The NFL trade deadline, which expires at 4 p.m. ET on Nov. 10, is already coming into sharper focus now that the Indianapolis Colts have started unloading their most prized players in order to begin setting the table for a long-overdue rebuild as well as enticing whomever their next general manager will be now that Chris Ballard is no longer in the picture.
Interim Indy GM Ed Dodds got busy getting his hands dirty on Tuesday, Oct. 27, when he traded perennial All-Pro G Quenton Nelson to the Seattle Seahawks and, later in the day, sent three-time Pro Bowl DT DeForest Buckner back to his original team, the San Francisco 49ers.
Those moves are probably indicative of others we’re likely to see leading up to the cutoff date – teams exporting players
on expiring contracts, as Nelson and Buckner are, that will generally have minimal ramifications on their salary caps yet will likely also temper compensation.
For instance, numerous Colts fans on social media clearly didn’t believe the team got sufficient value for Nelson, though a third- and fifth-round pick are probably a decent return given Seattle is only guaranteed a 10-game rental while hoping to get bonus time from him in the playoffs. When the Baltimore Ravens surrendered a second-round pick as part of their deal for former Philadelphia Eagles O-lineman Cam Jurgens earlier this month, they were also getting a player who’s under contract through the 2029 season.
Moving forward, talents like Los Angeles Chargers OLB Khalil Mack, Tampa Bay Buccaneers OLB YaYa Diaby, Tennessee Titans RB Tony Pollard and perhaps even Las Vegas Raiders QB Kirk Cousins are in similar circumstances – gentlemen set to hit free agency in 2027 but who could get moved sooner if their current teams believe they can do better by obtaining capital going into next year’s touted draft as opposed to whatever compensatory selections they’d otherwise realize in 2028.
Yet there are others likely to draw various levels of inquiry even though their present contracts – which can always be subject to restructures – will have more impactful financial consequences on either side of a swap.
Here are three contracts that are eminently moveable even though they’re currently set to run beyond 2026:
Indianapolis Colts RB Jonathan Taylor
Head coach Shane Steichen revealed on Wednesday, Oct. 28, that Taylor, a three-time Pro Bowler and this team’s most valuable asset right now, has not requested trade – even though WR Josh Downs has and despite the departures of Buckner and Nelson, who paved so many of Taylor’s comfy rush lanes.
But Taylor could and should be very much in play – even though he signed a two-year, $44 million extension on Aug. 6 and despite the fact that ESPN has reported that team co-owner and CEO Carlie Irsay-Gordon is reluctant to trade the man who is currently the face of her franchise. However, a 27-year-old back at the peak of his powers – and with a pact that runs through the 2028 season – ought to be very enticing to contenders, especially those with lackluster ground games.
Taylor is surely the Colts’ best chance of recouping the 2027 first-rounder that Ballard surrendered last November to obtain CB Sauce Gardner from the New York Jets. And given Taylor would only create a very absorbable $10 million dead cap charge in 2027 – any acquiring team would be on the hook for the $34 million in total cash he’d be owed over the course of the 2027 and ’28 seasons – moving on from him should be an enticing and realistic option for the Colts, whose next championship window almost certainly won’t align with Taylor’s.
Las Vegas Raiders DE Maxx Crosby
He also signed a huge extension with his current club, re-upping for three years and $106.5 million in 2025. And, of course, the Silver and Black have already agreed to trade Crosby once, before the Baltimore Ravens infamously “backed out” of the arrangement in March. Still, Crosby’s hefty contract actually isn’t a huge impediment to offloading him given how it’s structured – base salaries worth between $26 and $30 million from the 2027 through '29 seasons, with next year’s $29 million base salary the only remaining guarantee, one that will be picked up by whomever he’s playing for.
So from a cap standpoint? It’s easy for the Raiders, who would be on the hook for zero dead money, to let him go if they choose (once again), while a trade partner would merely have to have the requisite cap space to accommodate those salaries. The bigger stumbling blocks here are threefold:
- Is Las Vegas willing to take less than the two first-round picks the Ravens offered?
- Are the Raiders, who have lost four in a row after a 3-0 start, ready to give up on this season in order to continue accelerating their rebuild?
- Would potential suitors be scared off by Crosby’s medical history, specifically his surgically repaired right knee, the way Baltimore was?
The circumstances here are basically trickier than the financial considerations. And it should be noted while Crosby’s sack count (2) is down this season, he’s on pace to generate 75 quarterback pressures, per Next Gen Stats, which would be his most since 2023 and only slightly lagging behind his best statistical outputs in 2021 and '22.
Jacksonville Jaguars WR Brian Thomas Jr.
An interesting case study for a man only two years removed from being a first-round pick, 23rd overall in 2024, and given his massive statistical output as a rookie (87 catches for 1,282 yards and 10 TDs). But Thomas’ production was effectively cut in half last year, the Jags’ first under head coach Liam Coen, and it’s plummeted even further this season.
Currently operating as basically the fifth wideout, now that CB/WR Travis Hunter seems to be getting more heavily involved in the offense again, it sure seems like Thomas could benefit from a change of scenery – and his contract should allow for it.
While first-round picks have fully guaranteed contracts, the bulk of them are paid as signing bonuses, leaving the base salaries as manageable. Thomas is making $1.075 million this season and is due $2.8 million in 2027. His fifth-year option would effectively serve as a balloon payment in 2028, but that will be picked up − or declined − by whomever Thomas is playing for next spring. So Jacksonville’s cap hit in 2027 wouldn’t even be $2 million, while an acquiring team would find itself with some options even if a two-month audition with Thomas doesn’t turn out optimally.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 3 NFL contracts that are easy to trade, including Maxx Crosby's huge deal
