The most active period of free agency is behind us now, but there's still time for teams to make moves for players ahead of the 2025 NFL season. The draft is approaching, and while that will usher a significant injection of talent to many teams, as it does every year, it will also give squads a better idea of what they'll have to work with.
That's important because many teams might not get what they want out of the draft. Every team is looking to get exactly what they want, and in doing so, they can trample on other teams' abilities to draft exactly who they want. In this era, where it's often the best move to take the best player available, that can leave teams with holes in their roster.
At this stage, sometimes teams have to fill those holes with trades if they cannot find free agents that are sufficient for their needs and don't get a good player in the draft to fill the hole. They could also recognize before the draft that they think they'll be better off offloading some picks for an established player, so let's dive into some veteran NFL players that could be traded ahead of the 2025 NFL season.
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James Cook, RB, Buffalo Bills
On more than one occasion, Cook has made it apparent that he's looking for a massive payday on the back of the best season of his career in 2024. He's still under contract for one more season, but he wants his extension now, and after rushing 207 times for 1,009 yards and 16 rushing touchdowns and catching 32 passes for 258 yards and two scores last season, he deserves it.
JAMES COOK GETS LOOSE FOR THE 46-YARD TD 🔥
(via @NFL)
pic.twitter.com/82gQPpZoim— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 22, 2024
Cook's excellent footwork, great acceleration and speed, and elusiveness were all on display as he cruised to an RB8 finish in normal fantasy football PPR formats. But the Bills' offensive line also played very well, and Cook might not have a ton of leverage here.
The Bills would probably be fine without him. Their main strengths on offense lie with their offensive line and their quarterback. It's nice to have an RB take the load off of quarterback Josh Allen, but they did draft backup RB Ray Davis in the draft and could use whatever compensation they got for Cook to draft his replacement in the 2025 NFL Draft, which is absolutely loaded at RB.
Career Explosive Run rates from 2025 RBs
RJ Harvey: 21%
Jarquez Hunter: 18.9%
Cam Skattebo/Bhayshul Tuten: 18%
Marcus Yarns: 17.9%
Damien Martinez: 17.8% pic.twitter.com/oHfAbvtUlI— Football Insights 📊 (@fball_insights) February 20, 2025
Cook is a liability as a pass-protector. When he plays, he injects the offense with plenty of juice, but it's worth questioning how valuable he is monetarily. If he tries to hold out for a huge payday, the team could look to ship him off, though it seems unlikely.
Tyreek Hill, WR, Miami Dolphins
Hill's most disappointing season as a pro since his breakout campaign in 2017, is still under contract with the Miami Dolphins. But they could opt to trade him away before or after the 2025 NFL Draft if they think he doesn't have the juice he used to. He had surgery to fix a wrist injury that bothered him for the entire season, but he's now 31 years old, and his whole career, he's won by simply being faster than everyone else.
Happy Birthday, @cheetah! 🎂
Throwback to Tyreek Hill’s legendary 2023 season 💨⚡️
➖ 119 receptions
➖ 1,799 receiving yards
➖ 13 receiving touchdowns
➖ 9 40+ receptions
➖ First player in NFL history with back-to-back 1,700+ receiving yards seasonsGenerational. #GoFins pic.twitter.com/m6YJ8mMF9r
— FinsXtra (@FinsXtra) March 1, 2025
Seeing him play so uninspiringly in 2024 was a bit jarring, but teams are all well aware of just how good he was in his previous seasons. In 2023, he nearly surpassed 1,800 receiving yards, despite not playing in all 17 games. But Miami knows better than anyone how athletic he is now, and if they don't believe he can return to his previous form, they could prefer to offload his contract and get some compensation for it.
It's unclear what his absence would do to the Miami offense or how he'd fare on another team. He's not a particularly elite route-runner in terms of nuance and isn't good in contested catch situations. Still, teams are so desperate for WR talent that at least a few would likely jump at the opportunity to trade a pick inside the first three rounds for him.
Kirk Cousins, QB, Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons turned plenty of heads, and not in a good way, when they drafted their quarterback of the future, then-24-year-old Michael Penix Jr., after signing Cousins to a massive contract ahead of the season. Possibly due to his Achilles tendon injury in 2023, Cousins didn't play impressively last season. He was benched for Penix during the last three contests of the year, and it doesn't seem like the team will be looking back.
I've seen some chatter recently about Kirk Cousins and (imo) any conversation about a trade for him should center on how much of his guaranteed 2025 salary Falcons are willing to eat. Here is a list of trade values based on an equivalent surplus value calc I've been working on. pic.twitter.com/iYpEYzfZTE
— Anthony Reinhard (@reinhardNFL) March 19, 2025
Which begs the question: What is Atlanta's plan with Cousins? Releasing him makes no sense, but perhaps the team could offload him to another team desperate for QB help. They could offer to eat a decent portion of his contract in exchange and probably end up with some nice draft capital in return. Cousins looked much better in 2023 than he did last year, and with his Achilles now fully healed, teams could take an interest in him, and he'd be a definite improvement on many rosters.
No guarantee Atlanta Falcons release Kirk Cousins due to the fact they have to pay him 40M of dead money even in a post June 1st cut
Do #Browns fans seriously want to TRADE for a soon to be 37 year old QB coming off a throwing arm injury?#Dawgpound
pic.twitter.com/m58cZkvedd— Mac🦬 (@tha__buffalo) March 11, 2025
Cousins' age might also deter the Falcons. It would be nice to have him as a backup, and perhaps that was their backup (pun intended, lol) plan from the start, but they have glaring issues on defense that they need to address if they want to make a run in the playoffs. Even though they're in one of the weakest divisions in the NFL, they need to toughen up on the other side of the ball and, you know, try to generate some pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
George Pickens, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers
Pickens is a verified hothead and will likely be a locker-room cancer wherever he goes. But it's hard to argue with a rookie contract, and Pickens technically has two more years on his, so he could be very valuable to a team that needs another wideout. The overlap in skills between him and WR DK Metcalf could lead the Steelers, who have invested a ton of capital into the former Seahawk, to move on from Pickens.
DK Metcalf since 2021:
+ 2021: 26% TPRR, 1.98 YPRR
+ 2022: 26% TPRR, 2.01 YPRR
+ 2023: 23% TPRR, 2.22 YPRR+ 2024 (Pre-MCL injury): 23% TPRR, 2.16 YPRR
+ 2024 (Post-MCL injury): 20% TPRR, 1.77 YPRR
I dove into the data to figure out why the decline post injury may have… https://t.co/0pecdgKGZn
— Dataroma (@ffdataroma) March 5, 2025
It would be a weight off their shoulders to get rid of one of the league's biggest divas, who likely isn't happy about the team spending a lot of money and draft capital to bring in someone who's clearly better than him. Metcalf's 2024 stats likely dipped because of the knee injury that disrupted his season, as he looked substantially diminished after returning from it.
The Steelers are an extremely run-heavy offense, as well, so they might be better investing plenty of picks into the offensive line and a premier running back. Steelers' offensive coordinator Arthur Smith would be extremely happy with that decision. This doesn't seem like a team that wants to invest a big portion of the cap into two receivers down the road.
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