Injuries at cornerback have put Riley Moss back in the trade conversation, and one national analyst has already pointed the Denver Broncos starter toward the Detroit Lions before the Nov. 10 deadline.
Moss left Sunday’s 24-14 loss at the San Francisco 49ers with a rib injury. All-Pro Patrick Surtain II went out on a non-contact ankle injury in the same game. Neither injury is believed to be season-ending, but both players are expected to miss time.
Surtain is projected to sit about two weeks, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Moss did not suffer a rib fracture, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported, though his return timetable is still unclear heading into Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
That opens the door for 2025 first-round pick Jahdae Barron, the No. 20 overall selection out of Texas. Barron has spent most of his first two seasons behind Surtain, Moss and slot corner Ja’Quan McMillian.
If Barron holds up while the starters are out, Denver could treat Moss as a movable piece rather than a player it has to pay. ESPN’s Ben Solak floated that idea Tuesday in a look at teams that need help before the deadline.
No defense has been worse against the pass than Detroit’s. The Lions are 2-2 and have allowed 1,308 passing yards and 11 passing touchdowns through four games, both league highs.
“There’s nothing about this pass defense that doesn’t stink,” Solak wrote. “A fully healthy Branch, plus a decided leap in sack rate on all of these pressures, alongside another midseason defensive back acquisition (Broncos CB Riley Moss?) and the continued health of the defensive line … and I could see the Lions’ passing defense getting to average by the end of the season.”
Detroit is allowing 304 passing yards a game. The Vikings lead the NFC North at 4-0. The Bears are 3-1. The Lions and Packers are tied at 2-2, and the Lions rank last in the league in points allowed at 31.8 per game.
Moss, a 2023 third-round pick out of Iowa, started all 17 games in 2025. He finished with 80 tackles, one sack, one interception and 19 passes defensed, tying Carolina’s Michael Jackson for the league lead in passes defensed.
Through four games this season he has 16 tackles, one interception and five passes defensed. He is in the final year of the four-year, $5.4 million rookie deal he signed after going No. 83 overall.
Trade talk has followed him since Denver drafted Barron. Barron has not unseated Moss or McMillian, both of whom were among the better players at their spots in 2025.
McMillian is also in the last year of his rookie contract. In May, the DNVR Denver Broncos Podcast projected a three-year, $48 million extension for McMillian and a three-year, $55 million deal for Moss.
Those figures could rise by $5 million to $10 million if either player reaches the open market, the same discussion noted. Denver has not publicly committed to keeping both.
The NFL trade deadline is 4 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 10. Denver has not said it is shopping Moss. The injuries have simply put the depth chart, and the contract math, back in view with five weeks left to deal.
