While this is undoubtedly a great time for optimism among NFL fan bases, there are certain teams who simply have to face the reality that they're not going to be good this season. Everyone is going to hold out hope, even through the first couple of months of the 2025 season, but as we look into our crystal ball for what might happen this year, we've got a bead on which teams might already be destined to sell at the 2025 NFL trade deadline.
Plenty of teams will pack it in as the season goes along, and they'll realize that adding future NFL Draft capital is more important than running like hamsters on a wheel, going absolutely nowhere, fast.
Which teams are destined to become sellers at the trade deadline in 2025?
3 early seller candidates at the 2025 NFL trade deadline
1. New Orleans Saints
The Saints are probably the most obvious candidate to be sellers at the trade deadline in 2025. With their quarterback situation, the Saints aren't expected to be overly competitive, but they have a lot of veterans who could be desirable to the more competitive teams around the league.
Players like Alvin Kamara, Chris Olave, Taysom Hill, and others have already popped up in trade rumors, and that doesn't even scratch the surface of veteran defensive players that would likely be pursued by other teams.
The Saints will need their defense to really carry them this year if they are going to outplay expectations and actually compete in the NFC South in 2025. At this point, few people expect that to happen, which could lead to this team being a major seller at the trade deadline.
2. Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are typically a pretty competitive and even good team when they have a healthy Tua Tagovailoa. But this team has taken on enough change over the last two years that even a healthy Tua won't be enough to keep this team from selling at the trade deadline.
The Dolphins could even end up making a bold move like trading away wide receiver Tyreek Hill or one of their veteran edge rushers (Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips) if things really start to go south before the NFL trade deadline in 2025.
Hill has already been the subject of rumors this offseason, and Miami seems poised to trade veteran Jalen Ramsey rather soon. They might feel like they have the coaches and core of the roster in place to be good going forward, but it might be time to say "out with the old" on some of the veterans of this team if they're clearly not competing in the AFC East over the first 9-10 weeks.
3. Green Bay Packers
I don't think the Green Bay Packers are going to be bad in 2025, by any means, but this is a roster that is absolutely loaded and there could be a number of situations worth watching between now and the NFL trade deadline later in the season.
Romeo Doubs is in a contract year along with fellow wide receiver Christian Watson, and the Packers seem likely to trade at least one of those guys after the selections of Matthew Golden and Savion Williams in the 2025 NFL Draft.
It wouldn't surprise me to see the Packers entertain the idea of trading Jaire Alexander in the middle of the season, and it also wouldn't shock me if some team came calling on tight end Luke Musgrave if he doesn't have a defined role quickly this year for Matt LaFleur.
The Packers have a lot of guys who could be enticing to other teams, so while I can see them "selling" at the trade deadline, I think they could be poised to do a mix of buying and selling to get those missing pieces of their roster filled.