The NFL trade deadline is always exciting because players end on the move as teams start to accept this isn’t their year. That said, not everybody should be buyers at the trade deadline. Some teams are going to find that out the hard way when the second half of the season is less promising than the first. Here are some teams that shouldn’t be fooled into giving up draft capital to chase a championship window that might not be open just yet.

Cleveland Browns

Cleveland shouldn’t be measuring this team by beating the Ravens without Lamar Jackson or needing five fourth-quarterback comebacks to have a winning record. They need to ask themselves how they measure up against the AFC’s elite. Right now, they can't confidently say they're truly one of the best in the conference. Could this be the year they go on a run to the AFC title game? It’s not impossible. But it feels more realistic that the other shoe will drop and when it inevitably does — because Cleveland just can’t have anything nice — the misnomer of the first half of the season will soon feel like a distant memory. 

The Browns have the NFL Draft capital to go and improve the defensive line, add secondary depth or even find a better quarterback, but it doesn't mean they should give all that away after one good season. They should only make that move if they really feel like they can win the Super Bowl and they won’t have that answer nine weeks into the season. 

Las Vegas Raiders

This was never supposed to be the year the Las Vegas Raiders turned into contenders. In fact, their four-game losing streak goes to show they’re not quite ready to be contenders yet. Because they’re still in the playoff hunt, it would not surprise me if the Raiders decided to make some moves to see if they can stay alive in the playoff race. They need help in the receiver room badly and if they make that type of move, it will show they’re speeding up their championship window. 

When you look at the rest of this division, though, how likely is it the Raiders can clinch the wild card? The AFC North has all four teams above .500 and the AFC South will have one guaranteed playoff spot and then the AFC East will probably have two teams. It’s hard to see there being enough room for the Raiders. That said, they could feel good enough about the second half of their season. 

Realistically, I could see them finishing with eight or nine wins, which I don’t think will be enough to get into the playoffs. The way things are right now, it may take 10 or 11 wins for wild card teams to get in. The Raiders are outside of that and going all in on this year will only slow them down from catching up to Denver and Kansas City. 

Houston Texans

The Houston Texans shouldn’t be sellers at the NFL trade deadline. They shouldn’t be buyers either. This season is pretty much a lost cause and trying to salvage it with desperate moves just doesn’t make sense. This roster is good enough to reach the playoffs as is, they’ve just been underperforming. That’s not to say some more additions wouldn’t hurt, but getting desperate in their situation would simply leave them wishing they held on to the draft capital in the end. 

Houston can still make the playoffs and any moves they make aren’t necessarily going to put them in any better position. They’re better off retaining the draft capital than unnecessarily giving it up.

New England Patriots

New England might feel the pressure to go and add a bunch of pieces to this roster, but the truth is they're probably good without having to do that. Granted they could absolutely benefit from receiver help, outside of that, they should focus on simply winning the games left on their schedule. They're far better than they started the season and that should give them the confidence their team is good enough to win now. It's hard to say that they shouldn't go out picking up any major need they can, but it's also hard to say they should just give away draft capital hoping it turns into successful roster building.

The Patriots should absolutely improve their receiver room, as injuries have given Drake Maye a far worse selection of weapons than what he'd thought he'd have this season. To be buyers means they're going to be aggressive in adding to this roster and they'll only look back and ask themselves why they made all these moves when execution was their biggest problem all along.