NFL Trade Rumors: Tight ends a coveted asset
NFL trade rumors are heating up as the deadline approaches
NFL trade rumors have trickled out after the Buffalo Bills traded Marcell Dareus to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a sixth-round pick. The hot names this year are mostly on the offensive side of the football, namely at the tight end position.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport broke multiple stories early Sunday morning involving two tight ends either on the trade block or receiving interest from across the league.
Seattle’s Jimmy Graham and Detroit’s Eric Ebron were both named by Rapoport as players who could be on the move before this week’s deadline.
Houston was the team directly mentioned with Graham in a possible swap for left tackle Duane Brown, who recently ended his holdout. Seattle has been looking for a veteran left tackle for multiple seasons, having previously been connected with Browns star Joe Thomas.
Graham is in the final year of a four-year $40 million deal originally signed with the New Orleans Saints prior to being traded in 2015. With a $10 million cap hit ($7.9 million in salary) this season the Seahawks would have to unload Graham to clear cap space for Brown’s $5 million hit.
#Seahawks have had talks involving #Texans LT Duane Brown, who is in SEA today. Could Jimmy Graham fly home with the #Texans? Unlikely but…
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 29, 2017
Houston still has approximately $9 million in cap space so they can afford to bring on Graham’s deal to give Deshaun Watson another target.
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As for Ebron, Rapoport says two teams have contacted Detroit about possibly unloading the 24-year-old tight end. Ebron is in the final year of his rookie contract but has the fifth-year option available worth a reasonable $5.194 million.
Cincinnati or Baltimore could be teams with interest in adding a young pass-catching tight end. The Bengals have a major question with Tyler Eifert undergoing another back surgery and the Ravens haven’t found a consistently healthy tight end in recent years.
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New Orleans and Jacksonville are two other potential trade destinations for Ebron if he is in fact available.