The Week 7 NFL slate provided us with many surprises. The New England Patriots, Chicago Bears, New York Giants, and Denver Broncos all entered the week with one win and left with two wins. The Atlanta Falcons are in first place. The Buffalo Bills might be on the verge of collapse. It's all weird.
As we approach the midway point of the season, with the Oct. 31 trade deadline circled on every calendar, it's time for some teams to make difficult decisions. Franchises will have to weigh the benefits of a postseason push against the long-term upside of trades and draft picks.
Teams at the bottom will have to decide if it's time to throw the towel, or if the Detroit Lions' 2022 campaign is at all replicable. Teams hovering in the middle will have to decide which direction to go. There's no use in hanging around the middle. It is time to push the chips in with a blockbuster trade, or time to reset for next season?
Here are three teams that should commence the fire sale right now, without second thoughts.
3. Indianapolis Colts
This is officially a gap year for the Indianapolis Colts, who will be without rookie QB Anthony Richardson for the remainder of the season due to a shoulder injury. Gardner Minshew and company put together a valiant effort in Sunday's 39-38 loss to the Cleveland Browns and their top-ranked defense. Some might even say the Colts were robbed.
Still, the fact remains. It's time to kick the proverbial can down the road.
Sunday's loss drops the Colts to 3-4 on the season, a full two games behind the first-place Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC South. With Richardson out of commission, it's difficult to have faith in the team's offensive ceiling. Minshew is a career journeyman with a limited skill set. The Colts aren't necessarily out of it, but there's every reason to put stock in next season as the official launching point for the next era of Indy football.
Jonathan Taylor was the talk of the trade rumor mill for weeks before his extension. Still, the Colts have plenty of intriguing veterans — especially on defense with DeForest Buckner, Shaquille Leonard, and others — who would command high returns on the trade market. Offensively, it wouldn't be unreasonable to test the market for a veteran wideout like Michael Pittman, who is in a contract year.
The Colts might have enough juice to keep their season afloat in the weeks to come, but it's difficult to say with certainty. Indianapolis shouldn't necessarily gut the roster, but there shouldn't be many untouchables aside from Richardson. If the price is right, the Colts should operate with the longview in mind.
2. Las Vegas Raiders
The Las Vegas Raiders lost in rather embarrassing fashion, 30-12, to the lowly Chicago Bears and undrafted rookie QB Tyson Bagent. Any time you're on the wrong end of the "This Replacement Rookie QB is the Future" storyline, it's a tough beat. The Bears are not a particularly good team, and neither are the Raiders.
Sure, Jimmy Garoppolo is due back next week. But it's Jimmy Garoppolo. How much faith can the Raiders honestly have in him? Especially with the offense continuing to break down in critical moments. Davante Adams is publicly restless. Owner Mark Davis may not agree, but Josh McDaniels has done very little to assure the fanbase that he's ready to lead Vegas successfully into the future.
On paper, the Raiders are a veteran team built to win now. In actuality, it's a flawed bunch of misfit parts not remotely ready to contend with Kansas City in the AFC West, much less the rest of the NFL. The Raiders are a mediocre, extremely fringe wild card threat at best. At worst, they're already a bottom-dweller. It's time to lean in.
Adams has been deemed unavailable, but that probably shouldn't be the case. It's time to listen to Garoppolo offers if there are any. It's time to give Aiden O'Connell a look at QB. It's time to clean house on defense, even if that means Maxx Crosby, Bilal Nichols, and others get tossed into trade conversations. There's a big appetite for pass-rushers around the league right now.
The Raiders should probably consider changes to the coaching staff and front office, too. It's hard to have faith in that group top-to-bottom right now. A hard reset is the correct course of action.
1. Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are coming off their best game of the season, a 30-12 beatdown of the Raiders. Tyson Bagent is now 1-0 for his career, and the noise inside and outside the fanbase is palpable... is it time to pull the plug on Justin Fields?
Frankly, that was a valid question before Week 7. It's probably too early to have any real confidence in Bagent as the long-term solution, but it's not too early to look at Chicago's place in the standings, consider the likes of Caleb Williams and Drake Maye on 2024 draft boards, and get to thinking. It's time for the Bears to commence the fire sale, and this is the best possible week to do so.
It can start with Fields. Even if he's a placeholder, Bagent clearly has enough talent to keep the offense passably competent until the Bears bring in his replacement. Fields put together a couple solid weeks before the injury and he's still a tier-one athlete, which should mean he has a market. There is no shortage of QB-needy teams.
Beyond Fields, it's time to have a frank conversation about the veterans on offense. The D.J. Moore trade was supposed to elevate Chicago to the next level, but it didn't. Teams around the league will still pay top dollar for a veteran receiver with Moore's track record. Darnell Mooney should get looks too.
Chicago has a couple of veterans on the offensive line who can be easily discarded considering the poor overall performance from that unit this season. On defense, names like Jaylon Johnson and Tremaine Edmunds stand out as potentially lucrative trade bait.
The Bears should feel good about Sunday's win, but if anything, it boosts the value of key pieces right before the trade deadline. It's time to Crumble for Caleb.
