Seumalo – G – Seumalo just signed with the Cardinals so you would think he’d be off limits, but his signing bonus was only $8.5m meaning he will not have much of a dead cap hit if they move him. Next year his deal is only $8m with just $3m of that guaranteed. The former Eagle could be a solid replacement on anyone’s line without much commitment.

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Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons stink. Maybe Michael Penix comes in and rights the ship, but there isn’t a whole lot of confidence in that. This team needs to reset desperately.

• Jessie Bates – S – Bates is in the final year of his 4/$64m contract. He’s 29, productive, and has only missed 1 game in his whole career. His contract is for $13m in base this season which should be around $6m by the deadline. Under no circumstances should the Falcons extend him.
• Chris Lindstrom – G – Lindstrom signed a monster extension back in 2023 and is up for another one. At 29, you’d think the Falcons would be interested in locking him up, and they may be, but they also just paid Matthew Bergeron and Jake Matthews. They could probably get a pretty big haul for the 4x All Pro that would help for the previously mentioned reset. The problem is that it would come with a pretty massive cap hit for next season at $29m. To say you would need to blow Atlanta away is an understatement. An offseason trade is more likely if Atlanta doesn’t want to give him another extension.

Cleveland Browns

The Browns do not have anyone worth trading that they would actually give up. Does anyone want Deshaun Watson, Jerry Jeudy, or Tyson Campbell? Would they actually give up Jared Verse or Mason Graham? Trading Denzel Ward is simply not practical.

Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins are an interesting trade case because even though they are guaranteed to be terrible, they simply do not have a lot to trade. In fact, I couldn’t find anyone to even consider for the list until I started looking at contracts. That’s when I found someone I did not expect…

• De’Von Achane – RB – Wait a second, didn’t they just sign Achane to an extension? Yes, they certainly did. However, as is the case with recent bad team extensions like the Browns with Myles Garrett and the Jets with Sauce Gardner, Achane’s deal with the Dolphins seems to have been designed to be moved. His deal comes with guaranteed money, but because his signing bonus was only $4m, there will be barely any dead money on this contract ($7m in 2027).

New York Jets

There’s no Sauce Gardner or Quinnen Williams this year for the Jets, but there’s still some talent to move if the Jets solid start cools off.

• Will McDonald – EDGE – McDonald had 19 sacks over the last two seasons and only has his $14.5m 5th year option remaining on his deal. Anyone who gets him now will get first dibs on extending him in hopes that there is even more pass rush juice to squeeze.
• Minkah Fitzpatrick – S – It seems like no good player gets traded as much as Fitzpatrick. Somehow, he is still only 29 years old. He signed an extension with the Jets, but because his signing bonus was only $7.5m he can be moved without much worry. His 2027 $13m salary is half guaranteed and would become the responsibility of his next tea,
• Demario Davis – LB – Davis finally left the Saints at 37 years old. He’s still pretty decent too. He just signed for 2/$22m but has a low base this season, low dead cap, and has an $11m 2027 salary that is mostly guaranteed. I’m not sure if anyone really wants to do that, but if the Jets get any kind of offer, they should box him up and ship him out.
• Breece Hall – RB – Hall has a contract even more likely to be traded than Achane. When he signed his 3/$43.5m extension it came with only a $5m signing bonus. This means the Jets would only swallow $4m in dead cap in a move. His $13m in salary next year though is guaranteed. It can be restructured, but he’s getting that money no matter what. Trading him right away makes paying him make a lot more sense.

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Tennessee Titans

It seemed like the Titans were going to trade Jeffery Simmons, but they gave him an extension instead. Sometimes (like with Sauce Gardner and Myles Garrett) this doesn’t mean anything, but with Simmons, it is now prohibitive to trade him. After him though, the disposable talent is thin.

• Jermaine Johnson – EDGE – The Titans traded for Robert Salah’s guy in the offseason but have not extended him. He’s also not off to a great start. In the final year of his rookie deal and on a bad team, you have to think they are open to moving him for anything.
• Calvin Ridley – WR – He’s almost 32 now and making $5.5m plus incentives. While he might be cooked, he also might just be in a miserable situation. If he shows flashes of anything over the next few weeks, the Titans have to move him. He’s not doing anything to help Cam Ward

Washington Commanders

While I was dubious of Washington even with Jayden Daniels, with him now out for an extended period of time, they are sunk. Washington has been reluctant to actually rebuild around Daniels but moving their free agents must be a priority, right?

• Daron Payne – DT – Payne’s best days are behind him but so is the big part of his contract. He is now in the final year of his deal making a $16m base. That would still be around $8m to take on, but that can be absorbed by Washington if need be.
• K’Lavon Chaisson – EDGE – Chaisson signed a 1/$11m deal in the offseason after an 8 sack, rebound campaign in New England. He hasn’t been great, but he could end up being a nice, cheap boost to a pass rush. He has to move.
• Stefon Diggs – WR – Diggs is still good. He’s also cheap. Even with his off-field nonsense, Diggs could really bolster a weak WR unit. As soon as an injury happens, Washington should be getting bombarded with calls.
• Frankie Luvu – LB – Eagles fans don’t like him one bit, but Luvu has been a quality LB for years and is in the final year of his contract making $7.5m base.

Photo: All-Pro Reels from District of Columbia, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Contracts: Spotrac