1 blockbuster trade all 32 NFL teams can make to improve in 2024

NFL teams are setting their sights on free agency and the draft to set themselves up for success in 2024. Another often overlooked path to improvement still exists, though: trades! Today we'll look at one trade each team can make to instantly improve.

By Terrence Jordan | Feb 24, 2024, 9:37 AM EST

Justin Fields is one of many players waiting to find out if he'll have a new home in 2024 / Patrick McDermott/GettyImages

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Dallas Cowboys trade for Stefon Diggs

Of all the trades proffered here, this may be the most "pie in the sky," but I just can't help myself. Diggs and the Buffalo Bills have had a weird "we need to break up, we just don't know how to tell each other" vibe about them for the past two years, and it got noticeably worse after the first month of the season. Including Buffalo's two playoff games, Diggs failed to reach 100 yards receiving in 13 straight games to end the year, yet Josh Allen still finished fifth in the MVP voting.

Buffalo currently has the worst cap situation in the league next year, which means it will be impossible to run it back with the team as presently constructed. Cuts and trades will have to be made, and veterans will need to be replaced with players on rookie contracts.

Diggs' enigmatic behavior and underwhelming production puts him in the crosshairs, though to make the numbers tenable, Buffalo would have to wait until June 1st to trade him. That rules out getting any draft picks this year.

The Dallas Cowboys are in a more reasonable cap situation than Buffalo, but they'll still need to do some maneuvering. Adding Diggs would make that more difficult, but pairing him with Ceedee Lamb to form the NFL's best wide receiver tandem may be too tempting to ignore for Jerry Jones. Making this move would also unite Diggs with his brother Trevon, Dallas' star cornerback that missed most of the year with a torn ACL.

Dallas could look to their division rival for inspiration on how to construct a deal. The Eagles traded a first- and fourth-round pick for A.J. Brown, and the price for Diggs should be similar. The Cowboys could send their 2025 first to Buffalo, and add in Brandin Cooks, a cheaper alternative at wide receiver that is no stranger to performing well in new places, having done well with the New Orleans Saints, New England Patriots, Los Angeles Rams, and Houston Texans before coming to Dallas. This would give Buffalo a solid receiver so that they don't lose Diggs for anything this year, then a pick that would probably land in the 20s next year.

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