A bad loss can make noise at the deadline, but it doesn’t always change the plan. That was the thread running through James Palmer’s comments as he walked through how several contenders may handle Tuesday’s trade market.
Palmer, who works Thursday night games for Prime, joined “Stokley and Evans with Mark Schlereth” the morning after the Ravens’ loss to Jacksonville, and the first question was obvious: does that defeat push Baltimore into a fire sale of Derrick Henry, Mark Andrews and others?
His answer was no.
Palmer said he didn’t get the sense the Ravens were heading in that direction, and he pointed to the circumstances around the game. Baltimore lost both of its quarterbacks to injured reserve just days before kickoff and had to start a third-stringer who had never made a start.
“They knew kind of what they were getting into this week,” Palmer said.
He added that people inside the building told him Henry isn’t going anywhere. Baltimore still believes it has enough to compete in the AFC, especially with divisional games stacked late on the schedule. Lamar Jackson has not had surgery and has no timetable, but Palmer said he was told the team is not shutting the door on a return.
“We’re not closing the door on him returning this season,” Palmer said, relaying what he heard.
Palmer then widened the lens and made the longer-term case against moving Henry just to get a modest return. In his view, dealing a player like that for a day-three pick doesn’t necessarily help Baltimore with the bigger issue.
“Does that help you sign Lamar in the offseason?” Palmer said. “Probably not.”
The hosts agreed, with one noting that at 4-5, the Ravens are not the kind of team that tears everything down.
Denver, Palmer said, is in a very different spot. The Broncos are a real contender, which means they should be active. But he also pushed back on the idea that the answer has to be a headline-grabbing swing, especially with Jonathan Taylor drawing so much attention.
He said he isn’t sure Denver is even the favorite for the Colts running back, largely because the asking price is so steep.
“The price is high for Jonathan Taylor, really high,” Palmer said.
Instead, he pointed to the kind of move that doesn’t dominate headlines but can pay off later. Palmer said the Broncos are looking at multiple spots, including tight end, and argued that depth additions can matter just as much by the end of the year.
“Sometimes it may not be the huge splash, sexy move you love,” Palmer said, “but at the end of the year, you go, ‘man, I’m sure glad we added depth there.'”
Kansas City, meanwhile, is dealing with a different kind of pressure. Palmer said the Chiefs need help at receiver, and he wouldn’t be shocked if they reached out to Jacksonville about Brian Thomas Jr. He doesn’t expect that to go anywhere, though, because Jacksonville doesn’t want to send him to an AFC team.
“Why make the Chiefs better?” Palmer said.
He also came away from Kansas City’s loss to the Broncos with a broader concern. Palmer said Chris Jones looks like he is finally showing his age, and the offensive line remains unsettled. If the Chiefs don’t make a move by Tuesday, he said, “this might be the Chiefs team they’re rolling with.”
Palmer said the market is still taking shape, with several teams sitting on two or three wins and not expecting to be there. He said executives told him Sunday’s results will help determine how they approach the deadline.
That’s the real tension here: sell for what’s next, or buy for what’s now. The hard part is finding the move that helps this season without costing the next one.
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