Under-the-radar NFL trade deadline deals that make sense

Tyler Eifert to the Seattle Seahawks

After losing Will Dissly to an Achilles injury earlier this month, the Seahawks are reportedly in the market for help at tight end. Fortunately there’s a perfect match to be made with Tyler Eifert and the Cincinnati Bengals—that is, if the Bengals will stop being so stubborn and actually make some moves at the deadline.

The Bengals are flush with veterans who should be moved for future picks, but we’ll just focus on Eifert for now. Eifert was once a first-round pick for a team hoping he would help catapult their offense to the next level. These days, Eifert as a name remains much greater of a presence than anything he actually brings to the field, and he’s a non-entity in Zac Taylor’s offense these days. It simply makes zero sense for the Bengals to keep him around.

While Seattle might shy away from a trade target who is so oft-injured, it’s hard to find good help at the position these days and Eifert’s ceiling should be enough to move the needle on a deal. Eifert still runs good routes with good hands and might be invigorated finally playing away from southern Ohio for the first time in seven years in the NFL.

The Bengals are reportedly interested in a third round return for Eifert, but that’s a pipe dream and makes no sense to expect that much for an aging injury-prone asset in the final year of his deal. What makes greater sense is a fourth round pick that will likely sit in the lower third of that round. It might not inspire much fanfare, but Eifert hasn’t inspired much with his play for years. In fact, a fifth rounder might get this done instead.