How 6 contenders can address a major weakness before the NFL trade deadline
We suggest one move that six potential playoff teams can make this week. After that, we weigh in on Thursday's high-profile matchup between the Packers and Cardinals.
The trade deadline is less than a week away, and a few teams have already been busy. The Broncos, in the midst of a four-game slide, have added Stephen Weatherly and Kenny Young to their beat-up linebacking corps. After Zach Wilson injured his knee Sunday, the Jets brought back veteran Joe Flacco in an exchange with Philadelphia.
Those deals don’t really move the needle much, though. We’re more interested in how good teams can use the trade deadline to shore up a major weakness. That’s why we came up with trade proposals for six potential playoff contenders. Will any of these deals actually happen? Well, the Cardinals did listen to us and traded for Zach Ertz (... five months after we suggested it), so the possibility for each is alive and well. At least until Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET.
Baltimore Ravens: Offensive tackle
Lamar Jackson can paper over a lot of offensive issues, but this past Sunday, he couldn’t save the Ravens’ offensive line from their glaring problem at tackle. Left tackle Ronnie Stanley is out for the season due to an ankle injury, and with former right tackle Orlando Brown Jr. (struggling) in Kansas City after an offseason trade, veteran Alejandro Villanueva has moved over to the left side and has been inconsistent. Per PFF, Villanueva is tied for the most sacks allowed this season (5), along with a team-high 24 hurries. Yet he currently remains their best option to protect Jackson’s blind side — even after his holding penalty wiped out a 39-yard gain from Jackson when the Ravens still had a shot at a comeback against the Bengals, which Trey Hendrickson taunted him about.
It didn’t help that the Ravens lost Patrick Mekari, who had taken over admirably at right tackle, to a high-ankle sprain Sunday. Still, the Bengals got to Jackson five times, tied for the most sacks the former MVP has taken in an NFL game. He’s already been sacked 21 times this season, only eight fewer than his single-season high. As fantastic as Jackson is, he needs better protection going forward if the Ravens are going to compete for the AFC North title.
Trade idea: Andre Dillard, OT, Eagles
The Eagles are 2-5 and, despite playing in the NFC East, should be in sell mode. Andre Dillard hasn’t lived up to his first-round status since the Eagles drafted him in 2019, but he’s shown flashes in his four starts this season while filling in at left tackle. Dillard did not allow a sack in any of those starts, which included faceoffs against the tenacious pass rushes of the Cowboys, Panthers, and Bucs, plus the non-tenacious pass rush of the Chiefs. His only sack allowed this season was in Week 7, when Dillard came off the bench against the Raiders.
The Eagles are set at left tackle with Jordan Mailata and are listening to offers for Dillard. If the Ravens are willing to part with a draft pick, then Dillard could be a depth piece and potential starter that this offense, Jackson in particular, could use.
Kansas City Chiefs: Pass rush
The Chiefs have been one of the biggest disappointments through the first part of this season. But the offense is still ranked No. 5 in DVOA, while the defense is all the way down at No. 31. If they’re going to make their way back into Super Bowl contention — which is still possible — the defense has to improve quickly. That starts with the pass rush, which has been particularly underwhelming.
The Kansas City defense has only mustered eight sacks so far, which ties the Jaguars (who have played one fewer game) for last place in the NFL. Their top two pass rushers, Frank Clark and Chris Jones, have each missed a couple games and have just two sacks between them — both courtesy of Jones in Week 1.
There’s no magic fix, but as Bill Barnwell pointed out, if the Chiefs have any chance of turning things around on defense, it’ll have to start with the pass rush. When that’s working, it takes pressure off the secondary and can lead to fewer big plays from the opposing team.
Trade idea: Emmanuel Ogbah, DE, Dolphins
Like the Chiefs, the Dolphins have not lived up to expectations this season. Unlike the Chiefs, the Dolphins have no real shot at competing for a playoff bid, so they might as well continue building toward the future. Emmanuel Ogbah, who will be a free agent in 2022, is likely not a part of those plans. That’s not because of his play, however.
Ogbah has been one of Miami’s bright spots. He led the Dolphins in sacks last year and is second on the team with 2.5 sacks this year. He currently grades out as PFF’s No. 4 edge rusher and was one of the highest-ranked players in all of Week 7. The Chiefs shouldn’t be interested in Ogbah just because of his high-level performance; he’s also a familiar face who knows Steve Spagnuolo’s defense. Ogbah played alongside Clark and Jones in 2019, finishing right behind them for third on the team in sacks that year even though he ended the season on injured reserve. While Ogbah did get a Super Bowl ring out of that experience, he’s never gotten to play in a postseason game in his six-year career. Perhaps that can change if he’s traded back to KC.
LA Chargers: Run defense
No team is giving up more yards per carry (5.4) and more yards on the ground per game (162.5) than the Chargers. It’s no surprise that they also rank dead last in defensive rush DVOA. They’ve surrendered at least 185 rushing yards in four of their six games, including both of their losses. Though they survived the Browns’ 230-yard output in a back-and-forth win, they weren’t as lucky when they faced the Ravens, who gashed the LA run defense for 187 yards.
The return of Justin Jones from IR will help, but the Chargers need to improve in this area significantly. When the playoffs roll around, the AFC will be awash with tough-running teams, like the Titans, Bills, and Ravens again.
Trade idea: Akiem Hicks, DT, Bears
This past offseason, the Bears gave Akiem Hicks permission to seek a trade. Nothing ever came from it — likely because of Hicks’ salary — though the Chargers were keeping an eye on the situation. With the Bears headed down a path that ends in Matt Nagy’s firing, and with Hicks set to be a free agent after the season, it makes sense that they’d want to try to recoup some value for the veteran.
In LA, he’d be reunited with Brandon Staley, who coached in Chicago under defensive coordinator Vic Fangio from 2017-18. While Hicks has missed time with a groin injury and has not been as elite a run stopper as usual, he’s still been effective when he’s in the lineup (and his pass rush skills remain quite good). He’s also just one year removed from putting up strong run stop numbers. If healthy, he can give the Chargers’ interior defense a big-time boost.
Tennessee Titans: Secondary
Tennessee’s woeful secondary could be its Achilles’ heel; it was, after all, the group that allowed Zach Wilson to show out and the Jets to grab their only win of the season. Janoris Jenkins has been mostly awful in coverage and first-round rookie Caleb Farley will miss the rest of 2021 with a torn ACL. There’s a useful market of veteran corners who could help, but the Titans’ best bet may be to swing a deal that gives them the most versatile 1-2 punch at safety in the AFC South and possibly the conference at large.
Trade idea: Marcus Maye, S, Jets
Maye, like incumbent Kevin Byard, is a hard-hitting safety capable of thumping runners near the line of scrimmage or playing a more traditional center field role at free safety. Both would be instrumental with over-the-top help defense that would help reinforce the team’s biggest liability. Combine that with the play of rising second-year CB Kristian Fulton and you’ve got the makings of a potent big three capable of overwriting the weaknesses the team has at its other two primary cornerback positions. Maye is playing this season on the franchise tag and could depart New York in exchange for nothing but a 2023 compensatory draft pick. By dealing with Tennessee, the Jets could glean a draft pick capable of taking the field next fall and helping speed their rebuild under head coach Robert Saleh.
New Orleans Saints: Wide receiver
New Orleans is desperately thin on targets. Michael Thomas has yet to be activated from injured reserve. Tre’Quan Smith looked like he’d never seen an NFL playbook when he made his season debut in Week 7. Marquez Callaway and Deonte Harris have been (/fart sounds) this year.
Jameis Winston overcame those shortcomings by targeting Alvin Kamara 11 times Monday night, but that may not be a sustainable path to the postseason. Thomas’ return will help, should it ever happen, but a struggling quarterback needs the kind of target who can lift him up with an absurd catch radius and quite possibly the league’s best hands. Enter …
Trade idea: Allen Robinson, WR, Bears
God, all this time I’ve wished for Robinson to end up with a good passer and here I am, pairing him up with Schrodinger’s QB. Robinson has been a force for good alongside a long and desperate list of below-average quarterbacks in the NFL. This year he’s been stuck in neutral thanks to an offense destined to stain the resumes of both Justin Fields and Andy Dalton.
But lost in the muck is a player who can do this:
That’s the kind of receiver who can turn Winston’s variance into a net positive, especially if paired with a healthy Thomas. That offense won’t remind anyone of Drew Brees’ salad days, but it’ll hold weight compared to the last five years of an increasingly toned-down passing game.
Cincinnati Bengals: Offensive line
Joe Burrow has been better than expected in 2021, but that’s more closely tied to Ja’Marr Chase being a demigod than any meaningful improvement up front. While his tackles have been decent enough, an injury to Xavier Su’a-Filo and the incompetent play of rookie Jackson Carman have left the second-year QB vulnerable in the pocket; his sack rate has gone from 7.3 to 7.4 despite Cincinnati’s hot start.
No one wants to see Burrow go down with a season-ending injury again, especially given his propensity to stay upright while scrambling:
How can the Bengals keep him upright and continue clearing a path back to the playoffs?
Trade idea: Andrew Norwell, G, Jaguars
Norwell is an expensive holdover from the pre-Urban Meyer era; a blocker signed to a $66 million deal months after Blake Bortles led this team to the brink of the Super Bowl. Meyer has no interest in someone else’s roster no matter how good the players are — see his early treatment of James Robinson, who rules — and no idea what proper value is for NFL players — see his first confusing foray into free agency last spring. As such, Norwell’s pricey contract could be lifted from Jacksonville’s books with limited bartering, especially with former Division III standout Ben Bartch beginning to come into his own as a pro this season.
Thursday Night Football picks: Packers vs. Cardinals
I don’t know if I would have trusted this Packers team to beat the undefeated Cardinals on the road even if they had a fully intact roster. Now they’re headed to Arizona down some of their best players due to COVID-19. Unless Equanimeous St. Brown is due for a 200-yard day, this looks like the end of Green Bay’s winning streak.