We’re just over a week away from the NFL trade deadline, and that means we’re just over a week away from the last meaningful roster changes each team can make this season. After Nov. 10, everyone is pretty much locked into their personnel — and their future draft capital — for the rest of the year, and desperation is already spurring Super Bowl contenders and sellers alike into action.
The Chicago Bears have already traded for star DT Jeffery Simmons because they’re ready to win big now, forcing the San Francisco 49ers to lure DeForest Buckner back from the Indianapolis Colts in response. And speaking of the Colts: Buckner is far from the only big-name veteran who could be on the move, the capper to a nightmare season.
With the title picture wide open and some surprising teams looking to cut bait and build for next year, let’s take a look at all 32 teams and see what their biggest needs are (or should be) before it's time to put pencils down.
Arizona Cardinals
- Get some picks
Right now, the Arizona Cardinals have eight draft picks in 2027. They have their own picks in Rounds 1 through 6, plus the Texans’ second-rounder and the Browns’ sixth-rounder.
They can do better than that. They’ve got a decent number of key players who are going to be free agents next spring, guys like Baron Browning, Josh Sweat and Mack Wilson who can get them a handful of picks. Cashing in would also “accidentally” make them worse on the field, and then they could stop accidentally winning games and land a better spot in next spring's draft.
Two birds, one stone.
Atlanta Falcons
- Wide receiver
You could argue that the Falcons need more help on defense than they do on offense, but I think a WR2 might be a little bit more important. The running game is the engine for Kevin Stefanski; when that gets shut down, though, the passing game has trouble, and the team struggles. I’m not saying that’s a problem that’s unique to them, but it’s the problem they have.
Right now, Jahan Dotson is Atlanta's WR2, and he’s their fourth-best pass catcher. That’s an upgradeable position, even with their relative lack of future draft picks.
Baltimore Ravens
- Interior offensive line
I don’t know how many more resources the Ravens are willing to throw at their offensive line this year. They signed three centers in free agency, drafted a guard with their first-round pick and traded for another center midseason. That’s a lot … and yet, this is still a pretty weak unit.
Baltimore still has some more draft capital they can throw at the position, and it would make sense, football-wise, for them to try to get more functional bodies inside. From a roster construction and resource allocation perspective, though? Not so much, especially with Lamar Jackson now potentially hurt again.
Buffalo Bills
- Linebacker (but pretty much anything on defense)
The Bills are in a good and bad spot. Bad because their defense once again seems to be a liability, lacking talent at every level. Good because real any addition at any position is going to make a pretty immediate impact. Buffalo has a pair of 2027 fourth-round picks, so they should be able to get someone of substance without breaking the bank.
Obviously, this all depends on Brandon Beane trading for the right guy. A safety would bring a level of consistency, a cornerback could probably give them more physicality, an edge rusher would give them depth, a defensive tackle can give them some teeth and a linebacker should be really all of the above. Pick your poison, and get Josh Allen some help.
Carolina Panthers
- Cornerback
The Panthers could probably try to trade for an offensive tackle, but teams don’t part ways with clear-cut starters at that position midseason. So we’ll look to the defensive backfield, which has been eviscerated by injuries.
Carolina doesn't need to go out and try to get someone who’s going to be a franchise cornerstone. They just need to get someone who’s got a pulse and can raise the floor a little bit. Then, if/when Mike Jackson and Jaycee Horn come back from the IR, they’ll have a backup in case something else pops up.
Chicago Bears
- Tight end, maybe?
I can’t imagine that the Bears are really willing to part ways with more draft picks after trading a couple of firsts and a fourth-round pick to the Titans for Simmons.
But they did just lose Cole Kmet for the season to a knee injury. That leaves a pretty decent-sized hole on a roster that weaponizes tight ends as well as any in the NFL. If they make another move, it would almost have to be for an in-line tight end to complement Colston Loveland.
Cincinnati Bengals
- Linebacker
Going into the offseason, I would’ve sworn that the Bengals would try to sign a player like Devin Lloyd or Leo Chenal. I can’t tell you how much they were in on those two during free agency, but the fact is that they didn’t get either of them.
Demetrius Knight has been good(ish) for Cincy this year, and that’s important — but they could definitely use another guy to play alongside him. They went all-in on this season when they traded the 10th overall pick for Dexter Lawrence, so it wouldn’t shock me if one of the bigger linebacker names on the market gets sent to Cincinnati.
Cleveland Browns
- A big-boy running back
The Browns offense is lacking a couple of things: a consistent passing game, and an in-your-face running game that needs to be respected between the tackles.
They don’t have any choice but to stick with Deshaun Watson right now, so the former isn’t going to change. But there are a handful of meaty, downhill-type running backs who could be available to help out the latter.
Cleveland has a whole bunch of draft picks over the next couple of seasons to play with, so they definitely have the means to make a decently splashy move for a guy who’s not on an expiring contract. That’d be fun, right?
Dallas Cowboys
- Anything on defense would probably be good
This is easy: The Cowboys defense is abysmal, and it’s not showing any signs of real improvement. Some of that is because of coaching, but they also don’t have a whole lot of talent. There are so many holes everywhere that almost anyone will be an upgrade.
But if I had to bet, they’ll trade for an older player who we didn’t think would be traded, one who is coming from a team with other (and better) players. Think Bud Dupree or someone like that.
Denver Broncos
- Running back
The Broncos' running game stinks, and with the way their offense is trending, that running game is going to have to carry the team. But with the talent they have in the backfield right now? Buddy, that ain’t happening.
In a perfect world, they land Jonathan Taylor. In a less-than-perfect world, they land Tony Pollard. If it’s anyone else, it’s going to be a non-factor.
Detroit Lions
- Maxx Crosby only
Ever since the Ravens backed out of the Maxx Crosby trade last offseason, there have been three teams who are consistently talked about as landing spots: Chicago, Dallas and Detroit.
The Bears don’t have the means to get him anymore, and Dallas probably doesn’t have the stones to commit to him. So that kind of just leaves the Lions: D.J. Wonnum has been good, but Crosby would upgrade that pass rusher group to a whole different level. It really comes down to the Raiders’ price tag on him.
Green Bay Packers
- Offensive line
The Packers offensive line has been in shambles since March. Not only did they decide to let a few important pieces walk in free agency, but then they got hammered by injuries and underperformance. It’s been bad.
Now, they have been active in signing guys to try and find something workable, which is really smart. But they’re still far from being a solid unit — ad that not only applies to their starters, but also to their depth.
Maybe they target a big-time player, or maybe they toss some of their 2027 fifth- and sixth-round picks at more high-floor types. Whatever they do, they’ve got to get more bodies in the building, because that ground game is terrible.
Houston Texans
- Don’t say ‘no’
This isn’t really fun or interesting: The Texans just need to decide what direction they’re going for the rest of the season.
I don’t necessarily think that they’ll be calling teams up and trying to sell. But if someone calls them up and offers them a good deal for a 33-year-old tackle in Trent Brown, then they should take it and never look back. If no one calls about their guys on contracts that are about to expire, that’s also fine; That means they get to evaluate C.J. Stroud with the talent that’s around him, and that’s a perfectly reasonable outcome
This season isn’t going their way, and it probably wouldn’t be smart for them to send draft picks away thinking that they are a player or two away from competing.
Indianapolis Colts
- Uh.
Whether you tap the reset button or smash it with a hammer, you’re still going to go through a reset — so why not smash it?
Trade everyone you can, let your fans root for them on other teams and try to get as many draft picks back as possible. Jonathan Taylor is more valuable to the Colts as a trade asset than he is as a player. It sucks, but that’s the truth.
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Get Brian Thomas Jr. outta there
You can easily argue that the Jags are the most complete team in the NFL right now, even if Sunday's blowout win said more about the state of the Colts than anything else.
They can trade Brian Thomas Jr., and it’s not going to hurt their offense at all. He was good a couple of years ago under a different offensive scheme and with a different quarterback, so he does have some value, but not to Jacksonville. They should get some picks for him while they still can and keep restocking depth.
Kansas City Chiefs
- Wide receiver
Weeks 7 and 8 made it abundantly clear that the Chiefs aren’t a team that can win in multiple ways: If their running game isn’t working, they simply do not have the horses in the passing game to put points on the board.
Rashee Rice coming back from injury helps, but if you’re a Chiefs fan, you really have to hope Brett Veach doesn’t think he can fix the offense completely. Kansas City needs to surround its god-tier quarterback with talent, and doing anything other than that should be punishable by federal law.
Las Vegas Raiders
- “Does anyone want Kirk?”
The Raiders just snapped a four-game losing streak, but there’s still plenty of chatter about them pulling the trigger and handing the offense over to No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza.
That seems like a little bit much to me, because Kirk Cousins has definitely not been the reason they’ve come back to Earth after a hot start. But it's clear that this team isn't quite ready for contention just yet, and Cousins likely isn't part of the plans for 2027, so why not get what you can now?
I wouldn’t hate it if they burned the boats and sent Cousins to a potentially QB-needy team. He’d have done his job in Las Vegas, and he’d get them some draft picks that they otherwise wouldn’t have.
Los Angeles Chargers
- Get draft picks, sign guys from the street
The Chargers are on to next year. Or maybe the year after that. Who knows?
They have eight draft picks in 2027, and they’ve got talent on their roster that could get them at least six more. They should get rid of everyone who wants out, and pay them reparations for going through that specific type of hell.
Los Angeles Rams
- Wide receiver
The Rams made a decision when they used the No. 14 overall pick to get quarterback Ty Simpson. They could’ve done pretty much anything else at that spot, and it would’ve made sense for their win-or-die mindset. But they didn’t, and now Davante Adams is out for the next couple of months, Puka Nacua is dealing with his own injuries and Matthew Stafford doesn’t have a great receiver group to throw to.
The problem is that the Rams don’t have many picks to trade. Their good ones are tied up in the Myles Garrett and Trent McDuffie deals, so if they get rid of anything else, they're going to be making their first draft pick in the fourth round next year. If they want to get a usable and impactful receiver in the building, it feels like they’re going to have to include a player in that trade package instead.
This is an incredibly predictable situation that they’re in, and they put themselves in it. Woof.
Miami Dolphins
- Move a linebacker
The NFL as a whole would be a lot more fun if Jordyn Brooks wasn’t on the Dolphins roster. He’s an awesome linebacker, and he’d be fun to watch play in important games, but that just isn’t going to happen any time soon in Miami. It would be great if they traded him and got a good-sized haul in return, but it’d make sense for them to have him be a foundational piece of that defense moving forward.
If that’s the case, then they should let Willie Gay Jr. go. They clearly got a guy they like when they drafted Jacob Rodriguez in the second round, so Gay is kind of just sitting idly by. This is the second straight year of that arrangement, and the dude is too talented to be playing a little over 50 percent of defensive snaps.
Minnesota Vikings
- Running back
Me, you, really all of us should be mad at the Vikings if they don’t trade for a running back before the deadline. A generationally sick defense is having to keep Minnesota in games while that offense struggles and Justin Jefferson runs sprints.
They’re a really good team. Go and get Jonathan Taylor, please. If not, then you’re wasting another season of Jefferson and Brian Flores, and that’s super lame.
New England Patriots
- Offensive line or wide receiver
The Patriots made some roster decisions this offseason. They traded for wide receiver A.J. Brown, and that’s been overwhelmingly disappointing (he's now dealing with a knee issue after just coming back from IR). They also signed guard Alijah Vera-Tucker in free agency, and he’s dealing with yet another injury that has him on IR as well.
I think the offensive line problem is a bigger issue that’s more difficult to fix, and the wide receiver problem is a relatively smaller issue that’s easier to fix. Whatever they do is going to make things better, but they have to do something to keep up with top of the AFC.
New Orleans Saints
- Do something — anything
I have to be honest with you: The Saints have me stumped. I could see them sending some of their offensive linemen to other teams, or I could see them trying to get some help on defense.
I just don’t know if anyone they add is going to be impactful enough to matter, and I don’t know if anyone they trade is going to get the return they deserve. But if they do make some kind of move, it’ll let us all know where the franchise thinks they stand in the pecking order.
It’d probably also be good for them to be real about their expectations for the rest of the season, too.
New York Giants
- Go for it?
The Giants tend to do well in the NFC East when the rest of the division is terrible … and would you look at that? It’s an NFC Least-type of season. Whether you like it or not, some team from that division is going to have a home game in January.
If the Giants want to start the John Harbaugh era on the right foot, then why shouldn’t they go for it? Try to win this division handily and get to the Divisional Round.
The best way for them to do that is probably to go after a defensive tackle. Yeah, they made a great trade when they sent Dexter Lawrence to Cincinnati before the draft, but that also left a decent-sized hole that hasn’t really been filled yet. They’re not going to get anyone comparable to Lawrence, but their defensive tackle rotation isn’t nearly as productive as it could be.
New York Jets
- Lean into the bit
The Jets have three first-round draft picks in 2027. No one on their roster is worth another 2027 first-rounder, but a second-rounder? You could tell me that Garrett Wilson or Breece Hall could get them something like that.
I know they've said Wilson is off the table, but they should change their minds and lean into the bit: Get more of those premium picks and be a draft pick-hoarding team. Hell, you could probably convince a WR-needy team that Wilson is worth a 2028 first.
I imagine that Jets fans are having a blast rooting against the Colts this season, so why not let them do that again next year? If New York is never going to be good, then the least they could do is give their fans more teams they can actively root against.
Philadelphia Eagles
- Play it safe
The Eagles' season is lost, but it’s not because they’ve got a terrible roster from top to bottom. It’s because everyone is hurt, injured or otherwise medically unavailable.
That puts Howie Roseman and the gang in some unfamiliar territory, because now he should be a seller at the deadline — but he needs to be careful not to get rid of anyone for anything less than what they are worth.
The obvious example is Saquon Barkley: There are going to be a lot of teams interested in him, but is a third-round pick (that would probably land at the end of the round) worth trading a captain for? He could easily come back in 2027 and be a key piece of the offense, but that’s not happening if they trade him just to make a trade.
You have to trust Roseman to make the right decisions.
Pittsburgh Steelers
- Wide receiver, but not a good one
The Steelers have to do something to make their passing game better, and the easiest way for them to do that is to add a receiver. But with the very real quarterback changes that they’ll have to make this coming offseason, they can’t really afford to pay for anyone who’s a stone-cold killer.
Luckily for them, the only real option on an expiring contract is George Pickens, and there’s no way in hell that he’s going back to Pittsburgh. Keenan Allen, on the other hand? An old dog like that pairing up with Aaron Rodgers seems like a match made in heaven, even if his skill set overlaps with the guys already around.
San Francisco 49ers
- Wide receiver, but just an OK one
We all knew that the 49ers were never going to be a healthy team, and we all knew that signing an old Mike Evans was going to be some risky business for them. What we didn’t know was how bad their passing game would look if/when Evans got hurt.
Buddy, it's looked pretty terrible. The good thing is that they have an opportunity in the next couple of weeks to bolster their receiver room — they just shouldn’t break the bank to do it.
Their guy could be Jauan Jennings if he and the team are still cool with each other, or it could be Brian Thomas Jr. if the price is reasonable. They just have to get someone trustworthy for Brock Purdy to throw the ball to, while trusting Kyle Shanahan and Christian McCaffrey to make up for the rest.
Seattle Seahawks
- Running back or nothing else
I understand how foolish it would be for the Seahawks to decide not to pay Kenneth Walker in free agency, then draft a running back in the first round, and then trade for a running back midseason. But it really seems like that might end up being a big fix for their offense, especially after they traded for Quenton Nelson.
It’d be cool if they got Jonathan Taylor too, but I don’t really expect that to happen, and neither should you. Tony Pollard, though? That’d be fun.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Anyone want a Yaya Diaby?
On the one hand, the Bucs are now right back in the thick of the NFC South race at 3-5 after throttling the Falcons. But it's hard to take this team too seriously as a contender; maybe there's a way to split the difference, getting some draft capital for the future without blowing the whole thing up?
The best way for them to do that is to send edge rusher Yaya Diaby to a contender. He hasn’t been nearly as productive as they would like him to be this year, but he did just get three sacks on Bryce Young and the Panthers in Week 7. If he can keep that momentum going, there’s a chance he might be worth something decent on the trade market.
Tennessee Titans
- Let Tony Pollard go
If the Titans wanted to call it quits on the trades after sending Simmons to Chicago, I’d totally get it; that was a big move, and they got a haul. But there are a lot of teams that could put Tony Pollard to much better use than Tennessee will.
Let him go. Even if the compensation isn’t what they’d really hope for, they should do the guy right and send him to one of those contenders that’s lacking running back talent. It’s the right thing to do.
Washington Commanders
- Wide receiver?
During the offseason, it was looking like the Commanders were going to roll with Terry McLaurin and Antonio Williams as their only two wide receivers who could consistently produce. Then, during training camp, they signed Stefon Diggs, and that group looked a lot better.
Now that McLaurin is out with the torn patellar tendon, it’s just Diggs and Williams — which is obviously even worse than where they were at the beginning of this saga.
They have to do something, regardless of whether or not they’re in contention for the NFC East. Jayden Daniels is going to get slaughtered waiting for this pass-catching group to get open, and none of us want to see that arm get dislocated again.
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