We’re less than a week away from the NFL trade deadline. You have questions. I have answers. Let’s go!
San Francisco 49ers
From Anthony Nunes (@AnthonyNun97934): What is the Niners mindset heading into the trade deadline? They have two healthy defensive ends.
Anthony, you sent this before the 49ers sent a sixth-round pick to the Patriots for Keion White (who started his week as a healthy scratch for New England vs. Cleveland) and a seventh-round pick. White is a rotational piece and reclamation project for D-line maestro Kris Kocurek, and gives San Francisco some badly needed depth.
I don’t think White is the end of it. I could certainly see the Niners adding another piece to the defensive line or the secondary. But there’s also a larger question here: Should the Niners keep pushing chips into the middle of the table?
Because of their aging core, San Francisco’s brass privately viewed last year’s draft as its most important in years. Next year’s will be similarly crucial, and they’re already down picks from trades made for Bryce Huff and Brian Robinson Jr.
Yes, San Francisco is 5–3 and in the thick of things in the NFC. But Nick Bosa and Fred Warner are out for the year, Brock Purdy has a turf-toe injury, Brandon Aiyuk’s not back yet from a torn ACL and there’s no guarantee that he’ll be himself when he does return. That’s a lot of guys you’re deeply invested in that are either hobbled or gone. Next year, Warner will turn 30 and Bosa will turn 29, and they’ll be coming off significant injuries, while Christian McCaffrey will be going into his 10th NFL season, and Trent Williams will be 38.
I’m not saying it’s time for a hard reset, but at some point, you’re going to have to start retooling your core, and the reality is the Niners started that process with their handling of the 2025 offseason. Hemorrhaging draft picks for short-term gains in a year like this one will only make accomplishing that more difficult.
Minnesota Vikings
From @jmp (@jason1501free): Why didn’t @Vikings draft Bo Nix instead?
My column from the 2024 draft weekend should shed some light on that for you. We detailed how the three first-round quarterbacks taken outside the top three picks were I.D.’d by their teams, with J.J. McCarthy and Bo Nix in that mix.
Specifically, Kevin O’Connell liked that McCarthy’s experience at Michigan was transferable to the pros. He was under center a lot and worked with a strong run game. He excelled in the play-action game and performed on have-to-have-it plays on third down and in the red zone. And he had untapped athletic upside as a prospect who had just turned 21.
I wouldn’t give up on McCarthy just yet. Minnesota is still a good situation for a young quarterback, and O’Connell is as good a developer of those as there is in the NFL.
New England Patriots
From Joshua Caldwell (@traumedia): Patriots to win the Super Bowl +2800. You taking that bet?
I mean, how much am I betting?
Would I bet $100 on it to win $2,800? Sure, I guess.
Would I bet my mortgage on it? Of course not.
Chicago Bears
From KRAWERT (@crapulaxcom): Thank you, Albert. Caleb and Ben! Does Ben Johnson keep the faith and how Caleb is improving?
Krawert, I can start running off names for you: Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold and Daniel Jones.
I think we’re way too quick to pass judgment on quarterbacks, for better and for worse. Just eight weeks into this season, and most people’s views on Williams’s draft class have changed. Drake Maye is seen in a different light, as is Jayden Daniels. The difference? Maye has new coaches and an altered roster, and Daniels is hurt. Bo Nix is steady, while Michael Penix Jr. and J.J. McCarthy, in the public’s view, have sunk.
Those views will probably change again. And again. And again.
The problem here is us, not them. We all have to do our quarterback re-drafts, instant grades and fill our A-blocks and columns with this stuff. The reality is it takes time to really know what a quarterback is. He has to withstand hits, coaching changes, opponents getting a book on him and alterations to his roster before we can say if a guy is truly elite.
Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow all have gone through those ups and downs, and stand as, I think, the top four quarterbacks in football—having established that over a period of years. Williams is wildly talented and a lot more raw than most people (myself included) thought he would be coming out. So for now, Ben Johnson is, smartly, leaning on his run game and defense, which allows more development for Williams.
Give them some time.
Washington Commanders
From C_jackson (@sacred_fandom): Commanders have to be thinking about selling right now to recoup the draft capital they traded, right?
Jack, that’s an interesting question. The Commanders have only six picks in next year’s draft, and just two in the first four rounds. If they can’t win on Sunday night in Seattle, they’ll be 3–6, having lost four straight, leaving a narrow road for them to make it back to the playoffs in Year 2 under Dan Quinn and Adam Peters. The roster they’ve built is getting older in some key spots, so having picks is going to be important over the next couple of years, and even more so after they pay Jayden Daniels (he’s eligible for an extension in early 2027).
If they lose to Seattle, should they listen if teams call on their players? Sure. But I’m not sure who on the roster would be of great value to someone else that the Commanders would be willing to move. I’d assume Laremy Tunsil, Terry McLaurin and Marshon Lattimore aren’t going anywhere for a variety of reasons. You’re obviously not going to move young guys such as Mike Sainristil, Trey Amos and Josh Conerly Jr.
Where are the guys to move for picks? I’d even be hesitant to move Frankie Luvu, given the defense’s struggles rushing the quarterback.
Which is a long way of saying I think Washington’s best course is to stand pat.
Denver Broncos
From Jon (@beare_58): Are the Broncos going to be active with the trade deadline approaching?
Jon, I love the Broncos’ position in that they really don’t have any crying needs, which is an excellent indication of how the arranged marriage between Sean Payton and George Paton is going. What do they need? I think the answer might be a traditional “Y” tight end, which would allow them to do more with Evan Engram.
Who might that be? I would call the Raiders on Michael Mayer, though I think Vegas would hang up on the idea of dealing him in-division (they aren’t looking to trade him, period). And I think trying to pry David Njoku from the Browns would make sense, too.
I see Denver now as being in a position to go all-in. The cap is in great shape. The roster has balance and youth in a ton of key spots. The quarterback is on a rookie contract. It’s analogous, in certain ways, to where the Packers were before making the Micah Parsons trade (though Green Bay’s already paid its QB). Which is why I’d say an Njoku or a Mayer would fill a need, but I think they could be open to a bigger swing, too.
Atlanta Falcons
From Cory Woodroof (@CoryWoodroof47): What’s your outlook on Michael Penix Jr. and the Falcons as a whole?
Cory, we just don’t have enough information on Penix at this point to make any sort of final determination. I was excited to see him coming into the year. He looked good against Washington and Buffalo, then took a step back against San Francisco, and has ridden the roller coaster that the Falcons’ season has been to this point. So the jury is still out.
As for the rest of the team, the talent on offense is pretty good, with one of the best players in the NFL, Bijan Robinson, as the centerpiece. The Falcons are also second in the NFL in total defense, with Jeff Ulbrich making a significant impact, and young players showing promise that their unit will continue to improve as the year goes on.
What’s left, now, is to establish some consistency, both for Penix and the team as a whole.
Dallas Cowboys
From Bobby D. Roberson (@BobbyDRoberson1): Would the Cowboys be willing to trade Pickens? If they’re not willing to sign him long-term and this year doesn’t look like one where they’ll be SB contenders, wouldn’t it make more sense to get max value for him at the trade deadline?
My guess is they won’t trade Pickens. He’s on pace for 91 catches, 1,456 yards and 13 touchdowns, and, yes, he’s a free agent after this year. I’d say things are trending toward Pickens being tagged in March, which would allow Dallas to either work out a long-term deal, trade him or keep him on the roster for another year.
I don’t think his trade value now is markedly better than it will be in March, for what that’s worth. So, I’m not sure there’s any benefit to acting now on it, either.
Cincinnati Bengals
From Matt Elliott (@elliottm_3): What would it take for the Bengals to fire Zac Taylor and Duke Tobin?
Matt, let’s look at the record. In his third year, Taylor went to the Super Bowl. In his fourth year, he was in the AFC title game. In his fifth year, he lost Joe Burrow for seven games and still went 9–8. Last year, with a historically bad defense, the offense set all kinds of records, and Cincinnati was 9–8 again. Tobin, meanwhile, has had his ups and downs in the draft, as all execs do, but has put together good teams.
I hate Burrow’s injury luck, for Burrow himself most of all, for Taylor, and for the entire team. The Bengals were on the verge of going on a big run, coming off consecutive AFC title games, and Burrow’s absence has undermined all that. But can you say with a straight face that the Ravens, Bills or Chiefs would’ve done better without their quarterbacks?
I don’t know. I can understand if the Bengals had Burrow throughout, and kept coming close but missing, then you’d want to make a move, à la the Bucs firing Tony Dungy and trading for Jon Gruden a generation ago. But that’s not how this has gone.
Tush push
From B (@Byrnes33): With recent talk of banning the tush push in 2026 because it is difficult to officiate, what specific component(s) of the play do you anticipate being banned and how will those changes make it easier to officiate?
So B, I think if you outright ban the ability to push or pull a teammate, as discussed, it won’t rid the NFL of the problem altogether. The “push” is just part of the Eagles’ play, and I don’t believe that particular rule change will rid the NFL of the rugby scrum element of it.
But I’ve come all the way around on the officiating part of it. It’s like every time a potential turnover (as the Chiefs and Giants games show) goes to the offense, which has stripped the defense of one of the best ways to make Philly pay for running it—to punch the ball out.
That is where this became a fairness thing.
Coaching carousel
From Craig Smith (@smithcp1): The Sark to NFL rumor was shot down over the weekend. Which current college HCs would attract the most interest/attention from NFL decision-makers?
Texas’s Steve Sarkisian is, indeed, one, and I think he will elicit interest. Much as I hate to put his name on the list, because I want my alma mater to keep him, Ohio State’s Ryan Day has to be on there, too. I’d say Kalen DeBoer at Alabama is another coach who has earned a ton of respect in NFL circles over the past few years. I wonder whether OC, Ryan Grubb, failing at the NFL level, would affect the idea that he’d translate.
Then, I think there’s a more-with-less category, what I’d call the “Brad Stevens” division. In that grouping, I might give you Indiana’s Curt Cignetti and Iowa State’s Matt Campbell as program builders who’d be intriguing to NFL folks.
Jacksonville Jaguars
From JDins5 (@JDins_5): Optimistic Jags fan here concerned about the BTJ developments this season after such a strong 2024. How am I supposed to feel and what should my confidence in this offense be in the back half of the season?
I answered this one on the video mailbag. Be sure to check that out! (The Jags won’t trade him, so give this one some time.)
Green Bay Packers
From Wendell Ferreira (@wendellfp): Romeo Doubs, Rasheed Walker, Sean Rhyan, Quay Walker, Kingsley Enagbare are all free agents. Do you expect the Packers to extend any of them?
Walker is one that’s particularly interesting to me, and the Packers have some flexibility in that they could move former first-rounder Jordan Morgan over (though I think they prefer him at guard), or project rookie Anthony Belton into that spot for 2026. Of the group you mentioned, I think Walker might be next on the list, as a guy who’s played 470 of the Packers’ 475 defensive snaps this year.
Trade deadline
From Gambling Avenger (@GamblingAvenge1): Give me one out of left field, hot take trade deadline prediction?
It’ll be quieter than people who say “it’s going to be wild!” would want you to believe.
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Albert Breer’s Mailbag: How the 49ers Should Approach the 2025 NFL Trade Deadline .