The NFL trade deadline is Tuesday, November 10, falling just after Week 9. League executives told FOX Sports they expect a handful of established wide receivers to move, and the team with the clearest reason to sell one is sitting at 0-5.
Quentin Johnston is a Los Angeles Charger, and he is the name that makes the most sense on a roster going nowhere.
The Situation
Johnston, 25, was the 21st overall pick in 2023. He signed a four-year, fully guaranteed deal worth $14,188,786 with a $7,319,116 signing bonus, and the Chargers exercised his fifth-year option on April 28, which puts him under team control through 2027.
That control is the asset. A team acquiring him gets this season and next on a known number.
His 2026 production does not help the pitch. Through four games with two starts he has seven catches for 108 yards and no touchdowns, averaging 15.4 yards a reception with a long of 44. His career line across 50 games is 151 catches for 1,985 yards and 18 touchdowns, including eight-touchdown seasons in both 2024 and 2025. Drops have been the stated knock since he came out of TCU.
The Chargers Have No Case for Keeping Anyone
Los Angeles is 0-5, last in the AFC West, with a minus-45 point differential and a five-game losing streak. One unnamed executive told FOX Sports the Chargers “are the most likely team to pull the plug,” while adding, “They wouldn’t get a lot for them.”
That is the tension. A seller this obvious has no leverage. Another executive noted that some of these receivers “aren’t going to cost a lot more than a Day 3 pick.”
There is also a counterargument from inside the building. A longtime scout told FOX that “Harbaugh has been fairly loyal to players he’s helped acquire,” and that “so there really is no need to panic, yet.” Two league sources separately told Eric Williams the Chargers are unlikely to trade major assets, and one executive, asked flatly whether Los Angeles would deal players, answered with a single word: “No.”
The Rest of the Market
Johnston is one of five receivers FOX named. Marvin Harrison Jr. has since been traded to Houston. Jerry Jeudy remains a Cleveland situation, with one assistant general manager putting it bluntly: “Jeudy is yesterday’s news in Cleveland.”
The other two are worth watching. Brian Thomas Jr., 24, has nine catches for 105 yards and a touchdown through five games for a Jacksonville team that is 4-1 and first in the AFC South, which cuts hard against any trade. Chris Godwin, 30, has 19 catches for 179 yards and no scores for a 1-4 Tampa Bay team, on a three-year, $66 million deal signed in March 2025 that is guaranteed through next season.
What a Deal Would Actually Look Like
Nobody is giving up a second-round pick for a receiver averaging 27 yards a game. The realistic return for Johnston is a Day 3 selection, possibly with conditions tied to snaps or production.
For a team at 0-5 with a fifth-year option already committed, that is still worth doing. Sinking another guaranteed season into a player who has not become a WR1 is the expensive version of patience.
The executives who talked to FOX were clear that the talent evaluation has not changed. One assistant general manager summed up the thinking on all of these names: “if we see talent, we think we can make it work.”
Someone will. The question is whether Jim Harbaugh is willing to let it be someone else.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.