NFL Trade Deadline: Rumors and Projections – By Gavin Muirhead

We take a look at all the moving and shaking, coming up with the NFL trade deadline.

Exactly seven days are left until the, October 29th, deadline for player trades in the NFL. Teams have until 4 p.m. EST to secure a needed player or draft pick that will carry them to the playoffs or draft-day glory, in the cases of some teams.

This year is a strange year, it’s not often that high value players are traded mid season but the Browns showed us that everything is negotiable with the Trent Richardson trade. It’s those same Cleveland Browns that have started a new frenzy by shopping around second year receiver Josh Gordon.

Josh Gordon: So the kid violated the substance abuse policy and served a two game suspension, a lot of critics are harping on that too much – he’s 22 years old, making money and playing ball. It’s the “playing ball” area that is bringing in some interesting trade offers. It’s being reported that two teams currently have standing offers of “a starting player and a high round pick” for Josh Gordon. The forerunner has to be either the Indianapolis Colts, who just lost Reggie Wayne for the season and have already shown a willingness to spend picks and work with the Browns. The Colts do have T.Y. Hilton and Darius Heyward-Bey on the roster, which means they have 1.5 competent receivers on the roster. T.Y. is the 1. DHB is the .5, As a Raider fan I know DHB well and if there is anything he is excellent at – it’s dropping a perfect pass. Josh Gordon is making points and yardage out of the crap Brandon Weeden is throwing to him, imagine Andrew Luck working with him now.. Scary.

The second option for Josh would have to be the Atlanta Falcons. With Julio Jones gone for the year, Roddy White  showing his age and nursing injuries, Tony Gonzales all in for his last season and only Harry Douglas healthy – Hotlanta needs help. Josh Gordon has the added bonus of coming with a very cheap cap hit, he is on contract through 2015 with, at most $1,000,000 a year (2015), so this match looks good on paper too.

Another big name Receiver that is possibly being shopped around is Hakeem Nicks. The cold hard truth of this situation is simple: The Giants can’t afford to resign him after the season ends. He would be making $6-8 Million per season on the open market and the Giants just can’t compete with that. Also, Ruben Randle has stepped up in a huge way and logically Hakeem is expendable. It make sense to trade him and get some picks for the 2014 draft, and a team better suited for him cap hit can take over and have added depth at receiver.

A team like the Patriots.

They need help, Tom Brady is on the back end of his career and with his current receiving core he has no shot at making another Super Bowl appearance. Yes Gronk is back, but Wes Welker is gone. Julian Edelman is OKAY in the slot, and Danny Amendola may not be in the league much longer because he is a walking Faberge egg. Kenbrell Tompkins is also slowly emerging, but a threat like Hakeem Nicks would be a huge upgrade for New England and they have the money to make it work.

This needs to be said..

The Vikings don’t need to trade Adrian Petersen. Blah Blah Cowboys… Hogwash. Minnesota needs to get ballsy and build a proper team around him. He isn’t getting any younger, and they wont get the value they deserve in a trade.

Moving along to things that could and should happen:

Washington Redskins trade Kirk Cousins and a second round pick to the Cleveland Browns, in return for Josh Gordon and a late rounder.

Cleveland needs a competent QB. Badly. Weeden is garbage, and the fans deserve someone who isn’t a “Who?” to come in and make some plays. Now, this trade implies that the Browns have something in Greg Little and Jordan Cameron for Kirk to throw too, and I am inclined to think that it could be true. On the flip side, Robert Griffin III gets to reunite with his Baylor teammate Josh Gordon and will tip the scales immensely for the Redskins now and in the future. It’s a price to pay, but something that could be very intriguing to everyone involved.

Maurice Jones-Drew: Easily could’ve been the guy shipped to the Colts. They seemed to be more vested in the, recently, incompetent, Trent Richardson. The Patriots, Jets and Saints all could use a little running back help, and a little running back named MJD, may be their guy. The Saints have Darren Sproles, which is nice, but no one they can line up behind the QB and run between the tackles. The Pats have been platooning between Steven Ridley, Lagarette Blount and someone else. The Pats could easily come back to their super-team ways, with additions of Nicks and MJD.

With a week to go until the deadline, including a weekend of games to sway the hand of ownership, who knows what we could be in store for come next Tuesday. What we do know is that HefferBrew will be there to break it down for you.