Eight defensive players we'd rescue at the NFL trade deadline

Yesterday we took a look at a group of eight offensive players who deserved to be moved from their current, underperforming teams to contenders. Of course, the NFL isn’t only about offense, so today, we will pull defensive players from their teams and move them around the NFL.

A quick reminder, this is completely fantasy without regard to salary cap, realistic possibility of the trade happening, and without concern for the feelings of the fans who are losing the only good player from their teams when said player is added to the Patriots, Broncos, Cowboys or Packers. We just want to save these players from the cruel fate that is their current team and put them on a team that could use their talent.

NaVorro Bowman, San Francisco 49ers

Bowman is an All-Pro talent when he has even the most mediocre of supporting players around him. In his time with the Niners, he lucked out playing next to Patrick Willis and behind Justin Smith for the first few years of his career. Both of those players have retired, and Bowman has faced two significant injuries in his career that have derailed his stats due to losing the better part of two complete seasons.

Bowman is going to make Denver’s already insane linebacking group just that much better. Playing alongside Brandon Marshall, DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller will allow him not to have to shoulder the entire load of being the most consistent and dominant person in the front seven. The Broncos' defense was already insanely talented, and it's much more so now that Denver gets another All-Pro talent with a chip on his shoulder.

Luke Kuechly, Carolina Panthers

Kuechly is second in the NFL in tackles with 74, yet that’s not the most impressive thing about his game. Kuechly is a solid leader on one of the better defenses in the NFL and has been thought of in the group of the most talented linebackers in the NFL for the past few years. He's dominant, he's intelligent and he’s always around the football. His sideline-to-sideline speed is up there with the best of them, and he creates match-up nightmares for offensive coordinators week in and week out.

Oakland needs another leader in its front seven, and Kuechly fits the bill. The Raiders are 6-2, but they’re in the bottom five in rushing yards and passing yards allowed per game. Kuechly knows how to prepare and knows how to win, and while Jack Del Rio has the Raiders pulling out some closely contested games, Kuechly could help push that team over the edge and would certainly be an upgrade on the defensive side of the ball.

Thomas Davis, Carolina Panthers

“But you just took Kuechly from the Panthers — now Davis too?!” Chin up, sport. This is a business, and the Panthers are floundering. At 2-5, nobody on that team is happy, and nobody on that team is having a good time. Davis is one of the better middle linebackers in the NFL, and his pairing with Kuechly allowed him free range to do what was needed without the responsibility of being the main person responsible for the defense. He’s Carolina’s version of NaVorro Bowman when Bowman entered the league.

Davis is going to stay in the NFC South and be given a chance to exact revenge on the Panthers twice a year. He’s going to the ATL. Atlanta is solid on the offensive side of the ball, but the team is missing a leader. Davis can provide just that. Smart, quick and solid, Davis doesn’t accept anything less than the best from himself or his teammates. After seeing how great a defense could be while in Carolina, he is going to be charged with helping shape the future of the Falcons organization and make Atlanta hard-nosed and gritty, just the way the Falcons' defense should be.

Jamie Collins, Cleveland Browns

The Browns don’t deserve Jamie Collins. The Patriots traded him to the Browns Monday morning, and he’s leaving before he was even able to unpack his bags. Green Bay needs help at every level of its defense, and Jamie Collins plays defense, so, off to Lambeau he goes.

Collins is a solid defender, and Julius Peppers is getting old. He can help that linebacking group in ways Peppers can only remember fondly. Being from New England, we know Collins can play defense; after all, Bill Belichick is one of the best defensive minds in the NFL. Now it’s up to Dom Capers to figure out how to use him correctly. If Capers can find that magic formula and get a little more help (don’t worry, Dom, I got more coming your way), the Packers might have a top defense for the first time since, well, dang, I guess we can just say the Packers might have a top defense.

Eric Weddle, Baltimore Ravens

Weddle finally found his way out of San Diego, even as desperately as he wanted to stay. The Chargers weren’t too sad to see him go, but the Ravens will be. Weddle is an impact player and roams the safety position as well as anybody in the league; plus he has a glorious beard to add to his résumé. His time in San Diego allowed him to shine without much else surrounding him defensively, so he deserves a shot to play with a solid team and have a chance at winning a ring.

Weddle isn’t going to Titletown even though the Packers could use a safety in the worst way. Instead, he is going to try and help Pittsburgh get its seventh ring. I know this seems gluttonous, but playing for Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh couldn’t fit Weddle’s style any better. And while Baltimore isn’t the worst team in the AFC, the Ravens aren’t leading the division and are looking up at Cincinnati.

C.J. Mosley, Baltimore Ravens

Mosley is one of the best young linebackers in the NFL, and he plays for the Ravens. I swear I’m not decimating this team in retaliation of the 2012 Super Bowl (I have moved three players from San Francisco), but this Ravens team just isn’t great and leaves a lot to be desired on both sides of the ball. In real life, there’s no way you move Weddle and Mosley, especially since the Ravens' defense is playing so well, but in Jamie’s Fantasy GM World, Mosley becomes a part of the Detroit Lions.

The Lions are playing solid ball up in Detroit and have been for about a year now. They are solid but not great offensively and could use some love on the defensive side of the ball to take some pressure off Matt Stafford and company. For some reason, they can’t identify talent defensively, so we will do it for them. Mosley locks down the linebacking corps and immediately impacts the organization as a whole. No apathy will be tolerated as he played for John Harbaugh, one of the more respected and well thought of coaches in the NFL right now. He'll bring all he learned from Harbaugh to Detroit.

Mosley will help the defense as a whole, playing quarterback for the defense as the middle linebacker, and while that defense may not be stellar in year one, it’ll improve. That’s a step in the right direction.

Casey Hayward, San Diego Chargers

Their secondary is already thin, but so is just about every other position on the roster. Chargers fans will just have to enjoy the beaches, Gaslamp District and Padres games because the football team won’t be worth watching again for a while. The Chargers' seemingly inevitable move to Los Angeles also means that the fans should get used to that drive up I-5, and what better time to start than right now?

Hayward is second in the NFL in interceptions and one of the lone bright spots on an injury-riddled Chargers team, and no one deserves to waste away under the Spanos family. That said, we are going to send Hayward back to his home state of Georgia, and he’ll play for the Falcons too. The Falcons are tied for 29th in pass defense, and they could use some help to maintain their slim lead in the NFC South. Adding Thomas Davis earlier and Casey Hayward now — two players who can provide some veteran leadership in their respective areas — allows the Falcons to feel a little more confident in their scheme and allows those players to help self-police some of the younger players who may not have the proper mind-sets yet.

Ndamukong Suh, Miami Dolphins

Last but not least is everyone's favorite player to hate, Ndomukong Suh. Suh has had a checkered history filled with questionable antics and solid, dominant play. Since moving down to South Beach, he’s been a little more quiet and reserved, but that mean streak is still buried in there somewhere. Some of his time in Detroit was spent playing next to Nick Fairley and in front of a mediocre group in the secondary, which means that if he can find another solid group to play with that has a chance to win, maybe he comes back to life and becomes the player we once knew minus all the baggage.

Let’s give Suh a chance to really shine and move him to Green Bay as well. A key cog up front, he will help the linebackers by taking up space and forcing the play to go away from him — as long as the linebackers fill their gap assignments. The Packers could see their already solid run defense drop to an even more impressive number than their 74.4 rushing yards allowed per game. Suh could have been moved to New England, but Belichick and Matt Patricia seem to have things flowing well up there, so let’s give the Packers some hope in this fantasy land since it doesn’t seem like they have much in real life.