The 2024 NFL trade deadline is rapidly approaching. Teams won’t be able to acquire players after 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 5, which could create a mad scramble of additions before next week’s trade cut-off.
We’ve already submitted 12 hypothetical trades that could make sense before this year’s deadline. One of those suggested moves — a deal sending left tackle Cam Robinson — actually went down in real life.
Let’s have even more fun this time around and project a few pipe dream trades. While these deals could make sense for all parties involved, they probably won’t occur before Tuesday’s deadline. Still, we can hope, right?
New England Patriots
Tee Higgins
- Patriots acquire: WR Tee Higgins
- Bengals acquire: Conditional 2025 third-round pick
While Joe Burrow believes the Cincinnati Bengals can rebound over the second half of the season and make a playoff run, their 3-5 record will make that sort of comeback a challenge. Given the Bengals’ upcoming schedule, it’s not impossible, but Cincinnati appears more likely to be watching the postseason from home than actively participating.
As such, owner Mike Brown and de facto general manager Duke Tobin should at least consider trading wide receiver Tee Higgins, who’s playing the 2024 campaign under a franchise tag and will likely reach free agency next offseason.
Tee Higgins has his second TD today!
📺: #BALvsCIN on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/Wzg6szjPGY— NFL (@NFL) October 6, 2024
The Bengals haven’t expressed any serious interest in re-signing Higgins, instead focusing their efforts on a long-term extension with fellow WR Ja’Marr Chase (which has also failed to come to fruition). Cincinnati could secure a 2026 compensatory pick by letting Higgins walk next offseason, but the club could land a better draft choice by dealing him now.
Higgins should attract a healthy market, and the Bengals wouldn’t be hearing only from 2024 contenders. A team like the New England Patriots — trying to build an offensive environment around promising rookie quarterback Drake Maye — could be interested in a young wideout with Higgins’ talent.
The Pats lead the NFL in projected 2025 cap space, with $130+ million in available funds. Giving Higgins a market-appropriate extension would be a cinch for GM Eliot Wolf. Higgins’ presence would bump every other receiver in New England down a rung, giving rookie wideouts like Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker more time to develop.
Higgins is battling a quadricep injury and will likely miss his second consecutive game on Sunday. However, he’s not believed to be facing a long-term absence that would dissuade the Pats from trading for him.
Indianapolis Colts
David Njoku
- Colts acquire: TE David Njoku and a 2025 seventh-round pick
- Browns acquire: 2025 third-round pick and a 2025 sixth-round pick
The Indianapolis Colts’ decision to bench 2023 first-round quarterback Anthony Richardson in favor of Joe Flacco is the definition of a win-now move. If the Colts plan to sacrifice Richardson’s long-term development for the chance of making a playoff run, they might as well go all-in and bring in another weapon for the veteran signal-caller.
Indy already has a well-rounded wide receiver depth chart. Michael Pittman Jr. is a solid possession receiver, Josh Downs is dynamic out of the slot, Alec Pierce is a downfield stretcher, and second-round rookie Adonai Mitchell is around for depth.
However, the Colts still have a weakness at tight end, where no member of their four-headed rotation has more than 15 receptions through eight weeks. Mo Alie-Cox and Drew Ogletree are running routes on fewer than 70% of their snaps; Kylen Granson and Will Mallory have five combined catches.
David Njoku broke out for a career-best season in 2023, hauling in 81 catches for 882 yards and six touchdowns in an otherwise broken Cleveland Browns offense. His performance made his four-year, $54.75 million extension — which made Njoku just the NFL’s seventh-highest-paid TE — look like even more of a steal.
Njoku missed time with a high-ankle sprain this year, but his role in the Browns’ passing offense has expanded since the club traded wideout Amari Cooper. Over the past two weeks, Njoku hauled in 15 catches for 137 yards and two touchdowns.
Cleveland may not be willing to move on from Njoku now that he’s become their most viable receiving option. However, the Colts have every incentive to make a Njoku trade worth the Browns’ while. A third-round choice plus a late-round swap could get the job done, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Cleveland asked for more.
Detroit Lions
Maxx Crosby
- Lions acquire: EDGE Maxx Crosby
- Raiders acquire: 2025 first-round pick, conditional 2026 second-round pick, and EDGE James Houston
The Detroit Lions have one of the NFL’s best rosters, so much so that an unprecedented string of injuries created their only genuine need heading into the 2024 trade deadline.
Aidan Hutchinson, the league’s leading contender for Defensive Player of the Year honors, fractured his tibia and fibula in Detroit’s Week 6 win against the Dallas Cowboys.
Hutchinson was hurt while reaching 7.5 sacks, the most in the NFL at the time. Entering Week 6, he ranked first among edge defenders in pass-rush win rate (34%). Hutchinson had generated pressure on a league-league 23.6% of his pass rushes, nearly five percentage points better than second-place Micah Parsons and more than double the league-average rate.
Hutchinson isn’t the only Detroit edge rusher who’s suffered a severe injury this season. Marcus Davenport, whom the Lions inked to a one-year deal worth $6.5 million in March, went down with a season-ending triceps injury in Week 3.
While Detroit might try to replace Hutchinson’s production in the aggregate, Dan Campbell’s team is in its Super Bowl window. No one would blink if the Lions pushed in their chips for a blockbuster acquisition.
While Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis says his club won’t trade superstar pass rusher Maxx Crosby this season or next, Detroit could try to change his mind with a significant offer: a first-round pick in 2025, plus a 2026 second that can be upgraded to a first if the Lions appear in a second consecutive NFC title game. The Lions can throw in 2022 NFL Daft pick James Houston for good measure.
1st down: beats the puller to the spot and tackles the RB clean in the backfield
2nd down: takes out all of the pullers before they can get out on the perimeter
what a ridiculous player Maxx Crosby is pic.twitter.com/b5FxBoqy4b
— Derrik Klassen (@QBKlass) September 18, 2024
It’s a massive price but one that accounts for Crosby’s status as one of the game’s best defensive players. He’s still only 27 years old and has two second-team All-Pros and three Pro Bowls on his résumé. Since 2022, Crosby ranks first among all defenders in tackles for loss (55) and second in sacks (34) and quarterback hits (78).
An acquiring team would have Crosby under contract through 2026 for $42.84 million. Crosby would likely request an extension upon being traded, so the Lions would have to be prepared to pay up.
Minnesota Vikings
Dexter Lawrence II
- Vikings acquire: DT Dexter Lawrence II
- Giants acquire: 2025 first-round pick and a 2026 first-round pick
The Minnesota Vikings had dropped two straight games after leaping out to a 5-0 start, but they’re still squarely in the NFC playoff race. Could GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah swing a significant trade before next week’s deadline?
The Vikings have only three choices in the 2025 NFL Draft: one first-rounder and two picks in the fifth round. When they traded for Jacksonville Jaguars left tackle Robinson last week, Minnesota dipped into its 2025 selections to make the deal work.
Adofo-Mensah’s lack of capital could prevent him from making another move, but he could reconsider if the right player is available — especially a dominant unicorn DT like the New York Giants’ Dexter Lawrence II.
The Vikings saw firsthand what Lawrence was capable of when he wrecked their interior offensive line en route to a 30% pressure rate in Week 1. Since the start of the 2023 season, a DT has put up a pressure rate of 30% or better in six games; Lawrence accounts for three of the six.
Through eight weeks, Lawrence leads the NFL with nine sacks. He’s fourth among interior defenders with a 14% pressure rate.
Vikings DT Harrison Phillips is an outstanding run defender, but DC Brian Flores would love to have a genuine pass rusher in the middle of his line. While Flores blitzes more than any coordinator in the NFL, imagine what Lawrence could do for Minnesota up front and Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel on the edge.
Houston Texans
Dalvin Tomlinson
- Texans acquire: DT Dalvin Tomlinson
- Browns acquire: 2025 fifth-round pick
The Houston Texans might be interested in acquiring a wide receiver after losing Stefon Diggs to a season-ending ACL tear in Week 8. But with Nico Collins returning from injured reserve shortly, and options like Tank Dell, Robert Woods, and John Metchie III already on the roster, Houston could target other positions at the deadline.
That might include defensive tackle, where the Texans could afford to add one more body to a group that includes Folorunso Fatukasi, Denico Autry, Tim Settle Jr., and Mario Edwards Jr., the latter of whom is suspended until Week 11.
We’ve already traded one Browns player in this exercise. After sending Njoku to the Colts, let’s look at the defensive side of the ball to find Cleveland’s next trade candidate.
The Athletic’s Zac Jackson recently pointed to defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson as one of the Browns’ most likely trade candidates (along with EDGE Za’Darius Smith). Tomlinson has been outstanding as a lane-clogger this season, ranking seventh among DTs in run-stop win rate. While his pressure rate has dipped this season, he was at 10% — above the league average — in 2022 and 2023.