Feb 18, 2026 - 12:39
By espn.com

2026 NFL offseason: Trade proposals that fit for both teams - ESPN

It has been only a week since Super Bowl LX, but it's already time for NFL teams to start thinking about offseason trades.

Deals can form in moments if teams have existing relationships, but more often, trades take time to put together. Front offices want to negotiate with multiple suitors for the best offer. General managers weigh their chances of improving their rosters in free agency before going with alternatives via trades, which involves talking with agents and getting a sense of whether they're likely to land a player. It's a lengthy process.

We're less than a month from the start of the new NFL league year in early March, when we usually see the juiciest trades. Today, I'll put together 11 trade proposals that might make sense for both sides. You shouldn't be surprised — the only thing I love more than a real trade is a mock one.

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Though it would be fun to put together some massive offer for Joe Burrow or Lamar Jackson, I've tried to focus on players who will be subject to trade discussions in the weeks to come. In some cases, that includes veterans who are either soon-to-be free agents or potential cap casualties. I'll try to lay out the argument for why a player is likely to be a trade target, what I believe is a fair return and where he could land.

I've tried to use historical returns to form the expected trade value, but as we've seen from the deals for players such as DeAndre Hopkins and Quinnen Williams in the past few years, outliers still happen. And obviously, most of these deals will involve draft capital. Let's get started.