The 2024 NFL offseason could end up being a wild time. Even though we’re far away from that, let’s take a very early look to see what could happen. Depending on how the 2023 season goes, teams will act accordingly in 2024.
In recent years, there seems to be more and more movement with teams trying to win the arms race to brace for a potential Super Bowl run. We’ve seen an insane amount of player trades lately, and elite player trades at that.
The 2024 NFL offseason could be more of the same, and I think these three things could happen and make national headlines when they do.
2024 NFL Offseason: 3 crazy things we can see happen next year
Arizona Cardinals earn #1 overall pick in 2024, trade Kyler Murray
2024 NFL mock drafts have already been going around even though we haven’t seen the 2023 class take a snap yet. There does appear to be a scenario where the talent-deprived Cardinals lose enough games to earn the #1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Well, Caleb Williams is clearly the top QB in the 2024 class and has already drawn comparisons to Patrick Mahomes. Could the Cardinals decide that they want to reset themselves at QB with a new regime in town and trade Kyler Murray, who is rehabbing from a torn ACL?
According to overthecap.com, trading Murray as a post-June 1st trade would save the Cardinals a whopping $38.8 million against their cap. Resetting their QB situation and saving tens of millions of dollars might be an attractive thing for Arizona.
Denver Broncos cut ties with Russell Wilson
It would be a hard financial pill to swallow, but it would be somewhat possible for Denver. If Russell Wilson doesn’t show much improvement in year two with the Broncos under Sean Payton, Payton not having any ties with Wilson might be enough to just let him go and start fresh.
Denver would have to eat $35.4 million in dead money and they would not save anything on their 2024 cap number, so you can see how this might be a decision they want to avoid, but if Wilson doesn’t improve much, why would Denver want to keep him on that current contract?
They might decide that it’s best to just rip the Band-Aid off and to simply get it over with and turn the page.
Las Vegas Raiders trade Davante Adams
The Las Vegas Raiders traded for Davante Adams during the 2022 NFL offseason and it seemed like a perfect fit. Adams filled a need for them and got to play with his college teammate in Derek Carr. Well, the Raiders decided to move on from Carr and instead signed Jimmy Garoppolo.
Adams has recently voiced his displeasure with what’s been going on lately within the organization, and I think Garoppolo is a significantly worse QB than Carr.
If the Raiders’ season goes south in the 2023 NFL season, Adams surely would not want to remain on the team, and the Raiders could save as much as $17.5 million on their 2024 cap number by trading Adams, which would be some stellar cap savings.
I think there are a few other major things that could happen in the 2024 NFL offseason, but I think these three would be the most notable.