'Get Your Popcorn Ready' - NFL Insiders Predicting Wild Trade Deadline

It’s becoming a lot less rare for there to be some kind of blockbuster mid-season NFL trade involving Pro Bowl and All-Pro players. But with the Chicago Bears going all-in with their trade for DT Jeffery Simmons, some NFL insiders believe that an arms race of sorts could be on the horizon.

Taking to X in the aftermath of the trade, which saw the Bears send two future first-round picks to the Tennessee Titans for Simmons, NFL insider Jordan Schultz reported that he has spoken to multiple team executives and now believes that the period leading to the November 10 trade deadline “will be even crazier than anticipated.” Schultz explained that Chicago’s “all-in move” is expected to have a domino effect that encourages other teams to make bold moves in response.

“After talking to several NFL teams and GMs over the last hour, my expectation is the trade deadline will be even crazier than anticipated. Chicago’s all-in move will cause other teams to react and try to be bold as well,” Schultz wrote. “In the words of one source: ‘All hell is going to break loose over the next week and a half. Get your popcorn ready.’”

Are there any more moves to make?

That may sound nice as a text message, but it’s hard to find other players that are believed to be available that are likely to offer the kind of big impact that trades for guys like Simmons, Quenton Nelson and DeForest Buckner will.

The name on everyone’s board is Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor. The three-time Pro Bowler and former NFL rushing champion is the last remaining superstar on a Colts team that has been engaged in a fire sale this week. Nelson and Buckner were moved as the team retools for an upcoming rebuild with a new regime this offseason. Taylor could be the final piece to the puzzle for a team that has a weak rushing attack.

But Taylor might be the only one.

Few, if any, of the other defenders on the market are big-impact stars that people would see as game-changing. And the only other offensive players are wide receivers, who are always hit-or-miss.

Nobody is going to trade a quarterback if he’s any good.

Then again, there’s usually one player who nobody projected as a trade target who comes out of nowhere and gets dealt. Most of the time he’s average, but sometimes he’s great.

Are we really going to need to “get the popcorn ready” for the trade deadline?