NFL trade deadline buyers and sellers: Cowboys looking to add, possible Chargers fire sale?

As the sixth week of the NFL season arrives, the gap between Super Bowl contenders and teams vying for favorable positions in the draft has begun to grow. Once teams recognize their spot in the pecking order, they can chart their path forward for the rest of 2026 and beyond, and one of the first decisions to make is whether to buy or sell at the Nov. 10 trade deadline. 

That mark is already less than a month out, so there are only a few games left to help front offices decide whether to add impact talent or ship it out in exchange for draft capital.

A few teams have already begun this process. On Sunday, the Arizona Cardinals traded wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. to the Houston Texans in a move that padded the former's draft coffers and gave the latter a high-upside depth piece on offense who could get his career back on track in a new situation. Before Harrison, Cam Jurgens, Joey Porter Jr. and J.J. McCarthy hit the trade block.

The question is not whether there will be a flurry of moves at the deadline — that is a given. It is more about which teams will make them. Once it becomes clear who is buying and who is selling, the players involved will, in many cases, be quite obvious.

Here are the teams that could buy and sell at the deadline and the players that may be on the move.

Seller: Chargers

Sell candidates: Khalil Mack, Donte Jackson, Quentin Johnston, David Njoku

Why wait until the deadline to move on from obvious trade candidates such as Mack? The Chargers are, shockingly, going nowhere fast at 0-5 and face a grueling schedule between now and Nov. 10, so they may as well get out ahead of the market and sell before they lose even more leverage. This roster and its coaching staff might have simply run its course, because after years of coming up short in the postseason, their chances of even getting back there in 2026 are bleak at best.

Mack is by far the most tradeable player on the roster as a 35-year-old playing extremely well on a one-year contract. That is the exact kind of rental player that defense-needy playoff contenders are in search of every single year. 

Teams with holes on the back end of the defense could call about Jackson and his expiring contract, too. He racked up nine interceptions across the 2024 and 2025 seasons, after all. And on the other side of the ball, someone will look past Johnston's drop problems and see his physical attributes as worthy of investment. Meanwhile, Njoku should be a cheap option at tight end.

Buyer: Bears

Buy candidates: Khalil Mack, Josh Sweat, Daron Payne, Zach Sieler

So long as Ben Johnson is around, the Bears will not have trouble putting points on the board. Once Caleb Williams returns to the lineup, Chicago will be back in the mix for prime positioning in the NFC playoff hunt, and it already showed it can stay afloat for however much longer he is on the sideline. In order to maximize the team's upside upon Williams' return, general manager Ryan Poles needs to bolster the defense, especially up front. The Bears rank just 20th in quarterback pressure rate and lack depth on both the edge and interior.

What about a reunion with Mack? He spent four years of his prime with the Bears and clearly still has something to give with three sacks in five games this season. Perhaps they could acquire Sweat instead. They have just enough cap space to bring him in this year before his salary balloons in the final two years of his contract. The edge rusher spot should be a higher priority than defensive tackle since the Bears were mostly quiet at that position in the offseason and just saw Marcus Davenport abruptly retire after Week 4.

Seller: Titans

Sell candidates: Tony Pollard, Calvin Ridley, Jermaine Johnson II

If a Titans breakthrough comes during the Robert Saleh era, it does not appear it will happen in Year 1. This franchise is still stuck in rebuild mode and needs to acquire as much draft capital as possible to round out its core of Cam Ward and Carnell Tate with more young prospects. That means cutting bait on what already looks like a lost season, parting with the tradeable veterans, hoping that Ward shows signs of improvement in the second half of the year and making good use of what should be another early first-round pick in 2027.

Pollard is among the biggest names across the NFL who could be next in line to be traded. The former Pro Bowler is on an expiring contract and perhaps in the final stages of his prime. He would be a terrific No. 2 option for a team that already has a standout starting running back. 

Ridley already seems to be in the midst of his decline and is no longer a regular starter, but was a perennial 1,000-yard receiver as recently as two years ago. And even though the Titans traded for Johnson in the offseason, they did so knowing he would play 2026 on his fifth-year option and could flip him in an attempt to get something in return rather than watching him leave at the end of his contract.

Buyer: Cowboys

Buy candidates: Maxx Crosby, Alex Highsmith, Khalil Mack, Josh Sweat

Jerry Jones is in a trading mood already and made a splash when he acquired Joey Porter Jr. The defense still needs help, though. After they added Porter, the Cowboys could shift their focus back toward the front of the unit and continue to address the edge rusher spot, which has been a weakness ever since they shipped Micah Parsons out of town. Jones has not been shy about wanting to shore up the defense through the trade market and is always one for the marquee transaction, so Dallas might not be done big-game hunting.

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By the time the deadline arrives, the Cowboys might have just enough cap space to add Crosby to their payroll. They reportedly made three offers to the Raiders prior to the nixed deal that would have sent him to the Ravens, so it does not take much imagination to picture them making another push. The bigger question is whether Las Vegas still has any interest in moving him. 

Dallas could also look back to Pittsburgh and try for Highsmith, who could be the odd man out in a three-person pass-rushing system that also features T.J. Watt and Nick Herbig. The Cowboys already pulled off three trades with the Steelers over the last year and a half, so there is a fruitful working relationship between the two front offices.

Seller: Dolphins

Sell candidates: Austin Jackson, Zach Sieler, Josh Uche

To climb out of the deepest rebuild in the NFL, the Dolphins have to establish a core around which they can build a roster. There are early signs of one existing in standout first-year linebacker Jacob Rodriguez and rookie wide receivers Caleb Douglas and Chris Bell, but Miami needs another big draft like the 13-pick haul it put together this past spring. While it lacks a volume of tradeable veterans and will have a hard time receiving Day 1 or Day 2 capital in return, there are a couple who could help the Dolphins pile up selections in the later rounds.

Jackson is off to a rough start as the 71st-rated offensive tackle among 72 qualifiers, per PFF, but tackles are always in demand. He would be an affordable half-season rental. Sieler, at 31, is much older than the defensive pieces the Dolphins plan to build around. Uche is the strongest candidate of the three to re-sign with Miami, but even that is no guarantee.

Buyer: 49ers

Buy candidates: Jerry Jeudy, Khalil Mack, Josh Uche, Daron Payne, Zach Sieler

The 49ers own the best resume in the NFL with wins over the entire rest of the NFC West, plus the Broncos and Dolphins. They played better over five games than any other Super Bowl hopeful, but with a roster loaded with older and oft-injured players, their ability to stay in the hunt is always tenuous. 

San Francisco can never have enough weapons. In order to keep this train rolling, general manager John Lynch should add startable depth at the deadline to prevent any catastrophic drop-offs should injuries further plague his team down the stretch and into the playoffs. He has all the room on his payroll he needs to do so with $41.9 million in salary cap space, which is the most of any team, per Over The Cap.

The wide receiver position was hit hardest by the rash of early-season injuries. The passing attack remains elite with quarterback Brock Purdy playing the best football of his career and Mike Evans doing what he always does as the No. 1 target. But the depth issues stemming from Ricky Pearsall's season-ending injury and the ailments of De'Zhaun Stribling, Demarcus Robinson and Deebo Samuel emphasize the need for more bodies. Browns receiver Jerry Jeudy might be there for the taking, judging by how he has been phased out in favor of a couple of standout rookies. And that's just one option.

Defensively, the 49ers surprisingly stood mostly still in the offseason, so there remains a necessity for more depth up front. Mykel Williams' return in Week 5 from a torn ACL could be enough to keep them from making a splash in this group, though.

Seller: Buccaneers

Sell candidates: Chris Godwin, Kenneth Gainwell, YaYa Diaby, A'Shawn Robinson, Zyon McCollum

They finally got up off the mat with a "Thursday Night Football" upset of the Cowboys, but this remains a concerning start to the year for the Buccaneers as coach Todd Bowles seeks to hang onto his job. If that win proves to be a blip on the radar, Bowles will become even more of a lame-duck coach, and the front office could begin a teardown of the roster. In that event, there are a number of assets who would become obvious trade bait.

The biggest question mark among the potential movers is McCollum, who is in the midst of a rebound season after he signed a three-year contract extension in 2025. Would his strong individual start to the year halt the Buccaneers from lumping him in with the more no-doubt trade pieces like Gainwell and Robinson? Or would they commit to a full rebuild and attempt to sell high on a player who could garner a more impactful return package than he would have at this time last year?

Buyer: Lions

Buy candidates: Zyon McCollum, Donte Jackson, Greg Newsome II, Kristian Fulton

The Lions will go as far as the offense carries them. That is, unless they address one of the NFL's most glaring needs: help in the Detroit secondary. While Jared Goff, Jahmyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown will keep them in essentially every game they play, they cannot keep surrendering at least 21 points in each outing as they did in Weeks 1-5 if they are to make the playoffs. Losing Terrion Arnold in the offseason continues to prove mighty costly, especially given that both starting safeties from a year ago, Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph, are on the shelf with injuries.

Detroit would stand to benefit from a potential fire sale in Tampa Bay, because that would probably make McCollum available for the right price. There are several directions the Lions could go at cornerback, and they can afford to be aggressive. They own the second-most cap space of any team with $33.9 million available, and as a team that has to strike now to maximize its contention window, any and all draft picks should be on the table.

Seller: Cardinals

Sell candidates: Josh Sweat, Budda Baker, Gardner Minshew

With one in-season trade already complete, the Cardinals have established themselves as sellers. Other teams will likely call to see just how many players they are willing to part with, as the team seems destined for a last-place finish in the NFC West and is liquidating pieces that do not fit into first-year coach Mike LaFleur's system.

Sweat is the clearest candidate to leave, given the offseason buzz that suggested he wanted out of Arizona. He dispelled that narrative, as did general manager Monti Ossenfort, but perhaps there is fire behind the smoke. The former Pro Bowler may return the best trade package of anyone the Cardinals would realistically move.

Baker also ought to command early-round picks given his status as a perennial Pro Bowl honoree and the fact that he will remain under contract through 2027. And with the potential for the Cardinals to activate Carson Beck as their backup quarterback, the likelihood of them keeping Minshew around as a No. 3 option decreases.

Buyer: Raiders

Buy candidates: Brian Thomas Jr., Jerry Jeudy, Quentin Johnston, Calvin Ridley

First-year coach Klint Kubiak has the Raiders surprisingly ahead of schedule and could keep them in the postseason hunt deep. A team that once seemed poised to sell at the deadline and continue drafting around Fernando Mendoza might actually be a buyer. 

If Las Vegas does go after anyone, it would most likely target a wide receiver to add to a group that lacks a bona fide No. 1 target and is young with a low ceiling. Once Mendoza eventually steps into the starting lineup, the Raiders will want to have plenty of reliable receivers there to help him settle in.

If anyone makes a bet on Thomas rekindling his rookie-year magic, the Raiders are a logical choice to do so. Thomas is still only in his third year of pro football, so if he were to right the ship, he would fit ideally with the rest of Las Vegas' nucleus of Mendoza, Brock Bowers and Ashton Jeanty as recent arrivals in the league. If they cannot obtain him or the Jaguars hesitate to sell, the Raiders should have plenty of other options, albeit with less upside.