NFL Trade Rumors: Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos Could Deal Perennial Pro Bowlers

There hasn’t been much NFL news since it was reported that the Washington Redskins would trade for Alex Smith and move on from Kirk Cousins, but this could just be the calm before the storm. A couple of star players that have spent their careers with just one team might be headed elsewhere when free agency officially begins in March.

If the latest trade rumors are any indication, the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos could both deal perennial Pro Bowl players that were keys to their recent Super Bowl runs. Both teams had disappointing 2017 campaigns and missed the playoffs.

Seattle failed to reach the playoffs after a stretch of five years in which they won at least one postseason game. The “Legion of Boom” was plagued by injuries, and it might not be long before the unit is broken up.

Safety Earl Thomas indicated that he has his eyes on joining the Dallas Cowboys when he becomes a free agent in 2019. There were rumors a year ago that the Cowboys and Seahawks might complete a trade that involved cornerback Richard Sherman, and CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora has reported that Seattle would entertain offers for the veteran this offseason.

It might be harder to deal Sherman this time around, considering his season ended with a ruptured Achilles in November. He has a cap hit of $13.2 million for the 2018 season before becoming a free agent next year. Sherman made the Pro Bowl every season from 2013-2016.

The same kind of uncertainty that surrounds Seattle’s vaunted secondary can be used to describe Denver’s wide receiving corps. NFL general managers believe Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders are available in potential trades, according to La Canfora.

Few pairs of teammates have been as productive as the Broncos’ top wide receivers in recent years. From 2014-2016, both players topped the 1,000-yard mark, even when Denver didn’t have a very good quarterback. The team’s quarterback situation took a turn for the worse in 2017, and Sanders and Thomas totaled just 1,504 yards and seven touchdowns.

Sanders signed a three-year contract extension that runs through the 2019 season a year and a half ago. Denver made Thomas one of the highest-paid receivers in the league a couple of years ago, and he’s got a combined cap hit of nearly $30 million over the next two years.

Both Sanders and Thomas are 30 years old. If Denver is able to trade one of them, it would give them more space under the salary cap to sign Cousins.