NFL trade deadline 2023: Which teams should make deals? ESPN

Week 8 is the last set of NFL games before Tuesday's trade deadline (4 p.m. ET), which means it's time for the organizations that were waffling on their plans to make up their minds. There's no more time to be hopeful about disappointing players breaking through, no more wins or losses to provide any sort of clarity or direction and no more games to identify strengths and weaknesses.

For some teams, Sunday might have been the final straw. The difference between winning and losing this weekend might steer those that were going to hold on to their players to make deals or vice versa. Other teams still might not be sure about what they should do. Maybe they had already decided they were going to go in one direction, only to have an unexpected win or loss on Sunday steer them another way.

Let's talk about those teams in the middle, the ones that don't have a clear answer for whether they should be adding players to their roster at the trade deadline or subtracting talent in the hopes of accruing draft capital. I might have an idea of which way they should go, which isn't always in line with what I think they'll actually do come Tuesday. Some should be trading away talent and will go in the opposite direction; others might want to both add or subtract veteran players in the right move.

I'll run through those teams, but first, let's hit the rest of the league and the teams that should obviously be going in one direction or the other. These organizations might or might not actually make deals for veterans over the next two days, but if they do make a move, it should be to add a player or two to their 53-man roster.

Jump to a team with questions:Browns | Bucs | ChargersCommanders | Falcons | JetsRams | Saints | SteelersTexans | Titans | Vikings

Teams that clearly should add at the deadline

49ers, Bengals, Bills, Chiefs, Cowboys, Dolphins, Eagles, Jaguars, Lions, Ravens, Seahawks

None of these picks seems particularly controversial. This is the top tier of NFL teams, and it would be a shock if any of the 11 missed the postseason. Their collective record is 60-24. We've already seen them begin to hit the market, as the Eagles traded for safety Kevin Byard, while the Dolphins took a flier on wideout Chase Claypool, who had his first catch with the Fins during Sunday's win over the Patriots.

Of course, some might be more aggressive than others. Eagles general manager Howie Roseman is probably the league's most active general manager when it comes to making deals. Duke Tobin and the Bengals are far more likely to stay put. I'm not arguing or suggesting that each of these teams would make trades, but if they do, those deals are far more likely to involve draft capital going out for veteran talent as opposed to coming in.

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If I had to pick two teams from this list that should be active before Tuesday, I'll go with one in each conference. I'll start with the Bills, who have major question marks on defense after linebacker Matt Milano and cornerback Tre'Davious White went down for the season with injuries, while the offense had been struggling before a solid performance against the Bucs on Thursday. There's no replacing Milano or White, but Buffalo could go in the opposite direction and try to build a stronger offense in the hopes of winning more shootouts.

The offseason move to adopt more 12 personnel in the vein of the shift the Chiefs made last season hadn't been working, as the Bills were much better with one tight end on the field than two. With Dawson Knox out, the offense looked faster and more efficient. Should they try to win by spreading defenses out? If so, they could justify adding a second wide receiver (such as Jerry Jeudy) who can win against man coverage across from Stefon Diggs. I really love the idea of adding a power back who can overwhelm opposing teams in light boxes, though. If the Titans are willing to deal Derrick Henry, Buffalo should consider making a call.

On the other side of the league, the Lions are in pole position to lock up the NFC North, especially after Minnesota's Kirk Cousins suffered a season-ending torn Achilles on Sunday. They might have higher aspirations of competing for the top spot in the NFC, which still feels like an open challenge. They could stand to add a second pass-rusher alongside Aidan Hutchinson or a cornerback to help battle the injuries they've dealt with in the secondary.

Teams that clearly should subtract at the deadline

Bears, Broncos, Cardinals, Colts, Giants, Packers, Panthers, Patriots, Raiders

Again, I would be surprised if many people took issue with suggesting that these nine teams are out of the playoff hunt and should be trying to build up draft capital to improve their rosters for 2024 and beyond. Six of these teams have two wins or fewer, and the Colts and Raiders have needed to cycle through backup quarterbacks.

The Broncos stabilized things on defense enough over the past few weeks to upset the Chiefs on Sunday, but at 3-5 in a stacked AFC, I don't think anybody expects them to go on a run into the postseason after their upcoming bye. Three weeks ago, our Adam Schefter noted they were "willing to listen to trade interest in almost any player on the defensive side." Vance Joseph's defense has ranked 13th in expected points added (EPA) per play over the past three weeks, which includes two games against the Chiefs, so maybe Denver isn't quite as aggressive to deal away defensive players as it might have been after that 50-point loss to the Dolphins.

That leaves us with 12 teams whose situations are in some semblance of doubt. I'll run through each (in no order) and detail what they should be thinking as we approach the halfway point of the season. It seems natural to start with the team whose short- and long-term future was dramatically impacted by what happened late in a victory on Sunday:

Teams with big questions before the deadline

It was unclear how Kirk Cousins' tenure was going to end in Minnesota, but I don't think anybody anticipated or hoped his final snap in a Vikings uniform would go the way it did Sunday. After being healthy enough to go more than 10 years without even appearing on an NFL injury report, he hopped off the field on one foot with trainers after two sacks in the fourth quarter and later reportedly was diagnosed with a torn right Achilles. An MRI on Monday is expected to confirm the injury, which would end his season.

With Cousins' contract set to void after the season, an already confusing situation got even thornier. The Vikings didn't commit to him with a long-term deal in the offseason, suggesting this current regime was ready to move on after the season. Cousins, 35, responded by playing arguably the best football of his career, including a wildly impressive performance in last week's win over the 49ers.

With Nick Mullens on injured reserve, the short-term replacement for Cousins is rookie fifth-round pick Jaren Hall, who is also the closest thing the Vikings have to a quarterback of the future in 2024 and beyond. It would be a surprise if they didn't make a more significant addition to their roster before training camp next summer, but they're not in position to land a high draft pick and won't have an exorbitant amount of cap room.

All of this leads to a murky trade deadline. If you had told the Vikings they were going to win handily over the Packers, trading their veterans might have been off the table. After starting 0-3, they have won four of their past five. Sunday was the first Minnesota game all season that wasn't decided by eight points or fewer, but looking at the NFC, there aren't many teams getting in its way if it had wanted to make a playoff push with Cousins. The Vikings would have been favorites to land the 7-seed in the NFC ahead of the Rams, Commanders or whoever finishes in second place in the NFC South.

Now? With Cousins sidelined and wideout Justin Jefferson out indefinitely, do the Vikings really believe they can even compete for the 7-seed with Hall (and/or eventually Mullens) at quarterback? Is it worth trying to trade for another veteran, such as Jacoby Brissett, in the hopes they can win nine games and land the right to play the 49ers or Lions on the road in January? Vikings fans will hope Hall is the next Brock Purdy, but the 49ers had a much better roster around their Day 3 rookie than Minnesota has around Hall.

Selling out to try to retain some hope of contending this season isn't a good idea. Remember that a prior Vikings regime once responded to losing Teddy Bridgewater to a knee injury in August by trading a first-round pick to the Eagles for Sam Bradford under the logic that it needed to avoid wasting a year of Adrian Peterson's prime. Bradford played well and stayed healthy in 2016, but Peterson went down in Week 2 and played only three games all season. The Eagles used the first-round pick they got on Derek Barnett, but they also got a fourth-rounder in the deal and used that on eventual star Josh Sweat.

It's even more complicated considering the Vikings have a player with considerable trade value in edge rusher Danielle Hunter, who is a free agent after the season, has a no-tag clause and also didn't get an extension from the team over the summer. Hunter likely wouldn't net anything higher than a second-round pick, but even that would be useful if the Vikings want to try to move around in next year's draft. He might theoretically net a compensatory pick in 2025, but that would require them to avoid signing a meaningful free agent to cancel out that selection.

It's better for a team to get a superior pick a year early when it has no hope of winning a Super Bowl, but can the Vikings really give up on the season after Cousins' injury? Would they destroy their locker room in the process? My rational side looks at the situation and can't fathom them holding on to Hunter when they aren't going anywhere, but my human side reads the quotes from that locker room about Cousins and can't fathom giving up, either. The uniqueness of Minnesota's situation might just immobilize it from making any meaningful moves before the deadline, which might be the worst path of all.

The verdict: Should subtract talent, will likely stay put.

Faced Sunday with yet another chance to pull out a late-game victory, this time against the Seahawks, the Browns weren't able to stack together the series of big completions, defensive stops and questionable penalties they've used to beat the 49ers and Colts over the prior two weeks. Facing a third-and-3 with a three-point lead at the two-minute warning, quarterback PJ Walker threw a pass that was tipped about a mile into the air before being intercepted by Julian Love. Seattle then quickly scored on a screen pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba to take the lead before Cleveland's final drive went four-and-out.

Despite losing corner Greg Newsome during the game to a groin injury, the Browns continued to do more than enough to win on the defensive side. Jim Schwartz's defense held the Seahawks on seven consecutive third-down attempts. Seattle scored three touchdowns, but two came on short fields after two Cleveland turnovers, while Walker & Co. weren't able to convert a drive that started on Seattle's 39-yard line into a touchdown, settling for three points.

That sort of defensive dominance and the offensive mediocrity the Browns are dealing with makes the trade deadline a plausible path toward improvement for Kevin Stefanski's team. As I wrote about last week, the Browns have a Super Bowl-caliber defense, in line with teams that won the big game with Trent Dilfer and Brad Johnson at quarterback. The Browns have a quarterback who should have a high ceiling, on paper, in Deshaun Watson, but it's unclear when Watson will even be healthy enough to play again, let alone if he'll do so at a high level.

As a result, the Browns should get aggressive in adding talent on offense. The Commanders have shown little interest in playing Jacoby Brissett, who already knows this offense from playing in Cleveland a year ago. That's worth a call. The team is employing replacement-level backs in Kareem Hunt, Jerome Ford and Pierre Strong; couldn't it justify making a move for a back like D'Ernest Johnson or even Aaron Jones? It might not want to make a quarterback addition given Watson's status, but a smaller move for a back would make more sense.

The verdict: Should add talent.

The Titans looked to be waving the white flag when they traded away safety Kevin Byard for late-round picks last week, but something unexpected happened in their game against the Falcons on Sunday. Reports out of Nashville had suggested rookie second-round pick Will Levis wasn't ready to start after missing time over the summer with an injury, but he lit up a very good Atlanta defense in his NFL debut. Levis went 19 of 29 for 239 yards with four touchdowns, three of which went to veteran wideout DeAndre Hopkins in a 28-23 victory.

Now, they could go in either direction. If seeing what Levis was able to do changed how coach Mike Vrabel and the organization feel about their chances this season, the Titans could stay put and try to build around Levis over the remainder of the season. They could pay down most of Ryan Tannehill's contract and deal the injured veteran to a quarterback-needy team like the Browns or Vikings, give Levis the rest of the season without touching the rest of the offensive core and try to win a few games against an upcoming schedule that includes the Steelers, Bucs, Panthers and Colts.

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The realist in me watched Levis' performance and saw a quarterback who got a little lucky at times, as he was bailed out on throws that were behind his receivers and probably should have had one of his touchdowns called back for offensive pass interference on Hopkins. Levis is going to get a chance to serve as this team's quarterback of the future, but the Titans are 3-4 in a stacked AFC. They're not making a deep playoff run with Levis or Tannehill, and the Byard trade seemed to indicate as much.

If the Titans want to shed salary, they could try to deal running back Derrick Henry, who is playing just under 60% of the offensive snaps while splitting time with Tyjae Spears. Henry has $5.8 million in prorated salary remaining this season and is a free agent after the season, so while he would be expensive for the acquiring team, his size and acceleration should appeal to teams that want a runner capable of overpowering defensive backs in light boxes. It would have been easier to trade Henry if Tennessee had lost Sunday, but the unexpected victory might push general manager Ran Carthon back toward the status quo.

The verdict: Should subtract talent, will likely stay put.

On the other hand, the team the Titans beat has a clearer path to meaningful football. Even after Sunday's loss, the Falcons are sitting atop the NFC South on a tiebreaker over the Saints. They've been outscored by 23 points, which doesn't exactly scream out that they're having a great season, but a team doesn't have to be great to win the South. Heck, if the Vikings do fall off without Cousins, there's a decent chance two teams from the NFC South will make it to the postseason.

The offense has been Atlanta's problem, as it ranks 24th in EPA per play. Quarterback Desmond Ridder left Sunday's game to go through the concussion protocol after taking five sacks on 17 dropbacks in the first half, and while he cleared through the protocol and was eligible to return, coach Arthur Smith chose to keep Ridder on the sideline. Smith suggested after the game he hadn't kept Ridder on the sideline because of poor performance, but it would have been a defensible move: Ridder has struggled for consistency and been too sloppy with the football.

The Falcons aren't going to land a major upgrade at quarterback unless Smith can trade for Tannehill, and even that would require the Titans passer to recover from an ankle injury. Drake London left Sunday's loss with a groin injury, but they already dealt for receiver Van Jefferson and have plenty of playmakers.

Instead, I wonder if the Falcons might look to add a pass-rusher to aid a pass rush that ranks 25th in sack rate this season. No Atlanta player has more than three sacks or 20 pressures, and the defense ranks in the bottom quarter of the league in takeaways. Adding an edge rusher who can help create big plays and end drives on defense might be what the Falcons need to get a leg up on the Saints before their home-and-home later this season.

The verdict: Should add talent.

After what has felt like two months of false starts and mistakes, Sunday was the first time we saw something resembling the offense Saints fans have been expecting. Derek Carr lit up a moribund Colts secondary, going 19 of 27 for 310 yards. Taysom Hill ran in two touchdowns, while Alvin Kamara scored two. Michael Thomas even had 68 yards on four catches, while downfield threat Rashid Shaheed had three catches, each for 44 yards or more. Outside of a quiet game for Chris Olave, the Saints accomplished everything they wanted to on the offensive side of the ball in a 38-27 victory.

Things haven't been that way this season, which is why they were in a near-impossible bind. As the oldest team in football on a snap-weighted basis, they are built to win now. They were losing instead. Their three wins had come against the Panthers, Patriots and Titans. Adding a fourth win over the Colts isn't going to increase their degree of difficulty, but after losing four of the prior five games, I suspect New Orleans was happy to leave Indy with any sort of victory, let alone a comfortable one.

With the Bears and a Cousins-less Vikings team to come before their bye, the Saints might feel good about their chances of going on a winning streak in advance of their trip to Atlanta in Week 12.

The organization should also recognize that the defense needs help. While the offense has been the weaker side of the ball, this team ranks 30th in sack rate. Its best pass-rusher has been Carl Granderson, who briefly left the win over the Colts before returning. Nobody else on the roster has more than two sacks, so imagining a defense without Granderson probably wasn't very pleasant for coach Dennis Allen.

Second-round pick Isaiah Foskey could become a bigger part of the rotation in the second half, but I'd like to see the Saints pursue another pass-rusher to ease the reliance on Granderson and not be entirely dependent upon 34-year-old Cameron Jordan returning to form. Given that they already approach every season like they're all-in, suggesting they consider a trade for a veteran at the deadline shouldn't be too much to ask.

The verdict: Should add talent.

Let's finish up the NFC South with the Buccaneers, who lost 24-18 to the Bills on Thursday night. It's been a rough three weeks after the bye for Tampa Bay, which started the season 3-1 before losing three straight after its week off. Baker Mayfield ranks 26th in QBR over that three-game losing streak, with the 2018 No. 1 overall pick completing just 58.7% of his passes and averaging 5.9 yards per attempt.

The Bucs could hope he improves or swap him out for Kyle Trask, but it might be more realistic to recognize that either player isn't about to lead them to a Super Bowl. Tampa Bay could have a shot at competing for a division title if it turns things around, but it can't run the ball and doesn't have a great line. Mayfield can look fine when he gets the ball out quickly and isn't stuck in obvious dropback situations, but I'm not sure this is a very good offensive line.

If general manager Jason Licht decides the Bucs should get younger, there are a few pending free agents who would have interesting trade markets. Wideout Mike Evans didn't come to terms with the team on a new deal and seems likely to leave in March. Linebacker Devin White briefly requested a trade before the season and doesn't have a new contract. Linebacker Lavonte David and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. are both pending free agents after the season. The Bucs will bring back some of these guys, but if there's one or two Licht doesn't expect to have on the roster in 2024, it might make sense to trade them now.

Verdict: Should subtract talent.

Tampa Bay's next game comes against the Texans, who have already exceeded expectations in DeMeco Ryans' first season at the helm. While Houston lost 15-13 to the Panthers on Sunday, it already looks and feel light years ahead of where it was during its past few seasons of irrelevance. Quarterback C.J. Stroud is playing like the Offensive Rookie of the Year favorite, while a Will Anderson-led pass rush tops the NFL in pass rush win rate. There's plenty to like about what the Texans are doing and where they're going.

Around that young core, there are a lot of veterans on short-term deals. General manager Nick Caserio has filled out his roster with these players for the entirety of his time in Houston, and while he hasn't traded many at the deadline, these players could all be useful if they end up in the right spot for the right team. Edge rusher Jerry Hughes continues to get after passers. Tight end Dalton Schultz is one year removed from Pro Bowl-caliber play in Dallas. Denzel Perryman is a solid two-down linebacker. The Texans shouldn't dump all of their veterans to amass draft picks, but one or two in the right swap would make sense.

The verdict: Should subtract talent.

Let's stick with another team that lost Sunday. The Steelers weren't able to get untracked amid soggy conditions in a 20-10 loss to the Jaguars in Pittsburgh, but the bigger concern might have been injuries. Quarterback Kenny Pickett suffered a shoulder injury, while safety Minkah Fitzpatrick went down with a hamstring problem. Neither player returned, and the Steelers suffered without either of their key players.

At 4-3 and in the thick of the AFC North race, Pittsburgh really doesn't have much margin for error. It's a small miracle it even has a winning record over a run that has required two defensive touchdowns to beat the Browns, a safety and a party of drops to help overturn a 10-0 deficit over the Ravens and a missed extra point and two missed field goals from Brett Maher in a 24-17 win over the Rams.

You might argue the Steelers should look for in-season help in the secondary or along the offensive line. I'm going to go in the opposite direction. After decades of being a model franchise for drafting and developing talent, only about half of the roster is homegrown, which is one of the lowest rates in football. The front office has traded up in the first round and/or made ill-advised forays for players down the positional spectrum such as Terrell Edmunds, Devin Bush and Najee Harris, with limited success.

Pittsburgh will have six starters 29 or older on defense when Cameron Heyward returns from his injury, and I'm not sure that's great given how far it is from competing. Given how good the Steelers are at bringing through talent when they land on the right picks, though, I'd like to see them move on from a veteran or two and try to amass draft capital for 2024, especially if Pickett's injury turns out to be serious. I'm not counting on that happening given Pittsburgh's history of contending, but I'm not as optimistic about its formula for winning games as others might be.

The verdict: Should subtract talent, will probably stay put.

Sunday was a disaster for the Rams. A 3-4 team that had outscored its opponents by 14 points got taken to school by the Cowboys, who were up 33-3 at halftime and eventually won by 23 points. The bad day got even worse when quarterback Matthew Stafford suffered a thumb injury and then appeared to exacerbate the issue while diving to catch a 2-point pass in his direction. He left in the second half and did not return.

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If Stafford's injury is going to cost him meaningful time, the Rams probably would need to be consider moving on from veterans. Given their roster cull from this past offseason, though, I'm not really sure there are even many experienced players who would qualify as potential trade candidates. Defensive tackle Aaron Donald has a no-trade clause, wideout Cooper Kupp has been battling hamstring injuries, and Stafford now has a thumb issue. I don't think any of those players are being dealt over the next 48 hours, and they're three of a limited number of veterans on this team. Outside of cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon, who was one of many L.A. players to have a rough game Sunday, I'm not sure there are really any veterans who would head out if they even wanted to move on to 2024.

If Stafford is back soon, I'd argue the Rams should go in the other direction. Before Sunday, they could feel like they were better than their record, having outplayed the Steelers and Bengals before eventually falling in frustrating losses. The NFC West probably is out of reach, but with the Vikings likely to struggle, the spot for the 7-seed in the conference is now wide open. The Rams ranked 13th in DVOA coming into the week and might be the seventh-best team in the conference on a play-by-play basis, although they'll need a healthy Stafford to turn their luck around.

The verdict: Should add talent if Stafford's thumb injury isn't serious.

While one Los Angeles team fell off track with an ugly loss in Week 8, another might have gotten back on track by blowing out meek opposition. The Chargers had no trouble with Tyson Bagent and the Bears on Sunday night, as Justin Herbert threw for 298 yards and three touchdowns in a 30-13 victory. Beating a Justin Fields-less Bears team shouldn't qualify anyone for a parade, but if the Chargers can beat Zach Wilson & Co. next week, they would be back at .500 through the first half of the season.

Given the makeup of this team and coach Brandon Staley's status in Year 3, it would have been tough to imagine the Chargers moving on from their veterans and calling it a day in 2023. This team is too invested and has too much talent to tank unless Herbert suffers a season-ending injury. We saw the Chargers move on from cornerback J.C. Jackson, but that was a product of moving on from a player who had fallen completely out of favor with the organization as opposed to an attempt to amass draft capital for next year.

Adding more players to try to paper over injuries to center Corey Linsley and wideout Mike Williams would make sense, but general manager Tom Telesco typically doesn't get too aggressive with trades. The Chargers dealt for edge rusher Khalil Mack before last season, but the last time Telesco acquired a player via trade during the season appears to be when the team added defensive tackle Sean Lissemore from the Cowboys in 2013. I would be surprised if we saw any major activity from Los Angeles before the deadline passes.

The verdict: Should add talent, will probably stay put.

After a dreadful first 59 minutes of offense Sunday, Zach Wilson and the Jets came to life when they were given a second chance. Bailed out by Graham Gano missing a 35-yard attempt that would have all but sealed a Giants victory, Wilson drove the Jets 58 yards downfield on two passes before spiking the ball with one second left, setting up a field goal that pushed the game to overtime. There, after a Giants three-and-out, Wilson badly underthrew a deep pass, only for Adoree' Jackson to commit a 30-yard pass interference penalty and hand the Jets a winning field goal.

You can interpret the result any way you like. The Jets' defense was good enough to keep them in a game in which Wilson was hopeless for the first 59 minutes and the offense failed on 13 consecutive third-down tries. That's the good spin. You could also argue the Jets needed a missed field goal and two perfect throws from Wilson to tie a Giants team that lost Tyrod Taylor to a rib injury and had to play third-stringer Tommy DeVito for most of the contest.

Either way, the Jets are in a unique position. Aaron Rodgers is expected to return in 2024, so they probably don't want to deal any players who will help give them a shot at seriously competing next season. They should be more comfortable dealing players who were short-term additions for 2023, but those players -- namely running back Dalvin Cook and wideout Randall Cobb -- haven't played well and won't have much trade value.

General manager Joe Douglas has to toe a line between not sacrificing anything in 2024 while making changes to the roster in 2023. Cook is buried on the depth chart and should be a trade candidate if the Jets can find a team willing to take him for anything more than the minimum. Edge rusher Carl Lawson has fallen out of favor and hasn't played since Week 6, so he should be dealt away before the deadline. Otherwise, barring a sudden deal for Ryan Tannehill, it would be a surprise if the Jets made any major moves.

The verdict: Should subtract some talent, but not too much.

Let's finish up with the Commanders, who might be the ultimate example of a team toeing the line between adding and subtracting players. On Saturday, Adam Schefter reported their trade deadline plans depended on what happened in Sunday's game against the Eagles.

While the Commanders put up a brave fight and led 24-17 in the fourth quarter, the Eagles were simply too much. Jalen Hurts threw three second-half touchdown passes, and while Washington kept Sam Howell clean for most of the day, the second-year quarterback had a dismal fourth quarter. He missed an open Terry McLaurin on back-to-back throws to end one drive, tossed an interception to hand the Eagles a short field on another and was strip-sacked by Haason Reddick on fourth down to put the game out of reach.

If the Commanders decide to shed talent between now and Tuesday, their feelings about Howell could inform one deal. Coach Ron Rivera generally has favored Howell over Jacoby Brissett without wavering, and if he continues to believe Howell gives the team its best chance to win, he should be able to land a meaningful pick by sending Brissett back to the Browns. That deal makes sense for both sides.

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The biggest names for Washington are up front on defense, where edge rushers Montez Sweat and Chase Young are both pending free agents. Young is having a resurgent year after recovering from a torn ACL and ranks eighth in the league with 25 pressures, while Sweat isn't far behind at 23. With defensive tackles Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne both already on significant deals, the Commanders probably won't bring back Sweat and Young next offseason.

Ancillary players could be on the move, but Brissett and one of the edge rushers would be two of the bigger trades we could see from any team this deadline. It wouldn't be the best thing for Washington's chances of competing this season, but if the goal is to eventually win a Super Bowl, it would do well to take a big-picture view and trade away veterans.

The verdict: Should aggressively shop veteran talent for draft picks.