Three weeks into the NFL season and there are five winless teams left. History suggests that those teams are going absolutely nowhere, so the best thing to do at this point might be to see if they can make a trade to help them in the future.
But bad teams don't always have a lot of great trade candidates since, well...they're bad teams. With that said, each team has someone they should be looking to deal.
Miami Dolphins: EDGE Chop Robinson
The Miami Dolphins are as bad as expected right now, and a big part of that is the team has a complete dearth of talent on offense, especially now that running back De'Von Achane is out for the season with a torn ACL. A team looking for offensive help on the trade market should look elsewhere.
But there is one defensive player who the Dolphins could get a really nice return for: edge rusher Chop Robinson. The No. 23 overall pick back in 2024, Robinson has been uneven so far in his NFL career, collecting 10 sacks through his first 34 games. He hasn't really shown that he's worth keeping beyond his initial four-year contract, which will be up after the 2027 season, but he's also still young enough that further progression is definitely still in play.
Sure, a young, rebuilding team giving up a former first-round pick who is in just his third NFL season might seem like an odd move, but sometimes you just have to keep that reset button held down for as long as you can. Miami has so many holes that at this point, you don't need to hold on to a player with trade value unless you're sure he's going to be part of your future plans. If you aren't sure, take the draft picks and try again.
Tennessee Titans: WR Calvin Ridley
The Tennessee Titans drafted Carnell Tate and signed Wan'Dale Robinson this offseason, moves that made Calvin Ridley expendable, in theory. The team didn't end up moving him during the offseason, but you have to think the Titans are thinking about it now.
Through three games, Ridley has just two receptions, and the fact that his snap rate in Week 3 dropped to just 33.3 percent speaks volumes (or lack of volume, as is the case here) about his lack of a future with the Titans.
The big question at this point is whether or not teams around the league see value in Ridley. He's shown flashes of talent throughout his career but has largely failed to sustain his production. His poor play this season has likely dropped his value, though, so a team might be able to take a shot at him at a value. A contender with need for a WR2 or WR3 should give him a look.
Houston Texans: QB Davis Mills
The Houston Texans likely aren't looking to make any big moves yet. The team probably still thinks that it has a shot in the AFC South and thus won't want to trade anyone who is too valuable. They're also not going to give up on a young player like Kamari Lassiter even with an extension needing to come down the line at some point, because the team isn't going to view a poor season as a reason to blow it all up.
But one very obvious move that team could do this season, especially considering how injuries are hitting the quarterback position hard this season, is to trade Davis Mills for a late-round pick. Mills proved last season that he could be a decent game manager when C.J. Stroud was hurt, but the Texans aren't good enough this year to need that. With the defense regressing and all the wide receivers injured, a Stroud injury spells the end for the team's dwindling playoff hopes.
With that in mind, why hold on to Mills, an impending free agent who could be a backup on a better team? We've already seen Carson Wentz and Cooper Rush start games this season, and I'd much rather have Mills than one of those guys. The next team to lose its starter to injury should immediately get the Texans on the phone.
Los Angeles Chargers: EDGE Khalil Mack
The Los Angeles Chargers are maybe in the worst trouble of any 0-3 team. Houston and Tampa can still imagine a world where they overcome poor starts in a weak division, while the Dolphins and Titans were already planning to be bad in 2026. But the Chargers had Super Bowl aspirations after hiring Mike McDaniel as offensive coordinator, and now they're almost essentially eliminated after three games.
One player they can move for a future draft pick is edge rusher Khalil Mack. The nine-time Pro Bowler is 35 years old and deserves to be on a good team at this point. He's still reasonably productive, collecting a pair of sacks and four tackles for loss through the first three games of the season. A team needing rotational pass rush help should be all over this.
The Chargers could also think about trading Quentin Johnston, as it's become clear that he doesn't have a future with the team, but he has a fairly large 2027 cap hit that's going to make it tough to move him when you also factor in his lack of production.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: WR Jalen McMillan
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers should be using Jalen McMillan more, but they simply aren't and, now, can't. He's played in two games and has a total of one target, which he failed to bring in. He has played nine snaps all season, including just two against Minnesota before a PCL strain ended his day. He's now set to miss 6-8 weeks.
This is where a team that isn't a contender should do what the Jets did in 2025 with Adonai Mitchell, which is to take a low-cost swing on McMillan to see if they can turn him into a viable WR3 option. McMillan looked like he could be a starting wide receiver as a rookie in 2024, so a bet on him recapturing that isn't a bad idea, even if you won't have him on the field until late in the season.
Will Tampa get a ton of value back for him? No, but the team is in a weird spot right now after committing big money to a currently injured Baker Mayfield, so little moves at the margins for future draft capital is the best path forward for this team as it tries to rebuild with Mayfield taking up so much cap space.
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