USA TODAY National
The 2025 NFL trade deadline is November 4 at 4 p.m. ET. It strikes just after the league hits the halfway point of the regular season, painting an incomplete-but-revealing picture of which teams have legitimate playoff hopes and which can sell players to the highest bidders in hopes of regrouping for 2026.
We've already seen a steady trickle of in-season deals. The Tennessee Titans sent cornerback Roger McCreary to the Los Angeles Rams earlier this week. Before that, the Cleveland Browns bid adieu to starters Joe Flacco and Greg Newsome. The Los Angeles Chargers beefed up their pass rush with Odafe Oweh, sending Alohi Gilman to the Baltimore Ravens in return.
Even bigger names could be on the move as the deadline approaches. Let's take a look at some of the veterans who could be dealt this fall.
RB Breece Hall, New York Jets
Hall was the best player on the field for the Jets' first win under head coach Aaron Glenn. That means his value has never been higher — and with a reset coming and the stud tailback not under contract for 2026, it could mean a trade to greener pastures. His 93 rush yards over expected (RYOE) rank seventh in the NFL and he's had at least two catches in all but one of New York's games this fall.
LB Quincy Williams, New York Jets
Williams was a 2023 first-team All-Pro, but like most things in New York the promise he once had has curdled like milk on a radiator. While he's been useful in coverage (a 70.6 passer rating when targeted), his 18.5 percent missed tackle rate is the highest of his career as a full-time starter, per Pro Football Reference. At 29 years old, he may not be able to return to elite status but could still thrive elsewhere.
The San Francisco 49ers need off-ball linebacker help after losing Fred Warner. Could a reunion with former Jets head coach and current Niners defensive coordinator Robert Saleh be in the mix?
EDGE Jaelan Phillips, Miami Dolphins
Miami is a clear seller. The pieces to a pass rush that was supposed to provide cover for a leaky secondary could be the most attractive assets on the roster. Phillips was primed for a breakout year in 2023, but what looked like a surefire double-digit sack season was cut short by a torn Achilles. A knee injury ended his 2024 after four games.
However, he's bounced back in a meaningful way this year. While he only has two sacks, his 17.3 percent pressure rate is the highest of his career — and a selling point for a player who could be a change of scenery away from unlocking his Pro Bowl potential.
CB Riq Woolen, Seattle Seahawks
Woolen has fallen considerably since emerging as a Pro Bowler as a fifth-round rookie in 2022. The long, speedy sideline corner is allowing a career-worst 91.8 passer rating in coverage and will be a free agent this spring. A move away from Seattle could be the change of scenery he needs to bring back his ball skills and build his value before hitting the open market.
RB Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints
Kamara is the league's least efficient runner and left Week 8 briefly due to a presumptive injury. While he returned to finish up a 24-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he remains a reliable-but-unimpressive presence best suited for a platoon role next to a young tailback. The New England Patriots could use a player who can be trusted in pass protection and with the ball in his hands — Kamara has only lost one fumble since 2023 — and teams like the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams or Houston Texans could afford to add extra backfield depth if the price is right.
EDGE Trey Hendrickson, Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati didn't cave in to Hendrickson's trade request this offseason. It also didn't give him the big extension for which he'd asked, giving him a revised one-year, $29 million deal instead. That means whoever adds the 31-year-old pass rusher will likely do so as a half-season rental.
What will a buyer get this season? Hendrickson has been fighting a hip injury that knocked him out of the Bengals' Week 8 loss to the New York Jets (on a pretty brutal block away from the ball). The good news is he'd generated three pressures on 12 pass rushing snaps before that. The bad news is his 13 percent pressure rate is still a full five points lower than it was last season. Acquiring Hendrickson is a risk, and that could only further decrease Cincinnati's return for the 2024 NFL sack leader.
QB Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons
Michael Penix Jr. is the future, but Cousins still has a place in the league. Whether that's as someone's fill-in starter or as the league's most expensive backup will depend on the Falcons' strategy at the trade deadline.
Atlanta gave him a four-year, $150 million contract before the 2024 season, but only $10 million of that is guaranteed after 2025. That leaves room to drastically restructure what's scheduled to be a $57.5 million salary cap hit in the next two seasons or cut bait entirely if he's unable to return to form.
But paying big for Cousins is a tough sell after a woeful start in place of Penix in Week 8. He struggled to push the ball downfield and had his most success on short targets to Kyle Pitts — who hauled in nine of his 21 completions for... a whopping 59 yards. The veteran could provide some value to a needy team, but the Falcons may be forced to eat the vast majority of his remaining guaranteed cash in order to get rid of him.
S Kyle Dugger, New England Patriots
Dugger looked like a cornerstone after emerging as a trusted starter and signing a $58 million contract extension in 2024. But he'd fallen out of favor under head coach Mike Vrabel before re-emerging as a starter in Weeks 6 and 7, then missing Week 8's win over the Cleveland Browns due to a knee injury. As such, no one's quite sure what his value is to either New England or as a trade chip.
He's signed through 2027, but he could be released before then at modest dead salary cap hits of $4.5 million in each of the next two seasons. That's only to either force the Patriots to pay a good chunk of his salary on the way out or dent his trade return. But if someone out there wants a run-thumping safety whose coverage has fallen off in recent years, Dugger's out there.
QBs Jameis Winston and Russell Wilson, New York Giants
Do the Giants need two veteran mentors for rookie Jaxson Dart? Winston hasn't played a snap in 2025 and Wilson had one bizarrely incredible performance against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2 before being benched in Week 4. With a reset pending — 2025 could be the end of the line for both head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen — moving one of these players for a future draft upgrade makes sense.
Would Daboll and Schoen do their prospective replacements a solid with a deadline deal? That duo has hitched their wagon to Dart, who seems to be the only player capable of saving their jobs but would need a remarkable finish to do so. If things remain dire, expect quarterback-needy teams to reach out and see if Winston could be a potential short-term answer to a long-term problem.
Gs Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller, Cleveland Browns
Cleveland already dealt away one veteran pending free agent from its disappointing offense when it make Joe Flacco a Bengal. Could Bitonio or Teller be next?
The two interior linemen are both former Pro Bowlers on the wrong side of 30, but that pedigree could convince a team in need of a plug-and-play rental to pony up for one of these longtime Browns. Dealing away a longtime presence on the offensive line isn't a Cleveland staple; with a dozen seasons in northeastern Ohio, Bitonio has been a Brown longer than Joe Thomas was. But with Deshaun Watson, accused of more than 20 counts of sexual misconduct and what the NFL itself described as "predatory behavior" dating back to his time as a Houston Texan, on the hook for an $80 million cap hit next season, finding inexpensive starters on rookie contracts remains paramount to the team's rebuild.
At the same time, Joe Flacco's departure means the keys to the offense belong to two rookie quarterbacks. Dealing Bitonio or Teller would compromise a line that needs to keep its pocket secure to keep those young, not-quite-blue-chip prospects from developing bad habits. It may take a little more than you'd expect to pry these reliable, soon-to-be free agents from a 1-4 Browns team.
TE Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens aren't quiiiiite sellers yet even after the Odafe deal — the AFC North is wide open even after the team's 2-5 start. Even so, injuries have derailed a once promising campaign. and this team still went 1-3 even with Lamar Jackson in the lineup. If this team decides it needs a soft reset, there are a handful of recognizable veterans who could be on the block.
Andrews may be the most valuable of the group. The 30-year-old is playing out the final season of a four-year, $56 million contract extension and could have his place as Lamar Jackson's top tight end usurped by Isaiah Likely. Andrews' yards per route run (YPRR) have declined each of the last three years. While he may have some juice for 2025 those diminishing returns could his place in the team's future.
Dealing a reliable veteran who'd been Jackson's top target twice in the last four seasons would be a laughable suggestion if Baltimore were living up to expectations. But it's not, and if things stay that way and there's no future in purple for an eight-year veteran tight end, Andrews could be on the move.
EDGE Malcolm Koonce, Las Vegas Raiders
A knee injury robbed Koonce of following up on a breakout 2023 in which he had six sacks in his final four games. After missing all of 2024 he signed a one-year, $11 million prove-it deal with the Raiders in hopes of restoring his value.
Like most things Raiders this season, it has gone poorly. Koonce had a sack in Week 1 and zero in the six games since. His 11.1 percent pressure rate is below average for an edge rusher and a decided step down from the 15.6 percent pressure rate he posted in his breakout two years ago. If Pete Carroll is more interested in bringing in his own guys, he could be the kind of rotational pass rusher who draws interest as the deadline approaches.
Another name the Raiders could move if no contract extension is imminent is Jakobi Meyers. The former Patriot is a pending free agent, though Las Vegas' lack of receiving talent and Geno Smith's struggles at quarterback may make him untouchable even for a team entrenched at the bottom of the AFC West.
EDGE Arden Key, Tennessee Titans
Key emerged as a valuable pass rushing specialist after early struggles with the Raiders. Now he's showing signs of decline while stuck on a Titans team unlikely to push for a playoff spot. His playing time is the lowest it's ever been in Nashville and his pressure rate has dipped from an already worrying 10.1 percent in 2024 to 5.2 this fall. And that's with Jeffery Simmons sewing chaos up front and, at least theoretically, making Key's life easier.
The asking price will likely be low for a 29-year-old situational pass rusher. Needy teams can hope a change of scenery restores him to a passing down asset. But if they're not interested in Key, Sebastian Joseph-Day is a useful run-stopper who has made more of an impact as a pass rusher as the season wears on. If that keeps trending upward, he could be a bigger trade chip than Key.
OL Evan Neal, New York Giants
Neal has been a disaster. The former seventh overall pick was regarded as one of the safest picks of the 2022 NFL Draft but has struggled to stay on the field due to a combination of injury and effectiveness. He moved from tackle to guard before the 2025 season — a transition that has resulted in zero snaps played this fall.
It's a brutal scene when the Giants decide there's no more you can offer them. But it's a buy-low opportunity for a team with a great offensive line coach and an "I can fix him" mentality. Neal is an athletic, 6-foot-7, 360 pound totem who sums up all that is wrong with the Giants but could be primed for a revival elsewhere. Just look at how Daniel Jones is doing in Indianapolis. A seventh-round pick may be all it takes to pry him loose.
WR Chris Olave, New Orleans Saints
Trading Olave would be a bummer. He's Spencer Rattler's huckleberry (83 targets, 26 more than the next closest Saint) in a New Orleans offense that's more fun than it has any right to be. But general manager Mickey Loomis' buy-now-pay-until-the-heat-death-of-the-universe mentality means the franchise is already an estimated $14 million over *next year's* salary cap.
Olave's fifth-year extension will bump his 2026 salary up over $15 million and put him in line for a pricy extension. If Loomis decides he can't fit that piece into a jigsaw puzzle that never quite comes into focus, it could mean selling on Olave for the highest possible return. That could be next offseason or it could be before the trade deadline. It's a move that would dull one of the few bright spots in a lost season, but ultimately provide a little more like at the end of New Orleans' tunnel.
Olave's 2.06 YPRR ranks 33rd out of 133 qualified wide receivers this season and has improved steadily as the season goes on. His 52 receptions are third best in the NFL and has made him the frequent focus of double-teams. Pairing him with a dynamic starting wideout could unlock a new dimension to his already efficient game.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: 17 NFL players who could be traded before the 2025 deadline
Reporting by Christian D'Andrea, For The Win / For The Win
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