The player empowerment era has long been in effect in the NBA, but it's working its way over to the NFL.
Cleveland Browns owner and Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslem is fresh off trading away two of the biggest yet disgruntled stars in each of the United States' most popular professional sports leagues. He traded two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year edge rusher Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams on June 1, and he traded two-time NBA MVP and 2021 NBA Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat late on Monday night.
Garrett wasn't even the only disgruntled NFL star to have his wish granted to be traded this month with the Philadelphia Eagles dealing three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Brown to the New England Patriots, his team of choice, also on June 1. So who could follow in the footsteps of Antetokounmpo, Garrett and Brown next in the NFL? Here's a look at five potential candidates with a prediction on whether or not they will ask for a trade in addition to potential trade compensation and a potential landing spot if they end up getting moved.
Vikings WR Justin Jefferson
Minnesota Vikings four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Justin Jefferson raced out to a historic start to his NFL career: his 7,432 yards receiving from 2020 to 2024 are the most in a player's first five seasons in league history. That production resulted in Jefferson averaging 96.5 receiving yards per game, which also ranked as the most in NFL history.
Then, J.J. McCarthy happened. Minnesota opted to let Pro Bowl quarterback Sam Darnold walk in free agency last offseason because they drafted McCarthy 10th overall in the 2024 NFL Draft. McCarthy wasn't ready for the speed of the NFL game, ranking dead last in the entire league in completion percentage (57.6%), touchdown-to-interception ratio (11-12), and passer rating (72.6) in 2025. His ineptitude led to Jefferson posting career lows in receiving yards (1,048) and receiving touchdowns (2) in 2025, which dropped his receiving yards per game average down to 90.2 -- the second-most in NFL history behind Puka Nacua's 95.3 average.
The Vikings' quarterback plan going forward is a competition between McCarthy and two-time Pro Bowl quarterback Kyler Murray. Murray's last Pro Bowl selection came in the 2021 NFL season, the same year Antetokounmpo won an NBA championship with the Bucks. It certainly feels like it's been awhile since then. From 2022 to 2025, Murray missed 30 of his possible 68 games. In the five games Murray played for the Cardinals in 2025, he averaged a career low 227.0 total yards per game. This year's quarterback situation in Minnesota could also go poorly.
Prediction on whether or not Jefferson will eventually ask for a trade: Yes, by the 2028 NFL offseason
The McCarthy-Murray competition will fail to bear long-term fruit at football's most important position, leaving Jefferson dissatisfied entering the final season of his four-year, $140 million deal in 2028. Out of guaranteed money, Jefferson will be looking for a new, multiyear deal at the age of 29, but he'll aim to get his next batch of guaranteed cash elsewhere.
Compensation to get the deal done: First-round pick and third-round pick
It's a similar package to the one the Patriots used to acquire Brown from the Eagles, but instead of a fifth-round pick, Minnesota gets a third-round draft choice since Jefferson doesn't come with the same attitude and fluidity questions.
Likely landing spot: Las Vegas Raiders
It's hard to project how the NFL landscape will look years down the road, but the Raiders make plenty of sense for a multitude of reasons. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, will need a true WR1 to complement All-Pro tight end Brock Bowers, and Las Vegas has shown a willingness to trade for a superstar wide receiver at the back of the end their 20s: The Raiders traded a first-round draft choice and a second-round draft choice to the Green Bay Packers in 2022 in exchange for a 29-year-old Davante Adams. They'll make a similar effort to go all in on their offensive core of Mendoza, Bowers and 2025 sixth overall pick running back Ashton Jeanty.
Colts RB Jonathan Taylor
Only one running back has been more productive in the 2020s than Jonathan Taylor, and that's Derrick Henry. Taylor's 7,598 career rushing yards and 69 career rushing touchdowns in the span of his six-season NFL career are the second-most in the league behind Henry's totals of 9,185 yards rushing and 84 rushing touchdowns. However, that gap purely comes down to workload: Henry possesses 347 more carries than Taylor (1,858 to 1,551).
Taylor's 90.5 career rushing yards per game average is the fifth best in NFL history behind only four Pro Football Hall of Famers: Jim Brown (104.3), Barry Sanders (99.8), Terrell Davis (97.5) and Eric Dickerson (90.8). Unfortunately for Taylor, the Colts have been wasting his prime with just one playoff appearance and zero playoff wins in his six seasons. That lone postseason visit came in his rookie year back in 2020 when the Colts narrowly lost at the Buffalo Bills in the wild card round.
A running back's prime is finite, and Taylor remains at the top of his game after producing the third-most rushing yards (1,585) and the most rushing touchdowns (18) in the NFL in 2025. If Colts quarterback Daniel Jones (Achilles) and wide receiver Alec Pierce (ankle) can't get healthy in a hurry, the 27-year-old three-time Pro Bowl back may start looking around for a new home. Not many general managers around the league would keep their jobs after five seasons of postseason-less football, but somehow Chris Ballard has been able to do that in Indianapolis.
Prediction on whether or not Taylor will eventually ask for a trade: Yes, by the 2026 NFL trade deadline
Taylor enters the final year of his three-year, $42 million contract in 2026, so if the Colts start off slow thanks to unreliable starts to the year by Jones and Pierce, it would be in both the franchise's and Taylor's best interest to part ways at the trade deadline.
Compensation to get the deal done: Third-round pick
The Carolina Panthers were able to get a 2023 second-round pick, a 2024 third-round pick, a 2023 fourth-round pick and a 2024 fifth-round pick for Christian McCaffrey in 2022, but CMC was a year younger than Taylor is today. Plus, McCaffrey had multiple years left on his contract while Taylor is set to become a free agent in 2027.
Likely landing spot: Pittsburgh Steelers
Should the Steelers get off to a hot start in Aaron Rodgers' swan song with his pal Mike McCarthy back as his head coach, Pittsburgh could go all in on the future Hall of Famer's last season. Jaylen Warren is a nice change-of-pace back, and Rico Dowdle is someone McCarthy said in Dallas could stand to work on his vision as a runner. Taylor would give McCarthy the bell-cow back he's missed since Ezekiel Elliott's decline and Tony Pollard's fibula injury in the 2022 postseason while coaching the Cowboys.
Cardinals TE Trey McBride
Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride snatched the league's first-team All-Pro tight end crown off Brock Bowers' head in 2025. McBride ranked second in the entire NFL in catches last season with 126, just three behind Puka Nacua's league-leading 129 while his 11 receiving touchdowns tied for the second-most in the NFL. His 1,239 yard receiving were the sixth-most in football while balling out for the rudderless 3-14 Arizona Cardinals.
Unfortunately for McBride, he's playing in the toughest division in football ... perhaps ever. The 2025 NFC West became the first division in league history with three 12-win teams -- the Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers -- while the Cardinals became the first team to finish nine games worse than every other team in their respective division. There's not much hope of that hierarchy changing anytime soon unless Arizona stinks again in 2026 in order to land one of the top quarterback prospects in the 2027 NFL Draft.
Prediction on whether or not McBride will eventually ask for a trade: Not if the Cardinals can draft a top QB in 2027
McBride has two more seasons of guaranteed money on his four-year, $76 million contract. That gives Arizona through the 2027 season to get the quarterback position right. Thanks to playing the Rams, Seahawks and 49ers a combined six times a year, they'll be in position to secure a top 10 pick in the 2027 NFL Draft. One more year of bottoming out to secure the future of their offense out in the desert.
Jets WR Garrett Wilson
Despite being shut down with a lingering knee injury in Week 10, the 2022 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year wide receiver still ended up leading the 2025 New York Jets in receiving yards with 395. Wilson played just seven games while producing the fewest receiving yards by an NFL team leader since 1976, excluding the 1982 strike season, per CBS Sports Research.
It's bleak in New York, especially after the Jets made first-year head coach Aaron Glenn fire his offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and many other assistants after a 3-14 campaign in his first season in charge in 2025. The Jets poured a lot of money and draft picks into fixing their defense that became the first in NFL history to not record an interception in a season, but the offense could still be pretty bleak despite the arrivals of first-round pick tight end Kenyon Sadiq and first-round pick wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr.
Their top two quarterbacks on the depth chart are a washed-up Geno Smith and 2026 fourth-round pick rookie Cade Klubnik.
Prediction on whether or not Wilson will eventually ask for a trade: Not if the Jets can draft a top QB in 2027
Wilson possesses two more seasons of guaranteed money on his four-year, $130 million contract, including $24.5 million guaranteed in the 2027 season. That gives New York two more offseasons to get the quarterback position right. Fortunately for Wilson, Smith could easily be the tank commander quarterback necessary to position the Jets into a prime opportunity to select one of the best quarterback prospects in a loaded 2027 NFL Draft.
Browns CB Denzel Ward
Like Garrett, five-time Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward is wasting away his prime with the Cleveland Browns. Despite earning Pro Bowl selections in four of the past five seasons, he's played in just one playoff game in this stretch since 2021, a 45-14 blowout loss at the Houston Texans. Ward is set to enter the penultimate season of a five-year, $100.5 million contract extension, and he doesn't have any guaranteed money remaining on the pact, which makes him extremely tradeable.
Plus, Ward would probably rather learn a new defensive playbook on a team with a shot at the postseason in 2026 than the team with the worst quarterback room in the NFL.
Compensation to get the deal done: Fourth-round pick
Teams will be stingy with their 2027 draft picks ahead of a draft class everyone and their grandma expects to be full of stars and value selections. Plus at 29 years old, Ward plays a position that typically isn't known for players aging all that well into their 30s.
Likely landing spot: San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers are in win-now mode with an aging roster headed by soon-to-be 38-year-old All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams, soon-to-be 33-year-old wide receiver Mike Evans, soon-to-be 33-year-old tight end George Kittle and 30-year-old running back Christian McCaffrey. San Francisco can afford the swing for Ward in 2026 as the 49ers currently possess the most cap space in football with $71.7 million, per OverTheCap.com, and then they can easily move off him if they desire in 2027 while saving $11.271 million by releasing him. Or with no guaranteed money on his deal, the 49ers can easily rework Ward's contract to keep him around should they so choose.
It's an arms race in the NFC West, and the 49ers need to keep up with the Super Bowl champion Seahawks and the NFC runner-up Rams.
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