4 NFL defenders who should be traded before the season starts
Let's give the Titans, Bears, Saints, and Bengals a little extra help
In 2020, 12 trades were carried out across the NFL from the beginning of August to the start of the season. Two years ago, there were 30.
So far this year, there have been just five trades in the month of August, though that number will grow before the season kicks off on Sept. 9. The most notable one we’ve seen has been Joe Schobert getting dealt to the Jaguars, which came as a surprise to the veteran linebacker.
Presumably, some of the deals that happen next will be more expected, perhaps involving players who have requested trades or teams that haven’t bothered to hide their interest in shoring up a specific position.
Last time, we identified four potential trades involving offensive players that we’d like to see transpire in the next couple of weeks. This time, we’re focusing on defensive players. Who could be the next to join Schobert on the transaction wire? Here are our four proposals:
Vernon Butler can be the unheralded addition Mike Vrabel’s Titans badly need
Butler is a useful interior lineman who can add a little pressure from the middle of the pocket (six sacks in 2019) as well as wedge his 330-pound frame squarely into rushing lanes. However, with Ed Oliver and Star Lotulelei each entrenched in Buffalo, he’ll likely have to do so as a rotational piece of the Bills’ defense — particularly if the team deems fourth-year pro Harrison Phillips more important to the team’s tackle group.
This creates an opportunity for another team to swoop in and give the former first-round pick a starting role elsewhere. He’s in the final season of a restructured two-year, $15 million contract but would only cost an acquiring team $4.3 million in cap space (or less, depending on when he’s dealt) this fall. He’s likely not going to be a part of Buffalo’s future, but the Titans could use their $8m+ of cap space to kick the tires on a 27-year-old pile-mover.
Tennessee spent much of the offseason punching up its defense in free agency and the draft, but the only major addition to the team’s three-man front line was veteran Denico Autry, who will be 31 this season and had just a 62.5 grade from Pro Football Focus. The team’s current projected starting DT is Teair Tart, a 2020 undrafted free agent who made just one start last year (and played in seven total games) and landed at a 48.7 grade from PFF.
Butler could help hold down the line while Tart grows and potentially feast in the wake of pass rusher Jeffery Simmons’ chaos at end. He could also use his pocket-crumpling talent to push quarterbacks toward the outside linebacker duo of Harold Landry and Bud Dupree. Though switching from the 4-3 he’s played in throughout his NFL career to Tennessee’s 3-4 may be an issue, his size, strength, and ability to crash through gaps suggests he’d be fine in Nashville. The 2016 first-round pick wouldn’t be a major name acquisition, but he’s the type of player whose impact ripples out to the players around him — i.e. the exact kind of player the league’s 30th-ranked defense badly needs. — CD
It’s a homecoming for Jordan Hicks in Cincinnati
Since the midpoint of his rookie year, linebacker Jordan Hicks has started every game of his NFL career, including all 32 that he’s suited up for the Cardinals. If he remains in Arizona, that streak is likely coming to an end. After the Cardinals drafted Zaven Collins in the first round of April’s draft, Hicks was told he wouldn’t be competing for a starting job. GM Steve Keim gave the 29-year-old permission to seek a trade, but so far, nothing has come from it, except a highly motivated Hicks.
Even if he comes off the bench, Hicks can continue making an impact for the Cardinals, sometimes while Collins and Isaiah Simmons are on the field. Those two recent first-round picks are known for their versatility, but Hicks has also been a bit of a ballhawk during his two seasons with the Cardinals:
While the Cardinals would welcome Hicks’ experience this upcoming season, he has proven he can still start in the NFL. One team that desperately needs linebacker help is the one that resides 20 miles south of Lakota West High School, Hicks’ alma mater.
The Bengals’ linebacking corps is one of the least regarded, and youngest, in the NFL. Their current starters, Germaine Pratt (2019) and Logan Wilson (2020), entered the league in just the last couple of years. Hicks wouldn’t simply provide leadership to that group, but to the entire Cincinnati defense — one in which 26-year-old Vonn Bell is considered a grizzled vet and the longest-tenured starters are Sam Hubbard and Jessie Bates III, both of whom were drafted in 2018.
Hicks would get a chance to start again, for his hometown team, and the Bengals would get a reliable presence in the middle of their defense. That’s a win for everyone, especially anyone who has ever googled “Jordan Hicks Cardinals” and had to filter out all results about the other Jordan Hicks on the other Cardinals team. — SH
The Bears add the next(?) link in their great defensive chain by freeing C.J. Henderson from Jacksonville
Henderson was a top 10 draft pick for the Jaguars in 2020, but early in August reports spread that he may not be a fit for Urban Meyer’s new direction in Florida.
This set off a predictable SEO landslide from hungry writers searching for ways to extract an inexpensive young talent from a team too goofed up to use him:
The Jaguars have since disputed this narrative, with Meyer telling reporters he doesn’t see a trade “as an option.” Still, the combination of a rebuilding franchise and a head coach striving to instill organizational change to the point where he’d give failed baseball players a shot in the preseason, makes Henderson a potential target for secondary-needy teams.
Enter Chicago.
The Bears have their typically stout front seven (though nose tackle is a concern) and a solid pair of safeties in Eddie Jackson and Tashaun Gipson. What they don’t have is lockdown ability near the sideline.
Jaylon Johnson could be a rising star at cornerback, but the rest of Chicago’s rotation at the position relies on 2020 fifth-rounder Kindle Vildor (PFF grade: 48.9), Steelers castoff Artie Burns (61.1 in 2019, opted out last year), and 30-year-old Desmond Trufant (30.9). Unless sixth-rounder Thomas Graham can emerge as a viable starter or Vildor can make a significant leap, the Bears will be easy to pick on through the air.
Adding Henderson would change that.
The former No. 9 pick struggled through injury last fall but showed enough in Week 1 — the Jags’ only win of the season — to earn rookie of the week honors after intercepting Philip Rivers and knocking three more passes down. He was inconsistent in the weeks that followed, but his combination of size (6’1, 205lbs) and elite speed (a 4.39 40 at the NFL Combine) makes him a tantalizing addition to any defensive backfield.
He’d pair with Johnson and Kildor to give Chicago a solid young core at corner while taking up only $7.3 million in cap space for 2022. That’s a big deal for a team whose cap situation prevented them from making big moves this spring — and who would like to keep Allen Robinson around after franchise tagging him for the upcoming season. While prying Henderson loose would require a hefty sum, the Bears haven’t shied away from shipping out draft capital in years passed, most notably in the Khalil Mack trade but also on a smaller scale in their Nick Foles deal.
I don’t think Jacksonville would really trade away a top 10 pick after one year in the league (which also happened to be the most bizarre season in recent history). I also admit that anything is possible in the post-Coughlin era of Jaguars football, like your head coach and top assistant helping Chris Jericho win a wrestling match.
So, you know, at least make the call and offer up a second-rounder, Bears. — CD
Sean Payton finds his man in Bryce Callahan
I agree with Christian that it’s highly unlikely the Jaguars would trade away C.J. Henderson, a promising 22-year-old starting cornerback. The Saints were one of the teams that showed interest in him, and hey, shoot your shot.
With Henderson not a realistic option, they’ll probably have to turn elsewhere to improve their cornerback depth — which definitely needs a boost. Marshon Lattimore is one of the top corners in the league, but he could be facing a suspension. Janoris Jenkins is now with the Titans. Patrick Robinson retired. Prince Amukamara was released. KeiVarae Russell is on the Covid list.
If the Saints’ cornerback situation is in dire straits, the Broncos are on the opposite end of the spectrum. After an injury-plagued 2020, the secondary added first-round pick Pat Surtain II, as well as steady veterans Ronald Darby and Kyle Fuller, and is now arguably the best in the NFL.
Because of how loaded that unit is, it’s no surprise the Broncos have fielded calls about possible trades. It’d make a lot of sense if the Saints were one of those teams, particularly after Sean Payton told ESPN that it’s possible the solution to their CB woes “may not be in the building right now."
The Saints need a starting cornerback, but Surtain, Darby, and Fuller aren’t going anywhere based on the investment the Broncos put in them. Michael Ojemudia, a third-round pick just a year ago, probably isn’t either.
That leaves Bryce Callahan as the most logical choice. He’s versatile — he’s great in the slot and also excelled on the outside last season:
He’s also a free agent after this year, which would theoretically make it easier for the Broncos to part with him now. The Saints screwed up by not adequately addressing their cornerback depth earlier this offseason. Luckily for them, there’s still time to remedy that with a call (or another?) to Denver. — SH