Possible NFL Trades Before the Start of the 2025 Season
As the start of the 2025 NFL season approaches on September 4th, teams still have the opportunity to make last-minute improvements to their rosters. Although most offseason decisions have already been made, there are always possibilities for trades during training camps.
Considering this, we present some hypothetical trade proposals that could benefit multiple teams. Predicting trades in the NFL is complicated due to the large number of variables, but positional needs, player surpluses, evaluations, contracts, and each team’s situation can offer clues.
Could the Giants move on from Kayvon Thibodeaux after drafting Abdul Carter? Could the Chargers bolster their running game while Najee Harris recovers from an eye injury? And what about the Dolphins, who need options at the cornerback position?
Let’s analyze five exchange proposals that could be sensible in the coming weeks.
Packers Bolster Defensive Line with Thibodeaux
Packers receive: Edge Kayvon Thibodeaux, 2026 fifth-round pick
Giants receive: 2026 second-round pick
There is nothing inherently wrong with having three talented players at the edge rusher position, given that it is a key position and the Giants can rotate players. However, it makes sense for them to get rid of Thibodeaux, as they are still rebuilding and are not contenders in 2025. They have invested heavily in this position after using high-value picks on Thibodeaux and Abdul Carter, in addition to acquiring Brian Burns with a significant contract. They have many needs to cover in 2026, the first year they could aim to compete.
The Packers are a natural trade partner here. They are a team currently competing, but with a big need at the edge position. Their current group, consisting of Rashan Gary, Lukas Van Ness, Kingsley Enagbare, and fourth-round pick Barryn Sorrell, is probably not enough, as the team ranked 26th in pass rush win rate last season. Thibodeaux would certainly help.
The question is what exactly would Green Bay get. Thibodeaux hasn’t lived up to pre-draft expectations. He has 21.0 sacks in three seasons with the Giants, along with a 16% pass rush win rate on the edge, which is essentially average for a starter at the position. But, given his draft pedigree and his youth (24 years old), he still offers star potential. Also, he’s been on a bad team the last two years: it’s undoubtedly more difficult for pass rushers to generate big numbers when the team is losing.
Regarding the contract, Green Bay would get Thibodeaux at an extremely low price in 2025 ($1.1 million) and at a slightly low price in 2026 ($14.8 million).
Cardinals Add Depth at Receiver with Wicks
Cardinals receive: WR Dontayvion Wicks
Packers receive: 2026 fourth-round pick
In this second trade, the Packers could mitigate the cost of Thibodeaux’s move by trading from their own surplus position. Even with Christian Watson presumably out of action at the start of the season after suffering an ACL tear in January, the Packers’ depth chart still features Jayden Reed, first-round pick Matthew Golden, Romeo Doubs, third-round pick Savion Williams, and Wicks.
Therefore, they can afford to do without Wicks, a 2023 fifth-round pick who hasn’t fully managed to stand out despite showing potential. In his first two seasons in Green Bay, he has recorded 996 receiving yards (1.8 yards per route run). This puts him behind Reed (2.3 yards per route run in the same period) and Watson (2.0), but ahead of Doubs (1.6).
Arizona is in the opposite situation. After Marvin Harrison Jr., the Cardinals’ receiving corps includes Zay Jones, Michael Wilson, and Greg Dortch, a rather mediocre group. Trey McBride emerged as another prominent option last season, but another receiver could complement (and hopefully help unlock) Harrison, who had a mediocre first season in the league relative to his pre-draft expectations.
Wicks’ raw numbers underestimate his potential in my opinion, and Arizona would bet on that effect. In ESPN’s receiver grades last year, Wicks recorded an opening score of 84, but a score of 0 in receptions, the lowest possible, after a staggering 10 drops on 76 targets.
If I had to bet on one of those two numbers to remain in the future, it would be the opening score over the drops (the opening is more stable from year to year than the reception score). However, there are no guarantees, so Green Bay would opt for a future asset rather than let Wicks’ development unfold on their roster. Meanwhile, Arizona would bet that Wicks can reach a higher level and boost the offense in the coming seasons.
Raiders Bet on CB Newsome
Raiders receive: CB Greg Newsome II, 2027 seventh-round pick
Browns receive: 2026 seventh-round pick
Newsome is due $13.4 million fully guaranteed in 2025 for his fifth-year option, and one would argue that it’s an open question whether that makes him a positive or negative asset, hence the near-zero compensation listed here. Newsome posted worse-than-career numbers last season in terms of yards per coverage snap (1.4), EPA allowed (plus 10), and target rate (15%, though this was only a slight increase). But there was a reason Cleveland picked up his option in April 2024, as he posted better-than-average yards per coverage snap numbers in both 2022 (0.7) and 2023 (0.9).
For the Browns, the most important part of this deal would be getting rid of Newsome’s salary. The Browns currently have $17.5 million in salary cap space in 2025, but they are already $35.4 million in the red in 2026, according to OverTheCap.com. In other words, they need the savings. Considering that the team is not a contender in 2025 and Newsome only has one fully guaranteed year left on his contract, it makes sense that Cleveland would want to move on.
The Raiders spent the offseason stabilizing the organization, bringing in Geno Smith as quarterback and Pete Carroll as head coach. The defense has potential with a solid defensive line, but cornerback is the team’s biggest weakness. Las Vegas, with over $90 million in cap space in 2026 (the second most of any team), can afford to take a gamble on Newsome. If Carroll can get the best out of the 25-year-old cornerback, it will elevate their prospects for 2025 and he could stay for future seasons.
Bears, Chargers, and Bucs Make Deals for RBs
Bears receive: RB Rachaad White, 2027 seventh-round pick (from the Chargers)
Chargers receive: RB D’Andre Swift, 2026 sixth-round pick (from the Bears)
Buccaneers receive: 2026 fifth-round pick (from the Bears)
The fact that we almost never see three-team trades in the NFL doesn’t mean they can’t happen. Also, it’s fun to project them.
The main impetus for the deal here is the assumption that Bears head coach Ben Johnson will put a similar emphasis on the running game as he did in Detroit, and that Swift is simply not good enough to shoulder that load. Swift recorded a staggering minus 174 yards above expectation, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, which was the worst total of any player last season. It marked the third season of the last four in which Swift recorded negative yards per carry above expectation; he recorded negative first downs above expectation in all four seasons.
White, on the other hand, added 48 yards per carry above expectation on 144 carries last season in Tampa Bay. And he’s elite in the passing game, with the second-best overall receiver grade over the last three seasons combined, behind only Christian McCaffrey and one spot ahead of Austin Ekeler. That sounds like the kind of player Johnson could employ to great effect, as he did with Jahmyr Gibbs in Detroit.
White is a useful player for Tampa Bay, but Bucky Irving took his starting position and is a strong receiver in his own right. With Sean Tucker also on the Bucs and White in the last year of his contract, the latter becomes a logical candidate for a trade.
The tricky part of making this deal is that Swift is due $7.9 million in cash ($7.4 million of which is fully guaranteed) this season, more than he’s worth based on his production history. Therefore, the Bears would be on the wrong end of a sixth- and seventh-round pick swap to trade him to the Chargers.
For Los Angeles, Swift would provide veteran depth behind first-round rookie Omarion Hampton and another option overall, while Najee Harris recovers from an eye injury. Additionally, it would allow the Chargers to accumulate some draft capital in exchange for some of their salary cap space arsenal. No team has more combined salary cap space between this year and next than the Chargers, according to OverTheCap.com.
I almost dismissed this deal when the Chargers signed Nyheim Hines, but his last appearance in the NFL was in 2022. Swift would be a more logical veteran backup in case Harris missed some time.
Dolphins Get Depth at CB with Williams
Dolphins receive: CB Joshua Williams
Chiefs receive: 2027 sixth-round pick
Miami’s cornerback room is bleak. That’s why the team signed Jack Jones and Mike Hilton in recent days, but the cornerback group still leaves something to be desired. If Kader Kohou, who is day-to-day with a leg injury, plays according to his strong point in the slot, that leaves the Dolphins with Cam Smith, Storm Duck, fifth-round pick Jason Marshall Jr. and Ethan Bonner competing for the outside corner spots (Hilton is a slot corner).
Jones started in 16 games for the Raiders last season, but the defining trait of the rest of the group is inexperience. Smith was a 2023 second-round pick who has played only 112 coverage snaps in his first two seasons, allowing 1.7 yards per coverage snap in that time. Duck is a former undrafted free agent who started three games for the Dolphins (and played 42% of the defensive snaps in his 14 games played) last season. Bonner is also a former UDFA who has appeared in seven games for Miami in the last two years.
Williams is a depth cornerback for the Chiefs, who already have Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson, Kristian Fulton (signed in March), and Nohl Williams (2025 third-round pick). Joshua Williams, who is slated to earn $3.2 million this year, was even left off ESPN’s 53-man roster projection at the start of training camp.
Williams has some encouraging numbers in his first three seasons. In 769 coverage snaps, he has allowed 0.9 yards per snap, better than average, and 0.6 in the last two years, although in a small sample.
Miami seems more like a team in transition than a franchise looking to add talent before the season. But, given the state of the Dolphins’ cornerback group, a low-risk maneuver like this would make sense.
