Expensive NFL Players That Need to Be Traded or Cut Before Season’s End

It’s that time of year when we start to hear the words “NFL trade deadline” thrown around. We’re just four weeks into the 2025 season, but the wheels are already turning on deals that could be made before this season’s trade deadline which is Nov. 4.

All 32 NFL teams have until 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 4, to finalize any trades. After that, no more trades can occur for the rest of the season. Players can only be acquired via free agency, waivers, or from a practice squad. 

There are numerous players whose names we have heard tossed around. Fans of certain teams would love to see some of their own players move on, but the average fan might not understand why say the Arizona Cardinals likely won’t get rid of Kyler Murray until after the 2027 season. 

Let’s take a look at why Murray will remain a Cardinal and why guys like Kirk Cousins and Alvin Kamara are likely to be playing for new teams before we hit the holiday season.

Murray Will Stay in Arizona

Murray signed a giant five-year, $230.5 million contract extension with the Cardinals in 2022. The new deal showed that Arizona is committed to the former Heisman Trophy winner. He received a $29 million bonus at signing, and his 2025 base salary is $18 million. That number is tied with Detroit’s Jared Goff for the sixth-highest salary in 2025.

There are Cardinals fans who tire of Murray, who is short in stature and consistently inconsistent. Those fans would love to see Murray go, but what they may not understand is that Arizona is locked into their quarterback through the 2027 season. 

In the terms of Murray’s contract, his 2026 salary of $22.8 million is already fully guaranteed. That also means Murray will likely be around on the fifth day of the 2026 NFL league year. That’s the day that his 2027 base salary of $19.5 million becomes fully guaranteed.

Unless the Cardinals could find a team willing to take on the bulk of Murray’s salary and several million in bonuses that are still due (highly unlikely), Murray is Cardinal through the 2027 season.

Cousins Could Be on the Move

We should know by now that Cousins is the highest-paid backup QB in the league right now. Not only is he the highest-paid backup, he’s actually the highest-paid overall with a $27.5 million salary in 2025. 

The Falcons are actually okay with their situation given the injury history of their new starter Michael Penix Jr. However, next year, he’s set to make $35 million in salary. Atlanta definitely wants to dump Cousins. It’s just a matter of when. 

Atlanta has already paid a roster bonus of $10 million for the 2026 season, so they could keep Cousins for the remainder of the season and let him enter free agency. But, the Falcons could also listen to offers from teams like Cincinnati, which lost Joe Burrow for a couple months to an injury. The Browns and a few other teams might want to sacrifice some draft capital for Cousins. 

Who Needs a RB?

Running backs nowadays are almost a dime a dozen unless they have the capabilities of a Christian McCaffrey or Jahmyr Gibbs. Travis Etienne is a player who is not as well known, but he’s currently playing on the fifth year of his rookie contract. Jacksonville picked up the fifth-year option on his contract which is paying him $6.1 million.

Should the Jags wish to keep Etienne this offseason, they will have to pony up even more. They drafted Bhayshul Tuten in the fourth-round this year and they have LeQuint Allen and Cody Schrader on the roster. 

What many NFL teams do these days is save money in the RB room. Tuten is making $840K on his rookie deal this year. Next year, he’ll make $1.005 million and $1.2 million in his fourth year. The Jags could go cheap, trade Etienne, and pick up a few draft picks or add another defender to their defense to add depth.

The other big-name RB likely to be traded before the deadline is the Saints Alvin Kamara. Kamara is only making $2.6 million this year, but next year his salary jumps to $11.5 million. The Saints are awful and Kamara isn’t getting any younger at 30.

New Orleans could easily trade Kamara to a team in need (Arizona?) and acquire a few more draft picks in 2026 and 2027.

The WR Market

There are a number of teams who would love to have the services of the Raiders Jacoby Meyers. He’s the Raiders leading receiver right now and he did make it known that he wants to be traded. His 2025 salary is $10.5 million, and he is set to become a free agent at the end of the season.

He’s the perfect candidate for a team to use to pick up some needed draft picks or to pick up another player that will help them get to the postseason. 

The other name flying around a lot is Tyreek Hill. Unfortunately, Hill just suffered a gruesome knee injury that could ultimately end his career. Hill will make $10 million this season. He’s set to make $29.9 million in 2026 and $11 million of that would be guaranteed if Hill is on the Dolphins roster on the third day of the new league year in 2026. That isn’t happening and trading him with his injury status is unlikely as well. Miami can release him at the end of the regular season.

Defenders Most Likely Moving

Trey Hendrickson isn’t exactly a household name among NFL fans, but he should be. Hendrickson is a menace to opposing quarterbacks. He has recorded 17.5 sacks in each of the past two seasons. In 2025, he has two sacks through four games.

Hendrickson is playing under a one-year deal that he signed before this season. He is earning $16 million in salary and was given $13 million in bonus money. To sign him again for the 2026 season will take more than the $29 million it took to keep him in Cincy this year. That’s why it makes sense to deal Hendrickson to a team like the Cowboys, who are lacking that big-time edge rusher now that Micah Parsons is in Green Bay.

Speaking of Dallas, another defender that could be on the move is CB Trevon Diggs. Diggs is making $8.5 million this season, but he’ll get a raise to $14.5 million in 2026. Diggs has been in and out of the starting lineup this season. He has no interceptions and no pass break ups. He’s been virtually non-existent in what is the worst secondary in the NFL.

If Jerry Jones is smart, he’ll get rid of Diggs while he can still get something in return.