- Kirk Cousins
Absolutely not. We have heard his name come up in trade talks since the offseason began, and for some reason, the rumors have picked up more in recent weeks. To be honest, I wanted Andrew Berry to make a move for him in the weeks leading up to the draft. The fit would have made sense – he successfully ran Stefanski’s offense in Minnesota, and we probably wouldn’t have had to take on much of his contract. That being said, we now have five rostered QBs. Four of them are actively engaged in a position battle and have legitimate chances to become the starter at some point this season. Why would we make a trade that would almost certainly include one of them – and restart the entire QB competition this late in the offseason – for a 37-year-old quarterback less than two years removed from an Achilles tear?
- Joe Flacco or Kenny Pickett
I think we have to move one of the two before week 1 rolls around, and this one is pretty self-explanatory. We can’t keep 4 quarterbacks on a 53-man roster, and the rookies are worth keeping based on potential alone. Among the many teams that need quarterback help this upcoming season, one potential trade candidate that stands out is the Tennessee Titans. The Titans just lost Will Levis, who was set to be their backup quarterback this year, and are now left with just Brandon Allen and Tim Boyle behind Cam Ward on the depth chart. I can confidently say that any of the four QBs vying for our starting job would immediately be above Allen and Boyle on any depth chart – and the Titans have plenty of trade options that would be worth shipping out one of our veteran quarterbacks. We’d probably have to give up more than just Flacco or Pickett for him, but the name that stands out to me the most is Tyler Lockett. It’s no secret that we need WR help, especially with Tillman getting hurt (for seemingly the hundredth time) last week – and Lockett would provide us with a safe, cheap, reliable option to alleviate some pressure from Jerry Jeudy.
- David Njoku
Again, absolutely not. I was astounded when I saw even a single rumor come out about the possibility of us shipping out the Chief – and I’m not sure there’s anyone we could get in exchange that would be worth it. Yes, he’s entering the final year of his contract and he’s almost 30 years old. And yes, Harold Fannin might threaten his target share a little. But do we really want to take away from our already-limited pass-catching core? Aside from Nick Chubb, David Njoku is the only consistently reliable offensive weapon we’ve had since Stefanski took over this team 5 years ago. Sending him away would only make the lives of our receivers and quarterbacks that much more difficult.
- Terry McLaurin or Chris Olave
Both of these names are very intriguing to me, but I don’t know if we have the money. With Terry McLaurin asking the Commanders for more than $33 million a year, he’s immediately ruled out. Chris Olave is a much more plausible option, at least for us. The Saints exercised their fifth-year option on his deal, so he’s not too expensive for the next two years – but after that, we’d almost definitely have to pay him a lot of money. The main concern for him is his injury history – although considering he had Derek Carr throwing him into ambulances his whole career, I don’t know whether he’s actually injury prone. I’d be willing to make a deal for him, but it was reported that we already tried (and failed) to get one done two months ago. If the Saints were unwilling to part with him, then I doubt we can get him now.
To be honest, I don’t really see us making any major trades before the season kicks off. We almost have to ship out one of the quarterbacks – and it’s almost certainly going to be one of the veterans – but other than that, we might not see many moves being made in these last six weeks before game one.
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