NFL Analysis
2/17/25
7 min read
NFL Trade Ideas To Fix Broken Teams In 2025
Trades for veteran players remain a market inefficiency. Draft compensation rarely matches the level of on-field performance, mostly because of the weight given to the salary implications of acquiring a veteran player. Still, with so many smart teams managing the cap wisely, those types of trades rarely debilitate the acquiring team.
These trades are most often beneficial for contending teams looking to add one more player, pushing the roster closer to the top. But they can also help a team looking to reload get a jump start on building up a roster.
Those are the teams we will look at with these trade ideas.
Trades to Fix Broken Teams
Carolina Panthers - Trade for Jaelan Phillips
This would be a team trying to buy low on a potential young high-upside pass rusher. Jaelan Phillips has missed time the past two years because of injury. He tore his Achilles in Week 12 of the 2023 season only to return and tear his ACL in Week 4 of this past season.
When Phillips was on the field, he was an effective pass rusher with 22 sacks and 53 quarterback hits in his first two and a half seasons. His 25 quarterback hits in 2022, his second season, ranked 12th among all players.
The Carolina Panthers were 32nd in pressure rate during the 2024 season, according to TruMedia, and could use help on the edge. The Dolphins picked up Phillips’ fifth-year option last offseason, but his entire $13.2 million salary would be transferred to the Panthers.
Miami is currently $5.4 million over the cap, and Chop Robinson emerged as an impressive pass rusher during his first season as a player who could take over for Phillips.
The Panthers have just over $20 million of cap space, and adding a 26-year-old former first-round pick would help a defense that was the sixth-oldest by snap-weighted age in 2024.
Las Vegas Raiders - Trade For George Pickens
The Las Vegas Raiders don’t know who the quarterback will be this season, but adding another pass catcher could go a long way in building a supporting cast that would help whoever that quarterback might be.
As a former second-round pick, Pickens only has $3.6 million for 2025 in the final season of his rookie deal. He won’t turn 24 years old until the beginning of March. The Raiders have the second-most cap space in the league and could pull the trigger on an extension after the trade to get Pickens locked in for multiple years.
Pickens would instantly help an offense that was 29th in explosive pass rate in 2024. He can win down the field and give the offense a more dominant presence on the outside. A trio of Pickens, Jakobi Meyers, and Brock Bowers would be a fairly impressive receiving corps for the Chip Kelly offense.
Pete Carroll could give Pickens the type of structure he needs to stay focused on the field. There was tension between Pickens and the Steelers throughout the year, and a change of scenery with another veteran coach and a potentially explosive offense could be a good move for the receiver.
Jacksonville Jaguars - Trade for Jaire Alexander
The Jacksonville Jaguars couldn’t cover last season and had no answers across from Tyson Campbell. Jacksonville wanted to play aggressive press coverage and did not have the cornerbacks to hold up. Montaric Brown had the fourth-most snaps in press coverage but allowed 2.2 yards per coverage snap when playing press, per Next Gen Stats.
Jacksonville won’t be as aggressive in press coverage after changing the coaching staff, but that corner spot opposite Campbell is still an issue.
New defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile was with the Green Bay Packers last season as the linebackers coach and run game coordinator. That didn’t involve a lot of work with Alexander, a cornerback who only played in seven games in 2024 and is coming off a season-ending knee injury, but there is some familiarity with the veteran defensive back who can play outside and in the slot.
Alexander, 28, has two years remaining on his contract with non-guaranteed salaries of $16.2 and $18.2 million.
When Alexander last played a full season in 2022, he was a second-team All-Pro and had seven interceptions on 14 passes defensed. Even in his short 2024 stint, Alexander still had seven passes defensed in seven games and was 19th among 113 cornerbacks with at least 200 coverage snaps in adjusted yards allowed per coverage snap.
New Orleans Saints - Trade Derek Carr
For most teams, adding talent would be the way to start building for the future, but the New Orleans Saints need to go in the opposite direction. Maybe that’s what they’ll do with a new coaching regime with Kellen Moore, though the front office remains the same.
The Saints were the sixth-oldest team in football by snap-weighted age last season and are $54.1 million over the cap entering the offseason. New Orleans could continue restructuring everyone and pushing more money back into future years — and that’s something they’ll be forced to do on many contracts. But there is an out to make the move on Carr now.
Trading Carr would only free up $11 million in cap space, but it’s one of the only moves the Saints have that would clear significant cap space from a trade this offseason. With the quarterback landscape as it is, the Saints could get something in return for a 34-year-old Carr, who was efficient when on the field last season, ranking 11th in EPA per play.
Getting out of the Carr contract and getting some draft picks to bring in younger talent to add to the eight draft picks the Saints have would be a good first step toward the next step of what this Saints roster will be.
New England Patriots - Trade For Cooper Kupp
The New England Patriots need to fill out the receiver room to help Drake Maye. Maye had an impressive rookie season given what was around him, both at receiver and along the offensive line. New England could use a dominant ball-winner on the outside, like Tee Higgins, but adding a receiver like Cooper Kupp would be just as impactful — and why not both, if possible?
With a league-leading $119.8 million in cap space, the Patriots can take on Kupp's $12.5 million salary in 2025, with just $5 million guaranteed. He also has a non-guaranteed $14.85 million salary for 2026.
Even at 32 years old, Kupp would give Maye a short-area answer on high-leverage downs. The Patriots’ leading receiver on third down with Maye at quarterback was TE Hunter Henry, with a 24.7 percent target share. Demario Douglas was second at 22.2 percent but only had a 38.9 percent success rate on those targets.
Adding a receiver like Kupp would give Maye a safety net in those situations while opening up other players like Douglas to play more to their strengths. Bringing in Kupp also would not prevent the Patriots from making moves elsewhere, such as at receiver, along the offensive line, or really anywhere else on the roster.
