The NBA saw a wild seven-team trade, and now an NFL analyst wanted to see if he could come close to emulating that.
While he didn’t do any seven-time proposals, CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin did suggest a four-team trade between the Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions, Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns.
Here’s the breakdown:
- Bengals get: WR Justin Jefferson (Vikings), DE Julian Okwara (Browns)
- Vikings get: WR Tee Higgins (Bengals), CB Greg Newsome II (Browns), 2026 first-round pick (Bengals), 2026 third-round pick (Lions)
- Lions get: EDGE Trey Hendrickson (Bengals)
- Browns get: 2026 fourth-round pick (Lions)
Benjamin admits this trade would be “the most outlandish” of the ones he cooked up, but he boldly goes with it anyway.
The Browns get the least interesting return in this trade, but that’s not totally shocking because they aren’t giving up any elite players. For a decent starting cornerback and a backup edge rusher, a fourth-round pick is fair.
The Bengals pairing Justin Jefferson with Ja’Marr Chase would be unfair, to say the least, and Cincinnati gets help along the edge after unloading Trey Hendrickson to Detroit, a team that desperately needs an upgrade across from Aidan Hutchinson.
This is exactly the kind of go-for-it deal we’d love to see the Lions make in order to boost their chances at finally winning a Super Bowl.
The Vikings could use more help at cornerback, but there is zero chance they would ever give up Justin Jefferson to get that done. Tee Higgins is a good player, but he’s not Jefferson by any stretch of the imagination. The two draft picks are cool for Minnesota, but the team is already in good shape with 2026 picks.
Realistically, we could see the Lions, Bengals and even the Browns getting involved in a trade like this, but the Vikings would likely be a hard “no.”
