Predicting Six NFL Star Players Who Could Change Teams Soon

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The Bengals held on to Marvin Lewis too long, and they’ve held onto Green too long. Long one of the top WRs in the game, Green’s trade value has plummeted. He's now 31 and coming off a season in which he played just nine games due to a toe injury. Further, Green suffered ligament damage in his ankle last month and will miss the early part of the regular season. Sadly, things went downhill quickly for the former Georgia Bulldog.

So, Cincy might be forced to sell low if it moves Green now. But there’s a new regime in place, and it’s time to cut their losses and invest in future assets (stockpile draft picks, Cincy!) while building around their promising young skill position players like Joe Mixon and Tyler Boyd. 

Consider the upside of acquiring Green for a potential new team. Before his injury-shortened season last year, Green had been a stalwart on the field for the Bengals, averaging 14.6 games played per regular season. And, despite playing with a weak supporting cast and drawing the best D-backs in the league, Green has consistently surpassed the 1,000-yard mark. 

His strong play is much of the reason Cincy made the playoffs in each of his first four seasons, but he's never won a playoff game. With his career winding down, you have to imagine he's hungry to make a run.

Green is a seven-time Pro Bowler and, at 6’4” with still-impressive speed (it was sub-4.5 when he entered the league), he’s a constant matchup problem and headache for opposing defensive coordinators. He may not be a top-shelf WR in the league anymore -- the mantle is being passed on to younger pass-catchers like OBJ, DeAndre Hopkins, and JuJu Smith-Schuster -- but, if he rehabs well and comes back healthy, he could still have something real to contribute on the field. 

Imagine Green joining forces with Russell Wilson in Seattle, or lining up opposite Davante Adams with Aaron Rodgers slinging the ball to that dynamic duo. Suddenly, those already-imposing offenses would be a serious problem.

McCoy popping up on this list probably won’t surprise many. Shady wasn’t himself last year. After scoring 14 touchdowns in 2016 and then fueling Buffalo's surprising run to the playoffs in 2017 -- a year in which he posted 1,138 yards and six touchdowns -- McCoy's output took a nosedive last season. He posted merely 514 rushing yards and three touchdowns. His receiving numbers also took a sizable hit, as he went from 59 catches for 448 yards and two TDs in 2017 to 34 catches for 238 yards and no scores in 2018. 

Over the past three years, his yards per carry average has sunk from 5.4 to 4.0 to 3.2.  For LeSean McCoy, the downward trend in pretty much every statistical category is obvious.

But numbers don’t tell the whole story. It was evident just from watching him last season that his signature burst and elusiveness were gone. At 31 years old, the former Eagle is clearly past his prime.

For those reasons and more (he’s also still dealing with troubling off-the-field issues), McCoy is not a very strong trade candidate. We can’t imagine there are many teams out there dying to fork over anything of value for Shady (the case would’ve been different, of course, a couple years ago, when he was one of the top threats in the game). But he is a candidate to move on...because he might get cut.

Buffalo has a few decent options in its backfield, including veterans Frank Gore and T.J. Yeldon and rookie Devin Singletary. Someone is going to be the odd man out, and considering McCoy’s larger-than-life personality and the new Buffalo regime’s apparent attempt to avoid distractions (quite a departure from the Rex Ryan days, eh?), it wouldn’t be a surprise to see McCoy end up as the one on the chopping block. 

Cutting McCoy -- who has the third-highest salary-cap hit of any running back in the league this season -- would save a young Buffalo team about $7 million in cap space. At this point, it’d be more surprising if he made the squad.

Gordon’s dissatisfaction with his current contract has been the subject of sports-talk fodder for a month now. Gordon has played four NFL seasons, but he's never garnered more than $3.4 million in total salary. He's owed $5.6 million for this year, but he knows his value is significantly higher than that. For example, Todd Gurley is receiving $14.4 million, and Le'Veon Bell is getting $13.1 million. Even younger players (Saquon Barkley) and aging, past-their-prime vets (McCoy) will make more than Gordon. As Chris Rock said, That ain’t right!

At 26 years old, the former Wisconsin Badger and 2014 Heisman winner is in his prime. He's made two Pro Bowls, and he's proven himself to be a dynamic threat as a runner and receiver in the Chargers backfield (which is why he’s also one of the biggest assets in fantasy). He’s also aware that he’s playing for a team whose title window -- with Philip Rivers (going on 38 years old) not getting any younger -- is now.

So the Chargers star wants to play the leverage game and cash in on his value. He wants some bread. But the problem is: the leverage still isn’t in his favor. 

The Chargers -- knowing how quickly running backs can be replaced (hello, Kareem Hunt) and how quickly they decline (Shady), wary because of that Gurley deal (which already looks like a mess one year later), and aware that they have two other promising backs (Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson) on the roster -- aren’t giving in. Hence: a stalemate.

Gordon officially requested a trade through his agent earlier this month, and his agent said there's a "strong possibility" Gordon will sit out at least part of the regular season (the Le’Veon Bell Approach) unless he gets a deal he wants, one that’s “market-value.” The most likely resolution for this standoff is a trade, with Gordon then signing a long-term deal with his new team -- a situation much like that of Mack last year. Some potential landing spots: Chicago, Green Bay, Tampa Bay, and Buffalo. 

Gordon is one of the best backs in the game. His move to a new team would instantly affect the playoff picture.

It's hard to believe Hill only recently turned 25 -- it feels like he's been in the league forever. A fifth-round pick in 2016, "Cheetah" showed himself to be a deep-field threat immediately. But he really burst out as a complete receiver in his second season, surpassing the 1,000-yard mark with 76 receptions and seven touchdowns. 

He continued his run of dominance with a new QB last year, tearing up the league with Patrick Mahomes. As one of Mahomes' two go-to targets (the other being Travis Kelce), Hill caught 87 balls for 1,479 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also rushed 22 times for 151 yards and a score, and had one TD as a return man. He was arguably the most dynamic weapon in the league. He seems to have a turbo button that everyone else lacks.

This offseason has been an eventful one for Hill. For starters, the child-abuse case involving Hill and his son generated constant headlines (the NFL recently announced Hill won’t be suspended, though the Chiefs had suspended him from team activities in April). Then the wide receiver was carted off the field with a leg injury during training camp. The injury doesn’t appear to be too serious, but it’s still something to monitor -- and it undoubtedly sent some Chiefs fans into a full-blown panic attack.

The Chiefs have a real shot at the Super Bowl this season (they’re tied for the best Vegas odds with the Patriots). Mahomes looks like a bona fide MVP contender for years to come. There’s no question the team’s prospects of winning a ring this year or in the coming years would be strengthened by keeping Hill around. But you have to wonder if, at some point, the Chiefs will deem Hill more trouble than he’s worth (his history of off-the-field issues stretches back further, as he pleaded guilty to domestic assault after allegedly punching his pregnant girlfriend in December 2014).

KC made the right move by cutting ties with Kareem Hunt. That situation was more cut and dry, but this one could end similarly. The Chiefs might want to get rid of Hill while they can still receive a ton of value in return, instead of constantly sweating the possibility of an eventual PR nightmare that could force their hand into cutting him.

The No. 1 pick in the 2014 draft, Clowney took a little bit of time to find his footing in the NFL. He struggled with a run of injuries (particularly to his meniscus) in his first year and only played in four games. Then he had a good-but-not-great sophomore season, recording 40 tackles and 4.5 sacks. 

But when he took off, he really took off. In 2016, he was named a first-team All-Pro and claimed the No. 49 spot on the NFL Top 100 Players list, as voted on by his peers. He's been a force since entering his third season, racking up 9.5 and 9.0 sacks in 2017 and 2018 while pairing with J.J. Watt to form arguably the most fearsome pass-rushing duo in the NFL. 

Though the South Carolina product has proven to be a monster on the field, his contract has been a point of contention this year. In March, the Texans franchise-tagged him, but he’s been holding out for a new, long-term deal. For a long time, it’s seemed possible that, like the situation with Gordon, Clowney would instead sign that deal with a new team after being traded. 

The prospects of a trade are murky at this point -- if it was going to happen this offseason, it probably already would have occurred, and reports indicate Clowney may give in and return to the team soon. Nonetheless, that hasn't put an end to the speculation. The Texans have multiple needs -- particularly on the O-line -- and a Clowney trade could help shore up their roster for an expected playoff run behind Deshaun Watson. Some teams that have popped up as potential trade partners: the Dolphins, Steelers, Eagles, Colts, and Ravens.

Yes, Bengals players bookend this list!

Poor Andy Dalton. He seems like a great guy. He’s had a decent NFL career, too! Twice he's surpassed 4,000 passing yards, and once he even tossed 33 touchdowns. But, with him going on 32 years old and coming off an injury-plagued season, and with the Bengals looking ahead to a new era, it's time for Cincinnati to move on.

The Bengals drafted Ryan Finley out of NC State in the fourth round of this year's draft, and he could be the franchise QB in waiting. Presumably, Cincy would want to keep Dalton around for a year or two as a mentor, but if the right offer arrives in their world, the Bengals would be wise to strike. They’re not going to win anything notable with this core (sorry, Cincy fans), and they should be ready to start a new chapter at QB if the right opportunity presents itself.

It might seem ridiculous to think Cincy could receive a valuable lot in return, but Dalton is only the 19th-highest-paid signal-caller in the league, and he makes a good deal less than guys like Alex Smtih, Joe Flacco, and Nick Foles, meaning he’s on a rather team-friendly contract. If a contending team’s starter gets hurt early in the season or if a team lacking a solid QB suddenly sees a window for contention open up, Dalton could draw their attention as a respectable stopgap.

Zac Taylor (a former QB himself and the Rams’ quarterbacks coach last season) has said all good things about Dalton. There’s no reason to think the Bengals are dying to offload the 2011 second-round pick, or Green for that matter. But these moves just make sense. It’s time for the Bengals organization to think about the future and get something in return while their aging big-name players will still garner value on the NFL trade market.