5 NFL Players Who Should Be Traded but Won’t Be After Early 2024 Free Agency

Trades used to be a relative rarity in the NFL, but that has changed in recent years.

In 2024, we’ve seen multiple quarterbacks who were their team’s primary starter a year ago dealt. Star wide receivers, Pro Bowl running backs, high-end edge-rushers in the prime and quality starters on the offensive line have all been sent packing from one team to another.

As the NFL draft nears on April 25-27, we will undoubtedly see even more trades—and more still will happen while the event is underway. Some moves will see contenders swapping the future for the present, while others will be teams facing harsh financial realities and dealing a veteran who will probably be gone after the season anyway.

For all the trades that will happen, though, there will also be ones that don’t but should. Whether it’s lack of acceptable compensation or an unwillingness to potentially open a hole on the roster in the short term, teams will pass on making deals that could wind up being a long-term win.

And the trades that don’t happen could easily be sources of regret down the line.

When he’s healthy and on top of his game, Stefon Diggs of the Buffalo Bills is arguably one of the most talented and dangerous receivers in the NFL.

In each of the past four seasons, the 30-year-old has surpassed 100 receptions and 1,100 receiving yards.

But Diggs is also one of the more mercurial personalities in the NFL at a position loaded with personalities. When he caught just three passes for 21 yards in the team’s postseason loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, he declined to speak to reporters.

Since then, there has been a steady stream of trade rumors and cryptic social media posts, including one as recently as March 15:

However, ESPN’s Jeff Darlington told Get Up (h/t Mike Chiari of Bleacher Report) that Buffalo plans to attempt to rework Diggs’ contract rather than deal him:

“If they were to get rid of Stefon Diggs, if they couldn’t rework his contract, it would require a trade. But there’s also a belief that they can get to a place with Diggs that they can get a restructured contract to still keep him in Buffalo and still keep him happy. As we know, though, last offseason this got a little bit sticky. We’ll see if general manager Brandon Beane, one of the best in the league, can keep this situation peaceful and keep Stefon Diggs on the roster this coming season.”

It’s not hard to see why the Bills would prefer a happy Diggs. Gabe Davis left in free agency, and while the team added Curtis Samuel and Mack Hollins, that’s not exactly the foundation for the wideout corps of a Super Bowl contender.

With most of the bigger names at the position who were free agents already off the market, the Bills would almost have to deal Diggs and then swing another deal for a player like Tee Higgins. The Bills are effectively stuck with Diggs.

The Maryland product’s last 100-yard game came back in Week 6 of the 2023 season. If he starts the season slow, or the Bills come out of the gate sluggish, things could get ugly—just as they did at the end of Diggs’ tenure in Minnesota.

The new regime in Washington hasn’t been even a little shy about remaking the Commanders roster.

There are new faces galore on both sides of the ball, and it seems a lock that the franchise will use the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft on a quarterback of the future.

Washington has already shipped away a chunk of the old-guard defensive line, dealing edge-rushers Montez Sweat and Chase Young during the 2023 season.

However, defensive tackles Jonathan Allen and Da’Ron Payne remain in the nation’s capital. Last October, Allen went off in an NSFW tirade after a loss to the rival Giants.

By December, tempers had cooled a bit, but he still told Sports Junkies that after seven seasons and two Pro Bowls, the 29-year-old wants to win:

“I’m a firm believer that when you make a decision, you make it. You don’t look back. You move forward. With this team, I’ve made two Pro Bowls, I’ve signed the contract of my dreams. So, to say I’m jealous would be silly on my part because I’ve been truly blessed in this league. But I do want to win, and you know, everything I’m doing for me and my family is going to be to try to win.”

Here’s a newsflash: The Commanders aren’t going to win in 2024.

They are embarking on a ground-up rebuild. Allen is a high-end talent at a premium position who will be getting a bit long in the tooth by the time Washington is a legit contender in the NFC East.

There would be significant interest in the Alabama product on the trade market, though, and the Commanders could stockpile even more draft picks and shave over $9 million off the cap. With Payne still in town, it’s not like the interior of the defensive line would collapse.

However, there has been nothing to indicate the Commanders are shopping Allen.

An argument can be made that should change.

The San Francisco 49ers won the NFC last year, and they will be among the leading candidates to do so again in 2024. But there are some big decisions looming. Expensive decisions.

Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk is set to become a free agent in 2025, and quarterback Brock Purdy will be eligible for a contract extension—and it will be a whopper.

Something is going to have to give, given the money the team already has invested in the likes of running back Christian McCaffrey, wideout Deebo Samuel and tight end George Kittle.

The Niners have already reportedly dangled Aiyuk in trade talks. And there is interest in the 26-year-old after back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have reportedly kicked the tires on a move. The Jacksonville Jaguars did as well, but San Francisco’s asking price was steep, according to 1010XL reporter Mia O’Brien:

For the record, a first-round pick and a starter-caliber veteran is more than what the Tennessee Titans got for A.J. Brown in 2022. It can be argued it’s more than what the Buffalo Bills got for Stefon Diggs in 2020.

It’s a lofty asking price, especially when you add a $20 million-plus per season extension on top, so it makes Aiyuk getting moved unlikely.

On some level, it’s understandable that the Niners don’t want to part with the 26-year-old for anything less than a great haul. He’s the best wideout on a Super Bowl contender.

However, he’s also probably going to be a goner after 2024. And if he departs in free agency next season, a low third-round pick is the best San Francisco is going to get.

Kansas City Chiefs cornerback L’Jarius Sneed played a role in both of their Super Bowl wins the past two seasons, but that role differed substantially.

In 2022, the 27-year-old posted 108 total tackles—a huge number for a cornerback. But he also allowed almost two-thirds of the passes thrown in his direction to be completed.

Last year, those tackle numbers dropped considerably, but so did his completion percentage against and passer rating against.

The Chiefs applied the franchise tag to Sneed, giving rise to speculation that he could be traded. But teams reportedly aren’t exactly making Godfather offers for a player who apparently wants to be paid big bucks.

While appearing on The Pat McAfee Show, ESPN’s Adam Schefter said that Kansas City is willing to play out the string with Sneed and take its chances in 2025 if the right offer doesn’t come along.

“The Chiefs have no problems playing with [Sneed] on that [franchise] tag,” he said. “He wants a long-term deal, so it’s up to him and his agent to see if they can help broker a deal and structure something to get him the long-term security that he wants.”

On some level, that’s understandable. Kansas City is trying to make history by winning three straight Super Bowls. There’s also a precedent, after the Chiefs did the same thing with Charvarius Ward, drafting Trent McDuffie as his replacement before he eventually left for San Francisco in free agency.

But if Kansas City does get an offer that exceeds the compensatory pick it will receive in 2026 if Sneed leaves next year, then general manager Brett Veach needs to give serious thought to balancing short-term success and maintain long-term excellence.

We know a few things about the Cincinnati Bengals and wide receiver Tee Higgins.

We know the fifth-year veteran was franchise-tagged almost as soon as the window to do so opened. Per Paul Dehner Jr., Jeff Howe and Larry Holder of The Athletic, we know player and team haven’t engaged in substantive long-term negotiations in a year. And we know he has requested a trade out of Cincinnati.

At the scouting combine in Indianapolis, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor expressed confidence that a deal could get done and that Higgins would be a big part of the team’s plans in 2024:

“We take a lot of value in the relationship that we have with Tee for moments like this, because it is the business side. I understand. It can be frustrating. Tee has not given me any of that, you know, and so again, we’re just excited to take this offseason and see where it goes from there. But expect huge things from Tee next year. He’s gonna be a big part of the success that we have. He knows that, we know that and so I’m just excited to get the season see what he can do for us.”

With a healthy Joe Burrow back under center, the Bengals are legitimate contenders in the AFC, and losing Higgins would be a blow to the passing game. But the impact of that blow could be mitigated, whether it’s by drafting a wideout early in April or bringing back veteran Tyler Boyd.

Here’s the cold reality: Cincinnati cannot afford to pay Higgins elite wideout money in the long term, not with a megadeal for fellow receiver Ja’Marr Chase staring them in the face. Historically speaking, when the Bengals franchise-tag a player, they are gone the next year.

As is the case with most of these, it’s a matter of math: Taking a better deal in 2024 or waiting until 2026 for a compensatory selection.

As things stand, though, Cincinnati appears content to rent Higgins for one more season and then watch him leave in 2025.