The NFL trade deadline is just under two weeks away—Tuesday, November 10—and several trades have already been made. So ESPN insiders Jeremy Fowler and Matt Bowen put together a list of the top-25 candidates to get traded by the deadline. Interestingly, they also listed at least two teams that they view as the best team fits for a landing spot.
In their list of 25 traded candidates, the Detroit Lions were listed as one of the best fits for four of those candidates. Let’s go through them one-by-one.
Eagles CB Riq Woolen
It’s not surprising the Lions are being paired with a cornerback, given their struggles at that position this year. Although it is interesting to see the Lions have some recent success at cornerback after utilizing some rotation with the players they have.
The Eagles are 2-5 and will be without starting quarterback Jalen Hurts for the rest of the season. They definitely could be sellers at the trade deadline, and ESPN lists Woolen at a 35% likelihood of being traded.
He’s on a very manageable contract, with the acquiring team only responsible for a prorated amount of his $6 million base salary.
He would bring some height and length (6-foot-4) to the outside cornerback position, but his play hasn’t been as good as his best Seahawks days. This season alone, PFF credits him with 20 catches on 36 targets for 282 yards, 4 touchdowns—but he does have six passes defended and a forced fumble.
Here’s what Matt Bowen had to say about his play this year:
“Woolen has the length and long speed at 6-foot-4 to help a defense majoring in man coverage and two-deep zone. The tackling and eye discipline could improve, but Woolen is a disruptor on the perimeter.”
Chargers CB Donte Jackson
The Chargers are the only winless team remaining, and with the Rams, Ravens, Patriots, 49ers, Chiefs, and Broncos still on the schedule, their season is already toast.
Jackson will be 31 next month, but he’s had an illustrious NFL career. Over nine years, he’s started 109 games, tallied 23 interceptions, and 68 passes defended. He was a captain for several years with the Panthers, so he’s high-character, as well.
Financially, this is another easy one. It’s the same as Woolen: all the acquiring team would need is to fit a prorated amount of Jackson’s $6 million salary.
Here’s Bowen’s analysis:
“With his backfield vision and short-area closing speed, Jackson fits best as a zone corner. He’s a top-down defender with route awareness who can create on-the-ball production”
Bengals EDGE Shemar Stewart
While the Bengals are far from sellers at 4-2 on the season, they have been barely playing Stewart, who was the team’s 17th overall pick just last year. Stewart has played in just 17 snaps this season.
Despite that, I think it’s unlikely Cincinnati moves on from Stewart this early in his career. He missed nearly all of training camp with a leg injury, and that was part of Zac Taylor’s explanation for having Stewart inactive this past week.
“He’s doing all the right things. He’s getting better every week. (He missed) training camp for the most part. So, to get him back, I think he’s been doing a great job of practicing. We’re just in a really tough spot with our inactives right now. Sometimes we’re really healthy. Sometimes we’re beat up at a position where we need another guy up. So, unfortunately, we just had to pull from the d-line, and it’s a really deep d-line group, and it’s really difficult to choose who’s going to be inactive there.”
But in the unlikely situation he’s on the block, he is a very good fit in Detroit. He’s long, strong, and extremely physical.
Saints G Cesar Ruiz
This is just a bizarre one. Ruiz could very well be on the block for a 2-5 Saints team, but it’s hard to imagine the Lions getting involved for a guard. Not only has Ruiz played right guard for almost his entire NFL career—where Lions’ second-year player Tate Ratledge is holding things down just fine—but the Lions have also been getting really solid play out of Christian Mahogany at left guard. And they have a good backup option in Juice Scruggs.
Not sure what ESPN is thinking with this one. It ain’t happening.
