Seven blockbuster trades we’d like to see before the NFL season opener

This is the moment when NFL teams have to get real about who and what they don’t have.

Every team cut its roster down to 53 players on Tuesday. With Week 1 approaching, teams have started building their game plans with their personnel. And that means cutting away the concepts and ideas that their personnel can’t execute. 

But what if they didn’t have to?

Wouldn’t it be fun if — in their moment of epiphany — these teams went out and got exactly what they needed? 

I decided to look through the stars who are either discontented or misfitted in their current locale. And I searched for a landing spot (and compensation package) that would make everyone happy. Now, I recognize that some of these concepts might be farfetched. But that’s the fun of this exploration: to explore what these players would be worth on the open market and which teams might be willing to pay that exorbitant price.

These are the seven blockbuster trades that we’d love to see ahead of the 2024 season.

The Brandon Aiyuk Blockbuster

Pittsburgh Steelers get: Aiyuk
San Francisco 49ers get: Steelers’ 2025 first-rounder, 2026 third-rounder

There have been enough chapters in the book of Aiyuk — at least when it comes to this potential trade. Let’s just get it done. The Steelers were always going to have to give up a first-rounder, but they’re also throwing in a third for good measure. 

Now, this won’t solve the real problem for Pittsburgh. Their offensive line is likely to be an abomination. But the Steelers aren’t going to find an elite right tackle on the trade market. So they’ll instead pair Aiyuk with George Pickens to help out their quarterbacks. We all know that both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields are going to play this year. The starter — whoever gets the first crack at it — will struggle. Then the other QB will, too. And it’ll cycle like that for most of the season.

The Cooper Kupp Blockbuster

Kansas City Chiefs get: Kupp
Los Angeles Rams get: Chiefs’ 2025 second-rounder

Why do Tua Tagovailoa and Joe Burrow get to have all the fun with their elite receiver tandems?

Why can’t Patrick Mahomes have nice things at wideout?

Yes, I know that the Chiefs just drafted Xavier Worthy, who set a combine record in the 40-yard dash. I know that Rashee Rice emerged in the playoffs. And I know that free-agent addition Marquise Brown fit in nicely in Kansas City during training camp. But with every single one of those options, there’s a question mark. 

With Worthy, it’s that he’s a rookie — there are no assurances that he can produce in the NFL. With Rice, it’s that he has a looming suspension for his felony charges stemming from a multi-car accident. With Brown, it’s his injury history, including the sternoclavicular injury that’s likely to hold him out of Week 1.

Those guys can still get plenty of time in an offense that focuses on Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Kupp. In order to get the deal done, the Chiefs would have to have to finagle their salary cap to fit the veteran receiver. But man, this offense would absolutely hum with this group of threats.

As for the Rams, who boast a group of young, emerging hideouts headlined by Puka Nacua, they don’t really need Kupp anymore. They might as well sell on the 31-year-old receiver while they can get terrific value.

The Haason Reddick Blockbuster

Arizona Cardinals get: Reddick
New York Jets get: Cardinals’ 2025 fourth-round pick

This would be a comical and tragic outcome for the Jets. In March, they traded a conditional third-round pick to the Eagles for Reddick, one of the NFL’s premier pass-rushers. But some sort of miscommunication occurred. The Jets thought he’d show up and play without a new contract. Reddick, who’s entering the final year of a three-year deal he signed with Philadelphia in 2022, wants to see the money before he plays. And so it’s a strange standstill that seems like it could only happen to Gang Green.

The solution is to send Reddick back to where his career started. Arizona drafted him 13th overall in 2017, and he played four years there. The Cardinals have a major need for a prolific pass-rusher — and a large amount of cap space to give Reddick the contract he wants. Plus, Reddick would be cheap in terms of trade compensation.

The Micah Parsons Blockbuster

New England Patriots get: Parsons, Cowboys’ 2025 first-round pick
Dallas Cowboys get: Patriots’ 2025 first- and fourth-round picks, 2026 first-rounder, DE Keion White

OK, here’s a crazy one. The Patriots badly need firepower on offense, so this might seem like a weird deal for them. But remember: First-year head coach Jerod Mayo is a defensive coach. Why not bring Parsons into the fold to give Mayo the defensive firepower that he needs?

The three-time Pro Bowl OLB is one of the best players in the NFL. And New England is a team totally devoid of star power. It’s a really good fit, particularly after the Patriots traded edge Matthew Judon to Atlanta earlier in August.

The haul might seem like a lot on first glance, particularly when you look at New England flipping picks with Dallas in 2025. The Cowboys are probably going to pick around No. 25; the Patriots are probably going to pick around No. 1. That leap is worth one or two first-rounders. And New England isn’t going to stay up there anyway. Because they have their hopeful franchise quarterback in Drake Maye, the Patriots will try to trade down from No. 1. 

Why not flip that elite pick now for a known entity in his prime? Why not avoid the gamble that is the NFL Draft?

Dallas, meanwhile, would be pretty crazy not to consider this deal. The Cowboys can probably make the money work to sign Dak Prescott and Parsons to megadeals — even after giving a bag to CeeDee Lamb. But New England could provide a solution for Jerry Jones in his contract backlog. The Patriots give Jones a godfather offer that takes one of those contract disputes off the table. The Cowboys also get White, a 2023 second-round pick. White and Parsons obviously aren’t comparable players, but his inclusion in the deal helps nonetheless.

The Pat Freiermuth Blockbuster

Indianapolis Colts get: Freiermuth
Steelers get: Colts’ 2025 conditional fifth-round pick (that becomes a fourth if Freiermuth plays 50% of snaps and a third if he plays 75%)

Freiermuth’s name recognition has exceeded his production in the NFL. The 6-foot-5, 258-pound tight end had a solid year in 2022, when he logged 63 catches for 732 yards and two touchdowns. His rookie year, he snagged seven touchdowns. The potential is still there. It’s just that he has yet to really put it all together. And in Indy, with big-armed QB Anthony Richardson, Friermuth could fall right into place.

That’s why I could see him taking a massive role — big enough to stay on the field for more than 75% of the team’s snaps. 

But it’s a risk on a few levels for the Colts. Friermuth is set to enter free agency, so they have to decide which path to take. They could extend him at the time of the trade for a deal that won’t reset the market. Or they can wait to see how he pans out, with the hopes that he’ll blow up (and, in turn, they’ll have to pay him atop the market).

The Steelers can promote Darnell Washington, a 2023 third-rounder. And if they land Aiyuk, they’ll have more firepower on offense.

The Davante Adams Blockbuster

New York Jets get: Adams
Las Vegas Raiders get: 2025 first-round pick, 2026 first-rounder

The deal that was meant to be. Aaron Rodgers — who often seems to serve as New York’s de-facto general manager — would get to work with one of his favorite receivers again. The Jets are all-in on this season. The 40-year-old Rodgers has indicated he wants to stick around for two more seasons. This deal would probably encourage him to stay that long and then some. On paper, there would be no more talented team in the NFL than the Jets. They’d probably move into the pole position as the Super Bowl favorite — or get somewhere close to it.

The Raiders, meanwhile, don’t have a quarterback to throw to Adams. It’s a waste of elite talent to have him on the depth chart. He’s not going to grow more content as this season weighs on. It would be smart for the Raiders to move him now, because their trade leverage will continue to dissipate.

The Tee Higgins Blockbuster

Washington Commanders get: Higgins
Cincinnati Bengals get: Commanders’ 2025 first-round pick

The Commanders are rebuilding, sure. But they have money to spend and Higgins is worth a long-term extension. So he and Terry McLaurin can work together as a fantastic 1-2 punch for Jayden Daniels in the passing game. 

And if you don’t think Higgins is worth what is likely to be a top-15 pick, remember that Drake London, Jameson Williams, Jahan Dotson and Treylon Burks were all first-round receivers in 2022. They all went between No. 8 and No. 18 overall. 

Dotson, in particular, is a timely caveat. Washington just traded him for a third-rounder and two seventh-rounders.

Why run that risk again?

The Commanders can get better at an accelerated clip. It’ll cost them in cap space, but at least they would know — for sure — that they’re getting a receiver who is a proven entity in the NFL.

As for the Bengals, if they dealt Higgins, they would have only one receiver extension to worry about: Ja’Marr Chase’s. And that’s gonna be a big one.

Prior to joining FOX Sports as the AFC East reporter, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.

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