The 2023 NFL trade deadline will be here before you know it, with various NFL players waiting to hear if they’ll get moved by Halloween.
We’ve picked out five players that we’d love to see find new homes by next week, including some elite players who would instantly lift a contending team to an even fiercer opponent come January.
While none of these players are by any means guaranteed to get traded, we feel like all of these guys could hypothetically find themselves in a new uniform by next Tuesday.
Let’s break down the players that we’d love to see traded before the deadline this year.
Panthers DE Brian Burns
Burns is one of the best pass rushers in the NFL, but he’s on a Carolina Panthers team going nowhere fast and didn’t give him the contract extension he rightly deserves in the offseason.
If the Panthers are serious about helping quarterback Bryce Young, they’ve got to get him a top-flight wide receiver next offseason. Not having a first-round pick would hurt that quest.
Trading Burns to a contending team would most likely net Carolina a really nice return, which we assume would include a first rounder.
POSSIBLE TEAMS: Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams, Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs, Jacksonville Jaguars
Broncos WR Courtland Sutton
While all the focus has been on Jerry Jeudy as a possible trade candidate for the Denver Broncos, we’d love to see Sutton get a chance to play for a contending team this January.
Sutton has been such a reliable receiver in his time with Denver, maybe never an elite player but just always so steady on the field.
If Denver could get a good pick in return, we feel like a Sutton trade would make a lot of sense. The team could keep developing Jeudy in theory and allow Sutton to chase a ring with a different franchise.
POSSIBLE TEAMS: San Francisco 49ers, Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys, Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens
Giants RB Saquon Barkley
We won’t spend too much time dwelling on how bad the New York Giants have been this season and instead focus on the idea of Barkley joining a contending team.
That would be great, as the playoffs have largely evaded a really talented player in Barkley outside of last season. It’d be great to see him land in a new franchise, and the Giants could really use the draft capital to retool this roster.
If Barkley gets traded like Christian McCaffrey did last season, he could have a similar impact on a new team that is pushing for a Super Bowl.
POSSIBLE TEAMS: Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Minnesota Vikings, Los Angeles Rams
Patriots OLB Josh Uche
If the Patriots feel like they need to accumulate draft capital for next year, the team could probably get a nice pick in exchange for Uche, a very talented, young pass rusher that is due a new contract next spring.
Uche could be a really nice trade deadline addition for a contending team, and we’d love to see him playing in January as his career has taken off.
New England doesn’t feel like a playoff team in the slightest, and it’d be fun to see Uche end up somewhere new for the next stage of his career.
POSSIBLE TEAMS: Seattle Seahawks, Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Rams, Houston Texans
Cardinals QB Kyler Murray
If you are doing a double-take right now, it’s because Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray could very well be his team’s starter next year.
Murray is a good quarterback with plenty of room to keep growing, but he plays for a team that is positioned right now with a high draft pick. The team could have the first-overall pick when it’s all said and done at this rate.
If Arizona is convinced that the future is not Murray, we’d love to see the internet break as the quarterback is traded to his next team.
It’d be a stunning blockbuster for October, and we’re convinced it’d take a few first-round picks to get a deal done. However, if there’s an NFL team out there that is convinced Murray is their future and it’s not the Cardinals, maybe we’ll get the shock of the trade deadline and a Murray move.
POSSIBLE TEAMS: New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Las Vegas Raiders, Washington Commanders, New York Jets
