Trades in the NFL don’t always come when you expect. Last year, I wrote a column pitching 13 trades. The first deal on that list was a swap between the Eagles and Cardinals, with veteran tight end Zach Ertz making his way to Arizona. It might have taken a year, but Ertz eventually made his way to the Cards last week.
I’d love to take credit for being a genius, but being off by a full year means I don’t get any. On top of that, in my deal, the Cardinals were sending Haason Reddick to the Eagles. At the time, Reddick was a disappointing former first-round pick who had spent most of his time playing linebacker. Right around the time I wrote that column, the Cardinals lost Chandler Jones and moved Reddick to edge rusher, where he launched an entirely new career. He has 17 sacks in his last 17 games with the Cardinals and Panthers (where he signed in free agency). If the Eagles had seen that coming, they would have happily rushed Ertz out the door in 2020.
I’m going to propose 10 more deals that make sense for both sides. The goal is to be realistic, so while there’s at least one trade with a big name attached, most see players on the back of competitive rosters moving around or starters on bad teams changing hands for draft picks. I’d set the over/under on any of them happening at 0.5, but I hope they contextualize what the league’s top teams might try to do before the trade deadline strikes on November 2.
