• Denzel Mims remains a potential option on trade market: The New York Jets wideout requested a trade prior to Week 1, but the team has kept him on board despite making him inactive in each of the first three weeks of 2022.
• Myles Gaskin buried down Dolphins' depth chart: The former starting running back has yet to play an offensive snap in 2022.
• Riley Reiff a potential hot commodity due to injuries: Major offensive line injuries continue to crop up around the NFL, making Reiff a trade candidate for a tackle-needy team.
Estimated Reading Time: 13 mins
With all 32 NFL teams now reviewing three weeks of regular-season game film, strengths and weaknesses of their rosters become clear, and inevitable injuries have been plentiful.
It’s never too early to start looking at potential trade deadline candidates.
All contract information listed is from Over The Cap and will reflect a hypothetical trade occurring right before the November 1st trade deadline.
WR Darius Slayton (New York Giants) → Indianapolis Colts for 2023 sixth-round pick
Contract remaining: One year, $536,111
The season-ending torn ACL suffered by wide receiver Sterling Shepard in Week 3 on Monday Night Football against the Dallas Cowboys may cause the Giants to think twice about moving a pass-catcher, but Slayton still barely saw the field with Wan’Dale Robinson and Kadarius Toney out due to injuries, and New York will eventually get the 2022 second-rounder and 2021 first-rounder back into the fold.
Slayton agreed to a revised contract right before the season that converted almost two-thirds of his base salary into incentives, but he has to actually play to earn the money, so he likely has every desire to go elsewhere with just 12 total snaps through Week 3.
While another Giants wide receiver in big-ticket free agent Kenny Golladay is getting all the trade attention, New York finding a team to agree to take on Golladay’s fully guaranteed $4.5 million roster bonus in 2023 on top of his 2022 compensation is a very tall order.
The Colts' wide receiver unit thus far has earned a 66.1 receiving grade through Week 3, which ranks tied for 25th in the NFL, and their 6.7% drop percentage is a bottom-10 mark. Slayton could help pull the top off opposing defenses, with his 14.1-yard average depth of target over the past three seasons a top-20 mark among wide receivers. Just 7.9% of new quarterback Matt Ryan’s passes to wide receivers have been 20-plus yards downfield, by far dead last in the NFL. This would also open things up underneath for playmakers like running back Nyheim Hines.
Star third-year wideout Michael Pittman Jr. is a lock for 10-plus targets every time he suits up, but Ryan has no consistent targets beyond Pittman. Anything would help at this juncture.
WR Kendrick Bourne (New England Patriots) → Chicago Bears for 2023 fifth-round pick
Contract remaining: Two years, $8.94 million
There have been rumblings about the New England Patriots potentially moving a wide receiver in a trade for much of the offseason, with PFF’s Doug Kyed hearing at one point Nelson Agholor could be the odd man out of the rotation.
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