The lead-up to the Nov. 5 NFL trade deadline has already featured a good deal of action, as wide receivers Davante Adams, Amari Cooper, DeAndre Hopkins and Diontae Johnson all changed addresses within the last two weeks. Monday, the Kansas City Chiefs added pass rusher Josh Uche via trade with the New England Patriots to further bolster their defense.

The names of a number of prominent players, like the Las Vegas Raiders’ Maxx Crosby and Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett, have bounced around the rumor mill in recent weeks. Barring a change of mind by their team decision-makers, however, neither of these marquee pass rushers is going nowhere.

Intrigue continues to swirl around several other players who find themselves stuck on losing teams or in a logjam for various reasons. Rival teams with championship aspirations or gaping holes for the immediate or long term could enter the market for roster additions.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the most prominent players/potential trade candidates being discussed in NFL circles, followed by a prediction of whether they will find themselves on the move or staying put by next week.

Prediction: Staying put

Young faces an uncertain future in Carolina despite the fact the Panthers moved up to take him first overall in 2023. Benched after two games this season, he sat for the next five before returning to the starting lineup last week after Andy Dalton suffered a sprained thumb in a car accident. Young delivered another mixed bag in the 28-14 loss to the Denver Broncos, completing 24 of 37 passes for 224 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

The 2025 draft class isn’t teeming with top-level quarterback talent, so debate has swirled about how willing other teams would be to offer up something for Young. The Panthers, however, don’t seem ready to admit just yet that they erred so greatly in their Young selection. They’ll likely hang onto him and let him play out the string in hopes that he displays improved decision-making and execution.

Would Detroit, Atlanta or Arizona make a deal for Jadeveon Clowney? (Bob Donnan / Imagn Images)

Prediction: Moving on

A high-level pass rusher can turn a good defense into a great defense, and teams with championship aspirations could look to make a move at the deadline to increase their chances of achieving their goals this postseason. NFC front-runner Detroit needs pass-rushing help with Aidan Hutchinson lost to injury for the season. Atlanta, which leads the NFC South, also needs help at edge rusher. Arizona, which remains in the thick of things in the NFC West, also has been calling teams in search of pass-rushing help.

The 31-year-old Clowney’s skills are being wasted in Carolina, where the Panthers rank among the worst in the league on defense. A year after tying a career high with 9 1/2 sacks for the Baltimore Ravens, Clowney has only one sack for Carolina. Clowney still has something left in the tank and can help a team in the pass-rushing department. Part of the problem is how bad the Panthers are against the run. Opponents are taking advantage and running at Clowney, who at this stage in his career seems less than enthusiastic about serving as a run stopper. Clowney is believed to prefer an exit, and given the opportunity to stockpile picks for their talent-depleted roster, the Panthers will probably oblige.

Prediction: Staying put

The sixth-year veteran has fallen out of favor just one year after signing a three-year, $30 million contract with Chicago. He started 11 games last season, and two of the five he has appeared in this season, but has been a healthy scratch the last two weeks. The Bears would like to move on from the 28-year-old Davis, and he could probably step in for a team with injuries along the interior of its offensive line. But it’s hard to see a team willing to part with much for a player now reduced to a backup guard. The Bears say they still value Davis because of the depth he provides, and they just might have to settle for keeping him unless another team becomes desperate.

The Browns may keep Za’Darius Smith in hopes of a strong run in the season’s second half. (Ken Blaze / Imagn Images)

Prediction: Staying put

Teams have called the Browns about numerous players. And while it’s already been made clear that Garrett is untouchable, his bookend — Smith — leads the team with five sacks and is generating interest. The Browns could listen to inquiries about the 32-year-old Smith, but there’s a hesitancy to unload him as well because of a belief within the organization that a season turnaround isn’t out of the question. That belief will likely prompt the Browns to hang onto Smith.

Prediction: Staying put

The 31-year-old Smith hasn’t gotten as much playing time as he would like this season under new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, so his name has recently come up in the trade rumor mill. The Packers are winning games and still view Smith as a valuable member of their pass-rushing rotation, however. With 2 1/2 sacks, he’s one of six Green Bay players with at least two sacks this season, and his 10 quarterback pressures rank second on the team. The Packers aren’t inclined to weaken their pass-rushing unit by subtracting talent as they find themselves in a heated NFC North race with Detroit and Minnesota.

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Prediction: Moving on

Despite back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons to kick off his career, Etienne has seen his workload diminish this season, thanks in part to a few nagging injuries and the simultaneous ascension of Tank Bigsby. At 2-6, the Jaguars can kiss any playoff aspirations goodbye, and they would do well to send Etienne to a team in need of improved running back depth now to get a head start on the roster implosion that is sure to come this offseason.

Prediction: Moving on

The Adams acquisition makes Williams expendable in New York. Williams spent the first half of the season working his way back into the flow after recovering from surgery to repair an ACL torn in Week 3 of the 2023 season. The usually sure-handed veteran had 11 catches for 160 yards on 19 targets in six games, but then didn’t receive a target on Sunday despite logging 36 snaps. Williams, who has averaged 57 catches for 879 yards (15.5 yards per reception) and five touchdowns a season, certainly could help improve the depth of a team looking to mount a postseason run.

(Top illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photos of Bryce Young, Travis Etienne and Mike Williams: Brooke Sutton / Getty Images, Gary McCullough and Adam Hunger / Associated Press)

Game 1 — Yankees 5, Dodgers 3

Game 2 — Yankees 10, Dodgers 3

Game 3 — Dodgers 9, Yankees 8

Game 4 — Dodgers 3, Yankees 2

Game 5 — Yankees 2, Dodgers 1

Game 6 — Dodgers 8, Yankees 6

Game 7 — Yankees 5, Dodgers 2

Two of the most memorable plays in baseball history brought the Dodgers wins in Game 4 and 6, but the Yankees stood tall when the Series ended. In Game 4, Yankee pitcher Bill Bevens, although he averaged a walk an inning, had allowed no Dodger hits and only one run entering the last of the ninth. Bevens retired two in the ninth, but walked his ninth and 10th batters (one intentionally), then lost both his no-hitter and the game as Dodgers pinch-hitter Cookie Lavagetto doubled home Spider Jorgensen and Eddie Miksis to even the Series at 2-2. The Yankees won Game 5, but the Dodgers won a dramatic Game 6. The Dodgers built an early 4-0 lead, but the Yankees took the lead in the fourth. The Dodgers regained the lead, 8-5, in the sixth, but with two on in the bottom of the inning, Joe DiMaggio hit a long fly to left that looked like a sure homer. Left fielder Al Gionfriddo — in what turned out to be his last major league game — raced to the bullpen fence (415 feet from home plate) to rob DiMaggio of the home run. New York scored a run in the ninth, but thanks to Gionfriddo’s catch it was not enough to win the game. In Game 7, the Yankees won, 5-2.

Memorable moment: DiMaggio kicking at the infield dirt after Gionfriddo’s catch, a rare on-field show of emotion by DiMaggio.

Pitching stars: Spec Shea was 2-0 with a 2.35 ERA in two starts for the Yankees. Hugh Casey was 2-0 with one save in six relief appearances for the Dodgers.

Batting stars: Joe DiMaggio hit two homers but batted only .231 for the Yankees. Outfielder Johnny Lindell led New York with seven RBIs, hitting .500. Pee Wee Reese hit .304 with four RBIs for the Dodgers.

The Indianapolis Colts’ decision to replace young franchise quarterback Anthony Richardson with 39-year-old Joe Flacco offers a window into a poorly understood NFL world.

The decision makes no sense on the surface because Richardson has started only 10 games, including six this season, and the variance in his play was predictable. The organization at every level knew when drafting Richardson at No. 4 in 2023 that he would alternate between sensational plays and confounding ones while hopefully figuring out how to play the position after starting only 13 games in college.

The team has a 5-5 record in Richardson’s starts, better than the 4-6 average for the last 130 quarterbacks making their first 10 starts, per TruMedia. Richardson’s statistics through 10 games mirror those for Buffalo Bills star Josh Allen to the same point of Allen’s career.

These seemingly logical touchstones distract from the reality facing the Colts. They are not important parts of the equation Indianapolis is trying to solve.

“What a fascinating management dilemma to be in,” a former executive from one of the Colts’ division rivals said.

Richardson taking himself out of the team’s Week 8 game against the Houston Texans and then explaining casually afterward that he was tired and needed a breather left the organization with an excruciating choice: bench Richardson, or lose even more credibility with a locker room that already knows the offense runs more efficiently with Flacco in the lineup.

Seemingly every former NFL coach and player with a platform has weighed in to express just how profoundly unbelievable it was for an NFL quarterback, as the face of the franchise, to casually take a break in the middle of a hard-fought divisional game.

“I can’t even wrap my mind around the fact that you are asking out of a game,” former 12-year offensive lineman Damien Woody said in his role as an ESPN analyst.

Woody’s reaction and the many others like it reflect long-established NFL sensibilities that Richardson might only now be beginning to grasp.

“That position, rightfully or wrongfully, defines your whole team,” a former high-ranking executive with extensive NFL playing experience said. “And if he is defined as that guy that raises his hand and comes out when it gets tough, you can’t have that.”

Those unfamiliar with NFL team and locker room dynamics will point to comparisons such as the 10-start comps for Richardson and the Bills’ Allen, suggesting Indianapolis is sacrificing the future for short-term gains. They don’t see any upside in riding Flacco to what might wind up being, at best, a short-lived playoff run.

Those on the inside see things differently. To them, the Colts decided the price for leaving Richardson in the lineup under these circumstances was higher than the price for replacing him. They chose to save the locker room now, in hopes of saving Richardson later, because they understand the tricky dynamics at work.

“If you enable him now, you lose everything,” the former high-ranking executive said, “because you sent the wrong message to your team and you sent the wrong message to him, that his behavior is acceptable. He will never recover from it.”

Can Richardson recover now?

“It’s really hard to develop a quarterback who is so far behind in learning to play the position that he’s in frantic mode all the time,” a personnel evaluator said. “This kid is truly a project more than a developmental player.”

Those who believed that about Richardson entering the draft believe it even more now. But if there was a decent chance Richardson might develop, that could still be the case.

“Maybe I’m being naïve,” the former high-ranking executive said, “but I think it is doable, and if you do it, you’re better than ever.”

In other words, if Richardson does possess the qualities required for him to become a consistent performer and true professional at what might be the most challenging position in professional team sports, those qualities will prevail in the end. But none of that will matter if he learns early on that it’s OK to do what he did as the face of the Colts’ franchise.

“The players are the smartest ones in the building,” a coach from another team said. “They know how hard he is practicing. They know how much extra film he is watching. They know how much he cares. They know it’s weird for a quarterback to step out of a game, and they know it’s weird to say, ‘I needed to take a little break,’ and not act like anything is wrong. They know he is probably not ready to play.”

Richardson is not the first highly drafted young quarterback to get benched early in his career, but he is probably the first to lose his job under these specific circumstances. The Colts have denied that Richardson’s opt-out against the Texans played any role in the decision to bench him, which is understandable for them to say, but not believable.

“If you cover for him, you can do more damage,” an executive from another team said. “Those players know. The fact that they saw it on TV, if you tried to cover for him, you risk dividing your team.”

And so the Colts’ quarterback adventures continue following Andrew Luck’s surprise 2019 retirement. What happened this week is the latest in a chain reaction of unplanned events:

• Luck retires, shocking the organization.

• Convinced the roster was ready to win, the Colts cycled through veteran stopgaps Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan, only to lose ground.

• As frustration mounted, owner Jim Irsay snapped, replacing coach Frank Reich with former player Jeff Saturday before eventually hiring current coach Shane Steichen.

• General manager Chris Ballard, hired in 2017 and under increasing pressure to solve the post-Luck QB riddle, took a risky swing on Richardson despite the QB’s thin resume.

• Steichen’s job was to maximize Richardson, but in doing so last season, the quarterback kept getting hurt. Indy sought to find the right usage balance this season, but Richardson got hurt anyway, opening the door for Flacco, who shined in relief, adding to the tension.

Then came the tap-out in Houston, and here we are again, with the Colts in turmoil at the position where stability is everything, and with Richardson’s career somehow at a crossroads after only 10 starts.

It’s a rough spot to be in. Even if Richardson gains a fuller understanding of his professional obligations, he still must prove he can stay healthy and pass accurately enough to win consistently.

“If you salvage him, you’ve nailed it,” the former high-ranking executive said. “You have brought him back from nowhere. He is better than ever then. He has seen how bad it could be and it makes him appreciate everything about being the guy.”

(Photo: Tim Warner / Getty Images)

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