The league wasn’t even a week into the preseason when it saw its first trade, with the Raiders flipping CB Jakorian Bennett to the Eagles for DT Thomas Booker . It was a classic August deal. The Raiders moved on from a young player who wasn’t in their plans to address a position of weakness, while the Eagles took advantage of a deep spot on their roster to add to another that wasn’t as deep.
Expect plenty more trades in the weeks to come as teams get a better sense of their strengths and weaknesses. The number to know here is 53 — the number of players teams have to cut down to at the end of August. The 54th-best player on one team might be the 45th-best on another, creating an opportunity for a deal. Player-for-player swaps are common, and teams will also often use late-round picks or pick swaps as ammunition. It’s also common to see teams target end-of-the-roster players who may have flashed as opponents during joint practices, as well as the usual familiar suspects that coaches have worked with in the past.
With that perspective, here’s an updated look at our NFL trade block with an emphasis on players who should be coming up in this preseason-style swaps around the league. We’ll be laying things out a little differently from our other trade block posts, going team by team instead of position by position to make it easier to discuss the unique roster math for each squad.
San Francisco 49ers
The youth movement in San Francisco this year could push out some other players. The 49ers double-dipped at defensive tackle and have a few edge rushers who can slide inside as well. That could make Elliott expendable just a year after signing as a free agent. Beal was a mid-round pick in 2023 who hasn’t gotten his legs under him and might be out of time.
Chicago Bears
DE Dominique Robinson or Daniel Hardy
DT Zacch Pickens or Chris Williams
Jones could sew up the starting left tackle job again over the coming weeks and leave this moot. He’s defied expectations for three years, and judging on how tackles made bank this past offseason, he’s in a position to do very well for himself with another solid 2025 season. However, it’s clear the Bears are preparing for him to potentially move on after spending Day 2 picks in consecutive drafts on OTs Ozzy Trapilo and Kiran Amegadjie . If another team gets desperate for a tackle and comes calling with a premium pick, and Chicago feels good about turning things over to the youngsters, then a Jones trade should not be ruled out.
Scott and Pickens were fourth and third-round picks by current GM Ryan Poles just two years ago, but have made next to no impact so far. Chicago’s battery of additions at both receiver and defensive tackle suggests they’re on thin ice. Williams is a former UDFA who surpassed Pickens last year and could also be pushed out depending on whether the Bears keep five defensive tackles or four. Robinson and Hardy are competing for the fourth defensive end spot.
Cincinnati Bengals
TEs Tanner Hudson or Tanner McLachlan
The addition of veteran TE Noah Fant made a crowded roster at tight end even more packed, and it might push both Hudson and McLachlan off the roster. Hudson has flashed as a receiving option with QB Joe Burrow the past couple of seasons, while McLachlan is a similar player who essentially took a redshirt season after being drafted in the sixth round last year.
Sample’s status like depends on what happens with Cincinnati’s other young defensive ends and veteran DE Trey Hendrickson . If first-rounder Shemar Stewart and 2023 first-rounder Myles Murphy are ready to roll and Hendrickson’s contract situation is sorted out, it could crowd out Sample. If the Bengals need the bodies, they could find room for Sample, who has been outproducing Murphy when healthy.
Buffalo Bills
QBs Mike White or Mitchell Trubisky
LBs Shaq Thompson or Edefuan Ulofoshio
Buffalo is in an interesting situation because they have 12 defensive linemen slated for roles but two of them — DE Michael Hoecht and DT Larry Ogunjobi — will start the season on the suspended list as they serve six-game bans. Odds are that when those six weeks are up, injuries will have clarified things but there’s a chance the Bills will have to borrow depth from other spots to make it all fit together. Linebacker and the secondary are two spots to watch. Thompson and Ulofoshio are fifth and sixth on the depth chart, so if the Bills go light at linebacker, one of them could be squeezed out. Thompson might be a veteran practice squad candidate.
The secondary would have intense competition within itself for jobs even without the pressure from the loaded defensive line. Jackson, Hardy, Lewis, Ingram and Forrest are all on the bubble fighting for the last handful of spots and could draw interest from other teams that need secondary help at the end of the month.
Over on offense, White and Trubisky are in an under-the-radar battle for the backup job, and it’s an open question what happens to the loser. Buffalo has tended to be a two-quarterback team and both players are experienced enough to be primary backups for another team. The Bills could keep both but a third quarterback would come at the expense of some depth elsewhere on the roster.
Denver Broncos
S Devon Key , JL Skinner or Delarrin Turner-Yell
Despite having one of the league’s better offensive lines, the Broncos’ running game was mediocre at best in 2024 and a lot of that had to do with the backs failing to take advantage of the holes provided. Denver focused a lot of effort on overhauling the room this offseason, swapping out Javonte Williams for second-round RB RJ Harvey and veteran J.K. Dobbins . The remaining spots will be a fierce competition between holdovers McLaughlin, Audric Estime , Tyler Badie and Blake Watson .
Of the group, McLaughlin might have the shakiest role and the most trade value. The former undrafted free agent has had bright moments as an explosive, change-of-pace back in his first two years, rushing for 906 yards and averaging 4.4 YPC. But at just 5-7 and 187 pounds, pass protection is a weakness that limited his ceiling. The Broncos will like want to funnel a lot of the touches they gave McLaughlin to Harvey, and guys like Badie and Watson can fill similar roles as depth players.
Mathis had some good moments as a rookie but never built on that success and enters his contract year buried on the depth chart. Teams are always looking for help at cornerback, so there’s a good chance the Broncos could find a market. At safety, there are six players competing for two or three backup jobs, and veterans like P.J. Locke and Sam Franklin could have the edge over younger options like Key, Skinner and Turner-Yell. A waiver claim would be more likely than a trade for this trio, but if a team likes a player enough to claim him, they might like him enough to swing a trade to skip the line.
Cleveland Browns
Quarterback easily has the most intrigue of any position for the rebuilding Browns, and with four notable players on the roster, this is the deepest spot on the team. It’s led to significant speculation that one player will be squeezed out, as teams tend to devote three roster spots to the position at most.
However, the Browns do things differently. It’s not out of the question they keep four quarterbacks into the regular season. Right now, it looks like veteran Joe Flacco has the edge for the starting job, as a hamstring injury for Pickett blunted some of his momentum. The team used a third-round pick on QB Dillon Gabriel but if he’s not ready to be the backup in the eyes of the team, that job would fall to Pickett. And of course, there’s fifth-round QB Shedeur Sanders , fourth on the depth chart as of this past weekend.
The team liked Gabriel enough to take him two rounds ahead of Sanders and reportedly has already turned down trade offers for him. While Sanders is bringing up the rear as of right now, it would cost some people their jobs if he was traded and turned into a productive starter for another team, so it feels like his spot on the roster is probably safe. Perhaps that ultimately makes Pickett the odd one out if he can’t beat Flacco for the starting job and the Browns decide Gabriel/Sanders have more upside. He’s in the final year of his rookie contract currently.