The NFL trade deadline in 2024 is still quite a ways away, but there could be some truly massive moves coming at the deadline. The NFL trade deadline is always and fun time, and it could be more of the same fun in 2024. Right now, I think the NFL is in a great spot with parity - there are so many talented teams and so many teams that can make the playoffs.
There may only be seven truly elite teams that can win the Super Bowl, but the amount of competition in this league in the present day is outstanding. This could lead to a more active trade deadline period, so let's look at three major trade deadline moves that could happen in 2024.
3 massive NFL trade deadline moves that could happen in the 2024 season
Dak Prescott to the Pittsburgh Steelers
Dak Prescott on the move? I mean, with each passing day that the quarterback does not have a new contract from the Dallas Cowboys, you have to wonder if a trade at some point is likely. The catch here is that both Prescott and Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy are in the last year of their deals, and I am sure that Jerry Jones cannot tolerate a 12-5 season with minimal playoff success much longer.
The duo just is not working beyond a good regular season, and you have to wonder if the front office might be angling toward a hard reset at coach and QB following the 2024 NFL Season. Perhaps that reset could get a head-start during the year. With the Pittsburgh Steelers, they seem committed to Russell Wilson and Justin Fields for 2024.
But what if the Steelers are clearly still being held back by their QBs? And what if the Cowboys want to move Prescott? While it seems unlikely now, I would not totally rule a move like this out.
Davante Adams to the New York Jets
Honestly, if the New York Jets are in a position to add, this move feels like it'd be bound to happen. Davante Adams played the best football of his career when Aaron Rodgers was tossing him the rock, but seemed to want to reunite with his college teammate, Derek Carr, in Las Vegas. That only lasted during the 2022 NFL Season, as the Raiders moved on from Carr.
Now kind of lost in time, Adams may start the 2024 NFL Season catching passes from either Gardner Minshew or Aidan O'Connell, and there is simply no way the Las Vegas Raiders are making the playoffs, right?
If the Raiders are pretty clearly out of it by the time the trade deadline rolls around, they'd be foolish to not entertain a trade like this, as it nets them both cap space and draft picks. On the flip side, the Jets could have a three-headed monster at WR with Adams, Mike Williams, and Garrett Wilson.
Matthew Judon to the Denver Broncos
You just never know; the ceiling for the 2024 Denver Broncos is probably what the 2023 Houston Texans did, and Sean Payton might feel frisky enough to try and add at the trade deadline. Why not? The Broncos could be firmly in the playoff race in the AFC. I mean, they were last year for several weeks.
Well, one area they could still get better in is off the EDGE, and Matthew Judon was on a torrid start to his career with the New England Patriots before a season-ending injury in 2023. He's played 38 games with the Patriots and has racked up 32 sacks, 33 tackles for loss, and 62 QB hits. He's producing with the elite pass rushers in the NFL over the last three seasons.
And with the New England Patriots clearly rebuilding, they really don't have much of a need to keep Matthew Judon on the roster. They could net a draft pick or two for the future and let the Denver Broncos enjoy the tail-end of his NFL career.