Could the Jets make a trade for a cornerback before the deadline? They’re monitoring the market.
The Jets look to be sellers ahead of the Nov. 2 trade deadline, but that may not be the case when it comes to the cornerback position.
New York is one of a few teams that has “actively monitored” the cornerback market over the past few months, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Other teams include the Bills, Texans, Seahawks and Giants.
Fowler added that the Broncos have received interest in Kyle Fuller and Bryce Callahan, though Denver’s asking price was high in the preseason.
The cornerback position has been a hot topic for the Jets dating back to the offseason. Joe Douglas failed to sign any experienced players at the position, and there was concern about New York’s youthful secondary entering the summer. Those worries were quieted through the first four weeks of the season, as New York’s corners, led by second-year pro Bryce Hall, largely played well.
That collectively poor performance aside, the Jets do have some reason to be excited about the corners they already have. Hall, Michael Carter II and Brandin Echols have all shown promise, so it would be curious for New York to add a veteran corner now after committing to their youngsters in the preseason.
The Desmond King trade wasn’t the only one the Titans explored.
The Tennessee Titans were able to come to an agreement on a trade with the Los Angeles Chargers for cornerback Desmond King II prior to the NFL deadline, but that wasn’t the only trade the team explored.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, general manager Jon Robinson also tried to acquire a left tackle with Taylor Lewan out for the season, and Minnesota Vikings left tackle Riley Reiff was one of his targets.
Lewan was lost for the season to a torn ACL during the Week 6 win over the Houston Texans, and since then the Titans have been deploying swing tackle Ty Sambrailo in his place.
However, as Pelissero notes in his report below, Tennessee did try to make a move to improve the position before ultimately having to settle on their in-house solution.
The #Titans traded for CB Desmond King last week — and that wasn't the only deal they explored. Meanwhile, WR A.J. Brown missed Thursday's practice but told me his knee is "fine." More from @kurt13warner on how they get back on track against the #Bears. @NFLGameDay@nflnetworkpic.twitter.com/F06wRlXT9I
In two games without Lewan, Sambrailo, along with the rest of the offensive line, has played well. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill has been sacked just three times, and one of those games was against the Pittsburgh Steelers elite pass-rush.
Berry cited a number of reasons why deals didn’t get done around the NFL
Tuesday’s trade deadline passed with no moves from the Cleveland Browns. On Wednesday, Browns general manager Andrew Berry indicated the lack of movement wasn’t from a lack of trying on his part.
“We explored a number of possibilities,” Berry told reporters via Zoom. “And really for us, the trade process is really every week, it is not even just about the deadline. So, we did explore a number of different possible transactions.”
Berry noted the lack of movement around the league, citing the lack of teams willing to give up assets for fair market value. He also mentioned the expanded playoff picture ruling out fewer teams from contention in this highly unpredictable season.
Evaluating the 2020 NFL trade deadline for the Buffalo Bills.
The Buffalo Bills were sitting at 6-2 as the NFL trade deadline expired with the team not making any sort of changes. That may have come as a surprise due to the fact that the team’s general manager, Brandon Beane, has a reputation of being one of the best general managers in the NFL.
The Bills have problems that’s a fact, so let’s take a look at a few of these problems, how severe they are, and if the anything could have been addressed at the trade deadline:
Bills defensive end Jerry Hughes. Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports
Pass rush
The Bills have recorded 19 sacks this season, which is tied for ninth in the league, but they aren’t generating consistent pressure. According to Pro Football Reference, the Bills have only hurried opposing quarterbacks 16 times, which is tied for 30th . They have also only hurried the quarterback on 5.4% of dropbacks, which is tied for last in the league (Titans). To put this into more context, the Steelers, the league leader in both categories, have hurried the quarterback 38 times, which means they’re hurrying the quarterback on 13.9% of their plays. Per PFF, the Steelers have generated the most pressure on opposing quarterbacks per dropback, at an outstanding 33.9% of passes. The Bills on the other hand are sitting at 19th in the league by generating pressure on 19.2% of dropbacks.
The Ravens acquired premier pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue from the Vikings. The Ravens sent over a 2021 third-round pick and a 2020 fifth rounmder. Since 2016 Ngakoue has had 42.5 sacks, the Ravens spent pennies on the dollar for one of the best pass rushers in the league.
Bills wide receiver Cole Beasley/ Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Pass catchers
When the Bills traded for Stefon Diggs in the offseason their receiving corps looked infallible. The trio of Stefon Diggs, Cole Beasley, and John Brown had the potential to be the best trio of receivers in the NFL, but halfway through the season it hasn’t quite panned out. Diggs has lived up to his billing so far though. He’s second in the NFL with 695 receiving yards, he’s caught 54 passes, and has three receiving touchdowns.
The rest of the receivers haven’t been up to snuff. Brown, the Bills’ No. 1 receiver from last season, has just 15 catches for 215 yards, and two touchdowns. In most games, Brown is a non-factor with the likes of Gabe Davis, Beasley, and tight en Tyler Kroft out performing the speedster. Speaking of Davis, he had a bright start to start the season, but in the last four games he has been another non-factor. Receivers haven’t been the only disappointment though, Buffalo’s tight ends haven’t produced consistently.
The two starting tight ends, Dawson Knox and Kroft, have just 211 yards and two touchdowns combined. If Buffalo wants to contend they will need to see more production from their tight ends and the rest of their receivers.
Could this have been fixed at the trade deadline? Yes and no.
While this is a cop-out answer, this is due to that not many pass catchers were traded during the regular season. But receiver John Ross III of the Cincinnati Bengals tweeted that he requested a trade from the team.
The Atlanta Falcons were rumored to be shopping defensive end Takk McKinley, but ended up holding on to the former first-round pick at Tuesday’s trade deadline.
The Atlanta Falcons were rumored to be shopping defensive end Takk McKinley, but ended up holding on to the former first-round pick at Tuesday’s trade deadline.
A disgruntled McKinley shared his frustrations over Twitter, saying the team had turned down offers for him in both 2019 and 2020.
These @AtlantaFalcons turned down a 2nd round draft pick when I requested to get traded last year.
The same @AtlantaFalcons turned down a 5th and 6th round draft pick from multiple teams when I requested to get traded this year. I only have 17.5 career sacks.
According to McKinley, the Falcons turned down a second-round pick for him last year, and both a fifth and sixth-round pick for him at this year’s deadline. Fans don’t seem to be buying it, though.
Atlanta should have never drafted you anyway. Been a problem since the second they said your name. And don’t worry, we all know how bad you are at sacking the qb.
McKinley is in the final year of his rookie deal since Atlanta declined to pick up his fifth-year option during the offseason. The team kept McKinley out of last week’s win over the Carolina Panthers and it will be interesting to see if he’s active when practice starts later today.
Quinnen Williams may have caused some Jets fans to fear he had been traded, but he really just wanted them to vote.
With the NFL trade deadline and Election Day both falling on Tuesday, Quinnen Williams decided to have some fun with Jets fans.
New York reportedly fielded calls on Williams a couple of weeks before the deadline, but Adam Gase put trade rumors to rest last week, definitively stating that Williams was not going anywhere. Despite Gase’s comments, Williams used the deadline chatter to promote an important message, sending Jets fans to his Instagram story for a “big announcement.”
I want to thank everyone for their constant support. I have a big announcement, but I wanted you guys to hear it from ME first and not someone else. Go to my IG story for details: @ thequinnenwilliams
Williams’ agent, Nicole Lynn, also got in on the bit, directing fans to Williams’ Instagram for the supposedly big news.
Announcement: I want you guys to hear it from Quinnen Williams first before the media breaks it. Go check out his IG story for details. @ thequinnenwilliams.
The fans who flocked to Williams’ Instagram with a pit in their stomach thinking the second-year defensive lineman had been traded breathed a sigh of relief upon opening his story. He was not using social media to share news of a trade, but instead urging the masses to get out and vote.
Williams’ light-hearted personality has been a breath of fresh air since he arrived in New York last season — especially given Gang Green’s struggles the last two years. It should come as no surprise that he put that personality to use in order to bring some levity to a tense situation.
Rest assured, Jets fans, Williams is not going anywhere. He just wants you to exercise your right to vote in one of the most important presidential elections in recent history.
The NFL trade deadline was very quiet around the league
Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline for trades in the NFL came and went with a whimper. The Detroit Lions did not make any moves in either direction.
No trade offers made sense for GM Bob Quinn or the Lions. As was the case with just about every NFL team, there was a lack of urgency and action. The only trades were minor moves by the Miami Dolphins. All NFL team offices and the league offices were closed on Tuesday for Election Day, which certainly didn’t help the trade market.
Andrew Berry stood pat with the Browns roster at the deadline
There was a lot of speculation about how rookie GM Andrew Berry would handle his first NFL trade deadline. Now we know the answer: Berry is neither a buyer nor a seller at the deadline.
Tuesday afternoon’s deadline for in-season trades came and went with Berry and the Browns standing pat. No players were shipped out and none were brought in, either.
It wound up being a quiet deadline day across the league. With all teams and NFL offices officially closed for Election Day, an anticipated rush of last-minute activity simply did not develop. There were a couple of minor moves with the Miami Dolphins, but beyond that all was quiet on the trade front on Tuesday.
Amid speculation that Kerrigan could potentially be traded, Rivera said on Monday that he wants to get more playing time for the veteran.
The NFL Trade Deadline is now just a few hours away, and though the Washington Football Team has a few assets on the roster that they could likely flip for some late-round draft picks in the future, an overwhelming feeling has arisen that they will stay pat.
Staying pat for Washington means that veteran DE Ryan Kerrigan will likely still be on the roster 24 hours from now. With many people believing that he was the most likely to be traded away, head coach Ron Rivera said on Monday that not only is he unlikely to be traded, but also that he’s hopefully going to get more playing time going forward.
“I feel we got to play him a little bit more and I plan to,” Rivera said Monday via the Washington Football Talk Podcast. “Look at what he’s done in terms of his career and look at what he’s done in a short period with us. Snaps per production is way up there.”
Though Kerrigan stands as the franchise all-time sack leader, his playing time has plummeted this season thanks to the addition on Chase Young and the emergence of Montez Sweat. A report came out on Sunday that Kerrigan had requested a trade to a team that had more of a need for him, which is understandable for a player of his stature who obviously still has a lot left to give.
Despite this, Rivera desperately wants to keep Kerrigan around, simply because he provides a great mentor and leader in the locker room for a host of young players to look up to.
“Look at the way he handles himself, extra work, role model for young players,” Rivera said. “That’s the kind of guy you want around.”
The Lions should at least get inquiries about a few players
The NFL’s trade deadline is 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 3rd. Bob Quinn and the Detroit Lions were buyers last week in picking up DE Everson Griffen from the Dallas Cowboys.
But that was before an ugly loss to the Indianapolis Colts that killed any positive momentum. Now the team is 3-4 and facing the prospect of playing the next few games without the best weapon on offense (WR Kenny Golladay) and best player on the defense (DE Trey Flowers).
If Quinn and the Lions decide to be sellers before the deadline, there isn’t a lot to take to market. With Golladay — the No. 1 name other teams will call about — out for at least a week with a vague hip injury, his trade value takes a hit.
Here are some other Lions who could get moved if the team decides it’s better off with the return compensation than the player himself.
Marvin Jones: The 30-year-old WR has fallen off in 2020 but still makes for a solid No. 2 WR on the outside. He’s entering the final months of his contract with the Lions. A contender could flip a late-round pick to rent Jones for eight games and a potential playoff run. Even if he leaves, Jones would be a candidate to return to Detroit in the offseason — provided he doesn’t retire.
Will Harris: In his second season, the 2019 third-round pick has played his way out of the rotation. With Jayron Kearse playing significantly better in the same role and with no tangible improvement to his game after a bad rookie season, the Lions could try to sell off Harris with the idea he’s the defensive version of Travis Fulgham.
Kerryon Johnson: D’Andre Swift has taken over as the top dog in the backfield, and Adrian Peterson also continues to get more reps than Johnson. The team has enviable depth at RB and could part with Johnson to try and fill more glaring holes on the roster elsewhere. Shopping Peterson and his declining yards per carry also makes sense.
Joe Dahl: Detroit’s starting guard has played decently enough, but the team has fourth-round rookie Logan Stenberg waiting in the wings. If they’re looking to see if Stenberg can be the future, it makes sense to shop Dahl to one of the many OL-needy teams.
Matthew Stafford: Now is not the time to trade, or trade for, Stafford. I suspect teams will call and inquire, but it is more about planting possible seeds for after the season.
I don’t expect any moves of significance, but with a new owner in place it’s hard to predict the timbre of the team.
