Breaking down the biggest and most impactful moves from the NFL’s trade deadline.
The NFL used to have a tame and sedated trade deadline — seismic moves were few and far between and there was rarely a flurry of headlines pinging from across the league leading up to the last hour.
Now, it’s like a high-stakes fantasy league with almost all of the contenders doing something to bulk up a bit for the stretch run.
Just consider, the Chicago Bears seemingly transformed their defense with one power move and now have the fourth-best odds to win the Super Bowl (+800), per DraftKings Sportsbook. The Jacksonville Jaguars also went all-in mortgaging their future to bolster their defense and now have the third-best odds (+750) to win it all.
The Minnesota Vikings have a new — err, old — quarterback in a move that would have seemed improbable the last couple years but now feels just right.
The Indianapolis Colts traded just about every asset they could expect for the two that made the most sense.
And one of the league’s best general managers managed to stock draft assets while not totally thrusting his team into full rebuild mode.
Let’s dive deeper into all of those storylines and others with 10 NFL Trade Deadline Superlatives from the moves made over the last couple weeks all the way up to the deadline Tuesday afternoon.
Trade That Most Impacts Super Bowl Picture
Chicago Bears Acquire DT Jeffery Simmons From Tennessee Titans
We have two games of sample size already to evaluate this one, and the Bears’ addition of star defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons looks even better than it did when the trade was announced.
Simmons, a four-time Pro Bowl selection and 2025 first-team All-Pro, had 10 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 2 QB hits and 2 pass deflections in those two games — wins over the Seahawks and Buccaneers.
Beyond the numbers, anyone watching those games could see the unmistakable impact he made as a disruptive tone-setting force for what was otherwise a vulnerable and unintimidating defense. These aren’t suddenly the 1985 Bears, but they might just be good enough to win it all.
Simmons didn’t come cheaply. Chicago traded 2027 and 2028 first-round picks and a 2027 fourth-rounder for Simmons and a 2028 fifth-round pick.
Rarely, does it pan out trading two first-round picks for any player (see the Colts’ trade for Sauce Gardner last year), but this one just might.
Chicago has star quarterback Caleb Williams in the third year of his rookie contract (with two more years to go) along with its core of young, talented WR/TEs on rookie deals. This is the time to splurge elsewhere and go all-in to win.
And Simmons might just be the best defensive tackle in football. Per PFF, he leads all interior defensive linemen in sacks (6) and batted passes (6) while ranking fourth in total pressures (29).
Biggest Surprise
Indianapolis Colts Hang Onto RB Jonathan Taylor (And QB Daniel Jones)
Star running back Jonathan Taylor could have been one of the biggest prizes of the trade deadline, but the Colts elected not to move him despite considerable reported interest around the league.
That was a missed opportunity.
As much as Taylor means to the Colts, their roster is depleted to such a dire level that he’s wasted the rest of this season and likely won’t make enough of a difference next year either as the team rebuilds around a new general manager (and likely new head coach).
Taylor is the third-highest-paid RB in the league at an average annual contract value of $22 million, per Spotrac.com, and he just signed a two-year, $44-million extension this summer that runs through the 2028 season.
Could the Colts be competitive again in 2028? Maybe. Or maybe not.
Paying top-of-market rates for a running back is a luxury for teams built to win now — not teams with a broken-down Daniel Jones at QB, a decimated WR corps (after trading away its top two healthy pass-catches in Josh Downs and Keenan Allen), an offensive line that traded away its best player (standout guard Quenton Nelson) a middling defense lacking difference-makers.
Maybe the Colts didn’t like the offers they got for Taylor (given his sizeable contract), but The Ringer’s Tom Pelissero reported that multiple teams offered packages starting with a second-round pick.
That’s a decent return for a running back in his seventh NFL season, who turns 28 years old in January, has a lot of miles on him already, is rushing for a career-worst 4.1 yards per carry this season (down from 4.9 last year) and is only going to be that much older by the time the Colts have a chance to be good again.
It made no sense for Indianapolis to sell off the rest of its assets but not its best one.
The Colts also would have benefitted from finding a taker for Jones (like the Ravens or Vikings), but given how poorly he’s played maybe there simply wasn’t any interest.
Biggest Missed Opportunity
Green Bay Packers NOT acquiring RB Jonathan Taylor
If a second-round pick and more wasn’t going to be enough to get a deal done, then Green Bay was probably right to sit pat, but Taylor to the Packers made too much sense overall.
Green Bay has resurrected its season with five wins in the last six games, QB Jordan Love is playing the best football of his career, the Packers have two stud receivers in Christian Watson and Matthew Golden and the defense is playing impressively even while still awaiting EDGE Micah Parsons’ return.
If the Packers just had any semblance of a rushing attack whatsoever they would look like Super Bowl contenders. Alas, they do not.
Part of that is a shoddy offensive line, which can’t be fixed overnight, but the running backs haven’t done anything to help either.
Green Bay is dead-last in the NFL in rushing at 68.2 yards per game, and after waiting all season for veteran starter Josh Jacobs to be activated (from the commissioner’s exempt list), he now has a finger injury that may require surgery and a stint on injured reserve. He also didn’t impress in the limited time he was back on the field.
Kaleb Johnson gave the Packers’ rushing attack some life with 14 carries for 68 yards and a TD in the win over the Patriots on Sunday, so it is possible for this team to move the ball on the ground. Just imagine how much better it would have looked with Taylor leading the way.
Best Homecoming
QB Kirk Cousins’ Return To The Minnesota Vikings
Kirk Cousins was the Vikings’ starting quarterback for six seasons, but the team gave up on him after his torn Achilles in 2023.
At no point before the last month did it seem remotely possible the two sides would ever have a reunion, but here they are.
After leaving Minnesota, Cousins signed a lucrative contract with the Falcons only to get benched his second season, return to the starting role as an injury replacement and fare well, get released to save money, sign with the Raiders and turn back the clock with one of his best seasons in years.
The Vikings, meanwhile, tried out Sam Darnold for a year before moving on, wasted a top-10 draft pick on the failed J.J. McCarthy experiment before moving on and hoped Kyler Murray could revive his career in Minnesota.
None of those plans worked out, so where did the 6-2 Vikings turn to save their season? Their ol’ (or simply old) Cousins.
As the veteran QB would say, “You like that?!”
As crazy as it would have seemed a couple years ago (heck, even a couple months ago), somehow it all makes perfect sense.
Cousins is improbably on pace for one of the best years of his career at 38 years old — seriously — while passing for 2,340 yards, 20 TDs and 8 INTs in 9 games. His career-high for TD passes is 35, set back in 2020 with the Vikings. He won’t reach his career-high for yards (4,917 with Washington in 2016), but he’s on pace for a top-3 career total.
Minnesota has an elite defense and a putrid passing attack — ranked 31st in the NFL at 160.8 YPG — as Murray has looked totally washed and destined to be a backup QB the rest of his career now.
Cousins knows Minnesota’s offense, had great success with star WR Justin Jefferson in the past seasons together and at the very least gives the Vikings a much higher floor offensively than what they’ve shown so far this season.
And Cousins gets one more shot to lead a contender. Win-win.
Most Obvious Fit Between Player And Team Ethos
OG Quenton Nelson To The Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks moved early to acquire Quenton Nelson from the Colts back on Oct. 27, sending a 2027 third-round pick and 2028 fifth-rounder for the eight-time Pro Bowl and three-time first-team All-Pro standout.
Seattle’s struggles early this season stemmed from an inability to consistently run the ball and subsequently putting too much pressure on turnover-prone QB Sam Darnold. With RBs Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price back from injured reserve, investing in an offensive line upgrade to add one of the best run-blocking guards in the league was the most obvious move Seattle could have made.
If the Seahawks are going to contend for a second straight Super Bowl, the formula needs to again be elite defense and a ground-first offensive attack. Nelson should help them find their identity there again.
Unfortunately, the veteran lineman is set to miss a few weeks following a minor procedure on his knee, but he’s expected back for the stretch run.
Biggest Overpay
Jacksonville Jaguars’ Collective Moves
The oddsmakers sure liked the Jaguars’ series of moves, vaulting Jacksonville to the third-best odds to win it all.
The team added DT Jordan Davis from the Eagles, S Jessie Bates III from the Falcons and DT Davon Godchaux from the Saints to fortify a defense that was already performing well in giving up the second-fewest points (15.1/game) and 10th-fewest yards (318.3/game) in the league.
The Jags lost DT DaVon Hamilton to a season-ending injury in Week 8, though.
It made sense to invest in upgrades and fill holes after a strong 6-2 start, but the cost was exorbitant.
Jacksonville traded a 2027 first-round pick and 2029 second-round pick for Davis, a 2027 second and 2028 fifth for Bates and a conditional 2028 sixth-rounder for Godchaux.
For what it’s worth, PFF has graded Davis as the 39th-best interior defensive linemen this season (64.9; 31 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 8 pressures), Bates as the third-best safety (85.1; 60 tackles, 3 forced fumbles and an interception) and Godchaux 118th among 126th DTs (43.0; 15 tackles, 1 TFL).
But if the Jaguars aren’t at least in the AFC championship game, that’s going to seem like a substantial overpay, considering Bates and Godchaux are unrestricted free agents after the season.
Most Underrated Move
Baltimore Ravens Acquiring QB Jacoby Brissett
It didn’t move the needle outside of Baltimore, but the Ravens have kept their season alive with the addition of QB Jacoby Brissett for the modest cost of a 2027 fourth-round pick and 2028 seventh-rounder (with a 2027 fifth-rounder coming back to the Ravens).
After losing Lamar Jackson indefinitely (and possibly for the season) with a thumb injury and backup Tyler Huntley for the season due to a severe turf toe injury, Baltimore had to make a move.
The Ravens’ roster is good enough overall to get by with even competent QB play, and Brissett can at least provide that.
Just last season, he passed for 3,366 yards, 23 TDs and 8 INTs in 12 starts for the Cardinals. He wasn’t performing quite to that level this year as Arizona’s starter with 1,719 yards, 10 TDs and 7 INTs in eight games, but he steps into a better offense in Baltimore and can get the chains moving for a unit that was grounded to a half the last two weeks with third-stringer Joe Fagnano on the field.
Savviest Seller
Philadelphia Eagles GM Howie Roseman
Eagles general manager Howie Roseman has been one of the best in the business for many years, and he’s managed to respond to a season of setbacks (QB Jalen Hurts’ season-ending blood clots scare, RT Lane Johnson’s abrupt retirement) by setting Philadelphia up for the future without doing a total tear down.
The Eagles chose not to trade RB Saquon Barkley or other prime assets, and yet they stock with draft capital to upgrade the roster with 10 picks in the top two rounds of the next three drafts.
That includes the haul from the Jaguars for Davis, the 2028 second-rounder (and 2027 fifth-round pick) from the Ravens for center Cam Jurgens earlier this season and the trade of WR A.J. Brown to the Patriots (for a 2028 first-rounder and 2027 fifth-rounder) in the offseason (which looks even better as Brown has been beset by injuries in New England, including a concerning degenerative knee condition).
Happiest Players On Deadline Day
Former Indianapolis Colts WRs Josh Downs And Keenan Allen
Like Andy Dufresne making it through the sewage tunnel and out of Shawshank, former Colts receivers Josh Downs and Keenan Allen had to be crying out to the heavens at their own taste of freedom Tuesday.
From the 27th-ranked passing offense in Indy, Downs is now catching passes from Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City while Allen gets to play with Brock Purdy in San Francisco.
Downs, who officially requested a trade and has 33 catches for 354 yards and a TD this year, was acquired by the Chiefs along with a 2027 seventh-round pick for 2027 fourth- and fifth-round picks. Primarily a slot weapon, Downs should immediately challenge Xavier Worthy on the WR pecking order behind Rashee Rice.
The 49ers, meanwhile, needed to ship only a 2027 sixth-round pick to the Colts for Allen. The 34-year-old veteran has 40 catches for 350 yards and a TD and should be a big help for a San Francisco WR corps depleted by injuries with WR1 Mike Evans dealing with ribs and Achilles injuries, Deebo Samuel missing the last month with a hamstring injury and Christian Kirk on injured reserve with a torn meniscus.
Most Mishandled Trade Asset
Jacksonville Jaguars WR Brian Thomas Jr.
The Jaguars again chose not to trade former first-round pick Brian Thomas Jr. despite continuing not to utilize the talented wide receiver much.
Thomas, the No. 23 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, looked like one of the best young receivers in the league as a rookie when he caught 87 passes for 1,282 yards and 10 TDs in his debut season.
The new coaching staff last year didn’t seem to value Thomas as highly, and injuries also factored into him having a disappointing season with 48 catches for 707 yards and 2 scores. This year, he’s barely been a factor at all with just 10 catches for 117 yards and 2 TDs in eight games.
The Jaguars could have netted a significant return for Thomas a year ago, or over the offseason, and they surely could have gotten something notable back even now. Instead, they chose to keep him, which will look even more confounding if his role doesn’t change substantially.
