July 20, 2024
Everyone loves a nice hypothetical, "throwing darts" type of unlikely to actually happen "trades that make sense" post, right? Cool. Let's do one of those, and thanks for the clicks.
Why it makes sense for the Eagles: Bradberry is the most obvious trade candidate on the team after the Eagles used their top two picks on cornerbacks in the 2024 draft.
Should the Eagles find a team with some interest in Bradberry, the financial cost to the acquiring team would only be his $1,210,000 guaranteed salary, which the Eagles would be on the hook for if they otherwise cut him. By trading him, the Eagles could save that money both against the cap and, you know, Jeffrey Lurie's bank account.
The Eagles currently possess nine picks in the 2025 draft, so adding an pick in 2026 — something they already showed they were willing to do this offseason with the trade of Haason Reddick — would make sense for them, and wouldn't feel like much of a cost to another team.
Why it makes sense for the Bills: They're light on cornerback depth and they're Super Bowl contenders, which makes them a logical team that could be willing to deal a Day 3 pick two years away for a one-year depth rental.
Bradberry has had other recent down seasons, and bounced back from them. For example, he made the Pro Bowl with the Giants in 2020, but then had a down year 2021. He was an All-Pro in 2022, and then was bad in 2023. Maybe he has one last bounce-back season in him?
Why it makes sense for the Eagles: The Eagles have an obvious need for a stable WR3, and someone who could be a competent WR2 should A.J. Brown or DeVonta Smith get hurt. Thielen is still a productive, professional receiver who had 103 catches and 1,014 yards on a terrible Panthers team in 2023. He would also be relatively cheap, with a guaranteed $6.5 million salary in 2024, and anywhere between $5.5 and $6.5 million in 2025 if the Eagles chose to keep him around for another season, with no penalty to release him if not.
Why it makes sense for the Panthers: Thielen turns 34 in August, and Carolina isn't anywhere remotely close to contending. They also traded for Diontae Johnson and selected Xavier Legette in the first round of the draft this offseason. In this scenario, they would upgrade a 2025 pick in return, add a 22-year-old CB with some game experience, save some money against the cap, and clear room on the depth chart for younger guys to play.
Why it makes sense for the Eagles: As noted above, the Eagles have a glaring need for a third receiver. We laid out the reasoning for targeting Brown in a recent mailbag, but we'll copy/paste here to save you the click.
Brown has been in the NFL for six seasons, and it took him a little while to become a productive receiver.
| Noah Brown | Rec | Yards | YPC | TD |
| 2017 - Cowboys | 4 | 33 | 8.3 | 0 |
| 2018 - Cowboys | 5 | 54 | 10.8 | 0 |
| 2019 (DNP - knee) - Cowboys | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 - Cowboys | 14 | 154 | 11.0 | 0 |
| 2021 - Cowboys | 16 | 184 | 11.5 | 0 |
| 2022 - Cowboys | 43 | 555 | 12.9 | 3 |
| 2023 - Texans | 33 | 567 | 17.2 | 2 |
He and Kellen Moore were in Dallas together for six seasons. But it was 2023 when Brown had something of a breakthrough season. He had 33 catches for 567 yards (a very good 17.2 YPC) and 2 TDs in just 10 games. He had two monster games in a pair of Texans shootout wins:
He has good size at 6'2, 215, and plays like it.
2023 season advanced metrics amongst 80 WRs w/ at least 50 targets:
— Anthony Cover 1 (@Pro__Ant) February 20, 2024
-6th in yards per target
-4th in yards per catch
-12th in first down %
-17th in QB rating when targeted
-19th in avg depth of catch
-20th in EPA per target
-31st in yards per route run
As you can see in the bottom tweet above, he made the most of the opportunities that came his way.
In 2023, Brown's snaps were about 40:60 slot vs. outside, so he can do both. For the Eagles' purposes, with Brown and Smith also playing some in the slot, that's a perfectly fine ratio.
Why it makes sense for the Texans: The trio of Nico Collins, Stefon Diggs, and Tank Dell is one of the best in the NFL. But even beyond those three guys, they also have 2022 second-round pick John Metchie, free agent Robert Woods, and they traded for Ben Skowronek. They are ultra-loaded at wide receiver, and Brown is only under contract through the 2024 season. They also don't have their fifth- or sixth-round picks in the 2025 draft.
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