- Neville Gallimore – I’m starting with Neville Gallimore. He’s a player that we chose in round 3 in 2020. He had a solid rookie season before an injury in a preseason game forced him to miss much of 2021. Unfortunately for him, since then, we’ve become very well built on the Dline to the point where he has become, shall we say, potentially expendable. However, for a lot of teams, he could probably start. Additionally, his competition at DT consists of Mazi Smith (1T), Hankins (1T), Osa (3T), Golston (3T who can also be a DE), Bohanna (1T – likely won’t make it), and Alacron (likely wont make it). I think we probably keep 4 DT. I think he is a player who will struggle to make this team, but could start on other teams. So, if I were the FO, I’d see if we could trade him for say a 6th round pick that can become a 5th if certain conditions are met. By doing this (and if a team were to accept), we’d be able to have a later pick that can either be used to get another late picked player or can be used to trade for a player if needed as the season goes on.
- Kelvin Joseph – this is a player that has special teams value who is still raw, but, unfortunately for him, is also in a similar issue to Gallimore. We have picked up a lot of depth at CB, and I think trying to offer him for a 7th that can become a 6th could be good. This allows us to move him before training camp and pick up a late draft pick so we get something for him.
- Dorrance Armstrong – I sense that this one might get some flack, but hear me out. He’s been a solid contributor for us, and I think he can actually get us a decent return. He’s had 131 tackles and 16 sacks since joining as a 4th round pick in 2018. He’s still relatively young. However, unfortunately for him, his contract is up at the end of the season, and I think he is faced with a lot of competition at DE. I’d move him in a trade because his competition at DE consists of DLaw, Fowler, Sam Williams, Parsons, Golston (who can also sub as a 3T), Fehoko, and the UDFA land. That’s 8 DEs! I doubt we keep more than 6 DEs going into the season. Land seems to be someone that’s catching attention in minicamps so far. So, I’d see if we can get a good return for him. He’s a player that I could see us fetching a nice return, especially with his age (25) and what he’s done so far. I could see a team like the Panthers flipping at least a 4th for him with what they have at DE.
- Sean McKeon – okay, he’s probably the least likely on this list to get a good return. However, I think, given his blocking abilities, that we could potentially get a 7th round pick for him. We probably only keep 4 TEs, and his competition consists of the following: Ferguson, Schoonmacher, Hendershot, Fant (rookie UDFA), Seth Green (likely wont make it), and John Stephens Jr (likely won’t make it). We probably will only keep 4 TEs. So, I think we can at least get a 7th for him, and that’d be decent return.
- Markquese Bell – I know, I know. I like him too and we have just gotten our safety spot to being a strength. However, here’s the issue. His competition consists of Kearse and Wilson. Additionally, one could also argue that DO is also a tweener at LB and SS. This means that Bell hasn’t got much room at safety. He looked good in TC last year and in the preseason. So, I’d see if we can get at least a 7 for him and take it. It saved the trouble of a cut, and we would end up with a pick.
Once again, these are just thoughts that I had. I think trading at least one of these players could be a good way to add draft capital for next year. I think the most likely of these that we should trade is probably Armstrong. I like him, but I think there’s just so much depth at DE for us, and teams like the Panthers, Lions, Bears, and the Falcons have terrible defences. I think anybody those 4 would likely be willing to offer a mid/late pick for Armstrong. I’d say the Panthers likely make the move. When I look at the players on the Panthers currently at DE, I think Armstrong would rather easily make that roster. Of course, I just felt this would be fun to look at our roster and look at players at spots where we have a lot of depth with whom we could get draft pick return.