NFL Trade Rumors
With the 2025 NFL trade deadline in the rearview mirror, it’s a natural break point to start looking ahead to the 2026 offseason when the trade window will open back up. Plenty will happen in the meantime to impact the league landscape, from the second half of the regular season to the playoffs and more, but we can already start to see what the picture will look like. This past deadline continues to prove that we are in a new era of player movement, with front offices willing to be more aggressive and more creative to lean into contending or rebuilding or whatever they view as their window.
Here’s a handful of players who weren’t traded this past week but who could be on the move come the spring. This isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list, just a teaser for some of the bigger names.
The Browns spent this past offseason rebuffing all trade callers for Garrett despite the veteran’s attempts to pressure a trade to another team, one he thought might be better positioned to win. In the end, Garrett caved and took the money, signing a deal worth $40 million a year that seemed like it would put an end to all trade speculation.
Yet once again Garrett popped up in trade rumors this season. It was more understated than when Garrett took to the media row at the Super Bowl to lobby for a trade; the buzz mainly consisted of a couple of different national writers separately publishing columns articulating the stance for why Cleveland should trade Garrett, even after the extension. That might have been a clue about teams calling the Browns to check their resolve after a poor start to the season. All of it was enough for the team to put out the word they still weren’t trading Garrett.
Those calls figure to continue into the offseason as the Browns continue their multi-year rebuild. There will be opportunities for the Browns to change their mind, and there’s a strong case to be made for trading Garrett even though he’s one of the two or three best defensive players in football. Cleveland’s roster is in rough shape, even with a promising start by the 2025 rookie class. Over The Cap has the Browns $34 million in the red in effective cap space for 2026, which accounts for filling out a full roster and signing a draft class. The Browns have just 34 players under contract with major needs at wide receiver, probably four out of five offensive line spots, defensive tackle and defensive end, linebacker, cornerback, safety and, of course, quarterback.
Cleveland has 10 draft picks, including an extra first, to start chipping away at those needs, but that makes 2027 the earliest the team can realistically expect to be competitive, and that’s if the rebuild goes well. Garrett turns 32 in 2027 and will be playing out the last of the guarantees in the contract he signed. While...
