Sources expect active NFL trade market ahead of deadline - ESPN

The three NFL trades completed this week, headlined by the Browns sending Joe Flacco to the rival Bengals, are expected to be a sign of things to come ahead of the league's Nov. 4 trade deadline.

In a copycat league where teams constantly are striving to improve, general managers already have begun exploring additional trades, and based on recent years, there could be at least another dozen to come, league sources told ESPN.

Over the past six years, in the month of October leading up to the trade deadline, the NFL has had 88 trades — an average of just under 15 per year.

The list of trade candidates that executives and coaches believe could be available in the next few weeks features multiple high-profile players, including Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson, Trey Hendrickson, Mark Andrews, Bradley Chubb, Alvin Kamara, Chris Olave, Breece Hall, Cameron Jordan and Riq Woolen. These players' respective teams haven't necessarily made them available via trade, but sources believe they eventually could be.

Here are some candidates that NFL front office executives and coaches believe could be available ahead of this year's trade deadline.

There were 18 trades completed both last year and in 2022. This increased number of deals stands in direct contrast to the nine trades made in the month leading up to the 2018 deadline, the eight made in 2017, the five made in 2016 and the four made in 2015.

The NFL trade deadline has become as busy as the deadlines in the NBA and Major League Baseball. The uptick in trade activity, in the opinion of many sources across the league, has come for a variety of reasons.

One reason is the younger and more aggressive GMs in the NFL. Many of the previous generation of GMs did not believe in trading