13 NFL players who could be trade targets, including T.J. Watt and George Pickens

Last year, the New York Jets unloaded two of their rare star players, CB Sauce Gardner and DL Quinnen Williams at the deadline and recouped three first-round picks and a second-rounder. In 2022, there were a record 10 deals on deadline day alone. In recent years, premier players like WR Davante Adams and RB Christian McCaffrey have been moved weeks ahead of the deadline. And, heck, it's only been four months since the Los Angeles Rams acquired Myles Garrett , arguably the league's most dominant player when he's healthy, from the Cleveland Browns .

As the calendar flips to October, more moves are coming – bank on that. What we don't know yet is what additional injuries will arise that might necessitate the next deal. It's also currently unclear which GMs will shift into sell mode given the wide array of outcomes that could materialize over the next six weeks − when, perhaps, the Las Vegas Raiders might tail off and then consider trading QB Kirk Cousins or WR Tre Tucker , for example. Furthermore, this could be a year when normally aggressive teams might think twice and/or teams willing to move players might have to lower their asking price or defer the compensation. Why? Because there's likely to be a pervasive reluctance to surrender high-end draft assets ahead of what's expected to be a bumper crop of incoming college players in 2027 . Don't forget the Philadelphia Eagles wound up accepting a 2028 first-rounder from the New England Patriots in June to consummate the deal for WR A.J. Brown .

But while the transactional calculus could be different in 2026, you can bet McCarthy will only represent the first of many moves. Here are 13 players who should be on teams' acquisitional radars in the coming weeks: