The offseason roster that the NFL has seen before the official start of the new season has been an exciting follow, specifically due to the agreements some teams currently have in place to swap assets heading into the 2021 season. While no trades can go through until 4 o’clock in the afternoon on March 17, there are six agreements in place for a trade to be done once the new league year begins. The Dolphins, Patriots, Lions, Rams, Texans and Colts all end up with new players since their season’s end, while the Titans, Raiders, Eagles also begin to acquire assets in exchange for players that are no longer a part of the team’s plans. Two of the trades have involved three starting quarterbacks changing destinations, proving that despite the relatively quiet-nature of front offices at this point in the offseason, some NFL franchises are itching to take a step forward for 2021 and begun to make the necessary positive adjustments. Meanwhile, some of these teams are already looking like the losers of the spring season in the league. And though we won’t know for sure how these trades pan out until fall football is upon us, let’s start taking a look at which organizations are trending upwards or downwards.
Lions receive: QB Jared Goff, 2021 third-round pick (89th overall), 2022 first-round pick, 2023 first-round pick
Rams receive: QB Matthew Stafford
The first reported trade of the 2021 offseason was absolutely the biggest headline among league circles. A perennial playoff contender under Sean McVay, the Rams have been held back due to their quarterback’s inability to play through adversity. If the stakes were low or the offensive roster talented, Jared Goff would show flashes of what made him the first-overall pick in 2016. Anything less, however, and his squad fell apart around him. Now, McVay has a star quarterback at his disposal that can not only manage the game efficiently, but succeed as a game-changing passer for Los Angeles moving forward. The front office isn’t too shabby at finding value picks later in the draft, so the picks lost to the trade might not be as important than in most scenarios.
There’s no debate that the better quarterback left Detroit and the contract that Goff is to receive moving forward makes the trade less exciting for Lions fans facing a rebuild. Yet, the Lions might have made out better than expected on draft picks. Like the Jets’ package in return for Jamal Adams, both first-rounders will likely fall into the 20s save for a Super Bowl run or a complete collapse. Goff is unlikely to be the guy for the Lions, at least for an extended time, but his presence on the roster will eventually be appreciated for the return that the team received alongside the Cal product. It hurts to lose a franchise quarterback, but kudos to new Lions GM Brad Holmes for mitigating the disaster and receiving a quality return.
DET: A
LAR: A
Eagles receive: 2021 third-round pick (85th overall), 2022 conditional second-round pick
Colts receive: QB Carson Wentz
Carson Wentz is no longer an Eagle, and one of the weirdest tenures in NFL history ends. The former NFL MVP-candidate turned Mark Sanchez-clone did not look like a starting caliber quarterback throughout 2020. After his first four seasons were filled with nothing but promise (and injuries), year five was atrocious and he was eventually replaced by Jalen Hurts. With a new talented young quarterback in tow, Wentz became expendable despite the franchise advertising him as otherwise earlier in the offseason. They found an offer they couldn’t resist from the Colts, one that allows them to build around their second-year QB and clear the cap situation up before the end of his rookie contract.
That offer the Eagles accepted, however, seems a little lackluster. Wentz is coming off of his worst and arguably only bad season with the team, meaning that the Eagles had to sell their former second-overall pick at a lesser price than many thought they could get for their former star. If the North Dakota State product pieces it all together for Indy, the Eagles walk away with a third-round pick this year and a first-rounder next year. However, if Wentz misses more than 30% of the season, or 25% snaps in a playoff year, the Eagles will have their first bumped down to a second. This is a savvy move for Chris Ballard and crew, as the quarterback-needy Colts found a way to land a player who could very well return to his pre-2020 form for only a first and a third. And even if they don’t, or if Wentz just misses out on too many snaps due to injury, the team will only have to throw away a second and third-rounder.
PHI: C
IND: A-
Titans receive: 2021 seventh-round pick (215th overall)
Dolphins receive: OT Isaiah Wilson, 2022 seventh-round pick
Easily the least substantial of the already-announced trades, Isaiah Wilson and the Titans both get a fresh start as Tennessee moves on from their first-round pick from just a year ago. Jon Robinson did a good job of turning an untenable situation into something for the team, especially after Wilson declared that he was done with the team that drafted him despite him still taking up a spot on the roster. Still, the general manager gets a hit to his team’s grade due to parting with a player that they valued so highly just a year ago. Miami has a reclamation project on their hands, but a very nonconsequential one. The team just swapped seventh-rounders for a chance at a previously highly-regarded prospect who could potentially live up to his early-round status with the right change of scenery.
TEN: C+
MIA: A
Raiders receive: 2022 fifth-round pick
Patriots receive: OT Trent Brown, 2022 seventh-round pick
This trade strikes me as the most one-sided deal of the six. Trent Brown has missed 16 games over his past two seasons, but yet still made a Pro Bowl in that span with the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders. Now, the standout right tackle goes to New England, the spot where he starred in 2018 before earning his lucrative 4-year, $66-million dollar way out of town. The Raiders succeed at clearing up cap space and getting something back for a player who has struggled to be available for them, but their return is extremely underwhelming for someone, who again, was a Pro Bowler for the squad just a season ago. New England moves down two rounds from five to seven in exchange for an noticeable upgrade at right tackle. Is there risk that Brown continues to struggle with health or regresses into an overpaid journeyman? Absolutely, but a lost fifth-rounder isn’t going to cost anyone their jobs.
LV: D
NE: A
Texans receive: LB Shaq Lawson, 2021 sixth-round pick (207th overall)
Dolphins receive: ILB Benardrick McKinney, 2021 seventh-round pick (231st overall)
The story of this trade is player-versus-position. Benardrick McKinney is more qualified defender between him and Shaq Lawson, while the player he’s being traded for allows the Texans to avoid a potentially competitive market for edge rushers in a cap-strapped offseason. Before missing 14 games over the past two seasons, the former Texan made a Pro Bowl and made a strong case to be in a second during his sophomore season. If the Dolphins get a pre-injury level-of-play from their most recent trade acquisition, they become the clear winners of this trade despite a need at the edge rusher position opening up. Houston’s front office was smart to nab a solid and versatile talent in the front seven in exchange for a player they intended to move, but even the pick-swap isn’t enough to keep Miami from receiving more value on their side.
MIA: A-
HOU: B
Patriots receive: 2021 fourth-round pick (110th overall), 2021 fifth-round pick (147th overall), 2021 sixth-round pick (188th overall)
Texans receive: OT Marcus Cannon, 2021 fourth-round pick (121st overall), 2021 fifth-round pick (159th overall), 2021 sixth-round pick (195th overall)
Houston acquires a starting-caliber offensive lineman to join Laremy Tunsil and Justin Britt on a soon-rebuilt offensive front. Marcus Cannon was never the star of the Patriots’ offensive line, but the former fifth-round pick held his own as a starter before opting out of the NFL’s 2020 season. And while New England upgraded from Cannon to Trent Brown, the Texans technically didn’t have to give up a pick in order to grab a much-needed upgrade at their own right tackle spot. Tytus Howard showed promise at the position in 2020, but was also called for 11 penalties. Moving down a total of 30 spots combined from each pick, the team is risking a few extra players getting by before their selections. But overall, a solid move for Houston, especially if Howard succeeds in a move to guard. The Patriots, meanwhile, save cap space on a replaceable player and improve three of their draft picks doing so. The most recent trade to come out at the time of this article ends up being a solid win for both sides.
NE: A-
HOU: A-
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