NFL Trade Deadline: Is Saquon Barkley Next Star To Move? Who Execs Expect To Buy & Sell

There was once a time when the NFL trade deadline brought very little pomp and circumstance. That’s no longer the case. This week has been a prime example that very few trade ideas are far-fetched. Three players with All-Pro talent have been traded in the last few days. The Indianapolis Colts traded guard Quenton Nelson and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers, respectively. Possibly the biggest deal of the deadline came on Thursday, though, when the Chicago Bears landed Tennessee Titans All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons for two first-round picks and a fourth-round selection. But will Simmons be the biggest name to be moved before the Nov. 10 deadline arrives? Should we expect more fireworks over the next couple of weeks? We asked those questions around the league to figure out which teams might be active and who might get moved. Here’s what we learned. Ralph Vacchiano: The fire sale in Indianapolis has already begun. Expect sell-offs in Philadelphia and Los Angeles to follow soon. That’s what several NFL sources told me to expect between now and the Nov. 10 NFL trading deadline. It’s pretty clear the seasons are over for the Chargers (0-6) and Eagles (2-5), and both teams have expendable players who can bring them assets they can use when their offseason rebuilding begins. “It doesn’t sound like either team is there yet, but they will be soon. Or at least they should be,” one NFL assistant general manager told me. “They’re not crazy enough to sit tight, especially with so many players on expiring deals.” “Those teams have multiple tradeable players with value,” another NFL executive told me. “You might see teams like the Titans or Bucs make an isolated trade. But if you’re looking for a sell-off, the Eagles and the Chargers might be it.” Based on conversations with multiple executives and scouts, NFL teams are watching at least three players on each squad. For the Eagles, they are expected to at least field offers for cornerback Riq Woolen, guard Landon Dickerson and tight end Dallas Goedert, those sources told me. One scout added defensive tackle Moro Ojomo to the list, and at least two sources wondered about running back Saquon Barkley. “Woolen and Goedert are short-term rentals who can give a contender a boost at those spots down the stretch,” the assistant general manager told me. “Dickerson might be more of a long-term play because he’s only 28 and has a couple of years left on his deal. I’d say the Eagles would be crazy to trade him, but it clearly looks like they’re going to rebuild their entire offensive line.” As for the Chargers, the names that came up most were edge rusher Khalil Mack — whom the executive said was “old, but might be the best edge rusher to get traded in this cycle” — plus wide receiver Quentin Johnston and cornerback Donte Jackson. “The Chargers have to start from scratch in the offseason,” the executive told me. “They’re not in a position to turn down offers on anybody at this point. Just get whatever picks you can get and move on.” Vacchiano: The New York Giants have been waiting a long time for an opportunity like this, and many around the NFL don’t expect them to waste it. Off to a 4-2-1 start and staring at a crumbling NFC East, general manager Joe Schoen and new coach John Harbaugh could be strong buyers in the NFL trade market between now and the trade deadline. They already got things started when they traded a fifth-round pick to the Vikings for quarterback J.J. McCarthy last month to replace the injured Jaxson Dart. But with a lineup thinned by injuries — including season-ending ones to edge rusher Brian Burns and linebacker Tremaine Edmunds — there could be more deals to come. “From what I hear, they know they’ve got a really unique opportunity to pull away from a bad division, and they want to strike while they can,” one NFL executive told me. “I honestly thought they were a year away, and might need to trade off a few guys for picks for the future. But here they are in first place, starting at a playoff berth. “When that’s there, you’ve got to grab it.” Multiple NFL sources pointed to four areas the Giants might seek to improve: Defensive tackle, running back, edge rusher and interior offensive line. Of those, the consensus seemed to be that defensive tackle would be the Giants’ priority, unless they could add a top back — like perhaps Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor — at a reasonable price. “I’ve heard a lot of talk about them and Taylor, because Harbaugh is worried about [Cam Skattebo’s] ball security,” one NFL assistant general manager told me. “I get it. It would give him his Derrick Henry (who Harbaugh coached in Baltimore). But I think JT’s going to be too expensive. “They can get a [defensive] tackle cheap. They need to shore up the middle of their run defense. They lost a lot when Burns and Edmunds went down. If they can get a big guy in the middle of that line to eat up blockers, and it only costs them a Day 3 pick, that could change everything about their defense.” There is one problem for the Giants, though: They don’t have a fourth- or fifth-round pick in the 2027 draft, and may not have a seventh, which means that if they are looking at players with Day 3 pick values, they might have to get creative or hope those teams are OK with picks in 2028. And they have to be careful about overspending because they’re walking a fine line. A winning season, a division title and a playoff berth are all in reach. But nobody thinks they’re good enough to be real Super Bowl contenders. It’s still just Year 1 of the Harbaugh era, and they have to keep their future in mind. “Yeah, they don’t want to give up too many big assets — like, no first-rounders. It would be hard for them to justify trading a Day 1 or 2 pick, unless it’s something really big,” the assistant general manager said. “But they have to act like contenders. “Because that’s what they are.” Eric D. Williams: With less than two weeks remaining before the Nov. 10 trade deadline, the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks already took big swings to improve their teams. The 49ers brought back defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, giving up a fourth-round pick in a trade with the Indianapolis Colts. The Seahawks also made a deal with Indianapolis, improving their offensive line by giving up a 2027 third-round selection and a fifth-round pick in 2028 for All-Pro guard Quenton Nelson. “Both will pay huge dividends this season,” an NFL front office executive told me. A league source told me it’s possible the Los Angeles Rams could be willing to join the arms race. It would make sense, considering that’s how Los Angeles has built championship contenders in years past, by giving up premium picks for premium players like Von Miller and Jalen Ramsey at the trade deadline. “The Rams could,” a league source told me. “I would think the Chargers would look to make deals, but maybe not much to trade that would bring much back. The Cardinals less so, but they’re hard to predict. They have to be good deals.” While the Rams might be tempted to dip their toes in the fray, Los Angeles has the least salary cap space of any team in the NFL. And the Rams don’t have many trade chips, with only four picks in next year’s draft. In essence, the Rams already made their big deadline acquisitions when they traded for Myle Garrett and Trent McDuffie in the offseason. Both are expected back from injury sooner rather than later, along with receiver Davante Adams before the end of the season. McVay confirmed that thought process, saying his team is more inclined to wait for frontline players to get healthy for the second half of the season. “What you look at is hopefully some of those trades will be guys getting back from injury that haven’t played for us,” McVay told reporters this week. “That’s the way that we look at it. Like I’ve told you in years past, you always think about it, but with the amount of guys that have not been available that are key and focal points for really both sides of the football, we look at those guys hopefully being able to return within a month. That’s where that value lies for us.” Williams: For teams we did not expect to be leading the division at this point of the season, like the New York Giants, Cleveland Browns or Carolina Panthers, what happened to the Indianapolis Colts over the past year offers an important lesson of why it might be wise to pump the brakes on not pushing in all the chips. If you recall, the Colts traded two first-round picks for Sauce Gardner at the trade deadline last year after starting the season a surprising 7-2. Then quarterback Daniel Jones suffered a season-ending Achilles tear and Gardner also got hurt. The Colts cratered, losing eight of their last nine games in 2025 and were so desperate they signed 44-year-old Philip Rivers to lead the offense. Indianapolis never recovered, starting this season 2-5 and firing longtime general manager Chris Ballard last week. So, before you hope your team makes a big trade in the next couple of weeks, one league source I spoke to wants to send a reminder: not every deal for a star will work. “The Colts were a top contender last year — if Daniel didn’t get hurt, they had a real shot to win it all,” a league source told me. “That was a worthwhile trade if you think Sauce is that good. Problem is, Sauce has gotten worse every year. He played his best ball as a rookie.”