NFL Trade Deadline Deals?

We’re in the thick of NFL in-season trade speculation. The league, media, and fans have tried for years to make the NFL Trade Deadline something that it isn’t. What the trade deadline isn’t is something. It’s nothing. The NFL Trade Deadline will never be the big event that it is in some of the other professional sports. Football isn’t built that way. 

Last year was the first year in which the NFL’s deadline day was something like the day that so many try to manufacture. 12 players changed teams.

T.J. Hockenson 

Chase Claypool 

Bradley Chubb 

Chase Edmonds 

Calvin Ridley 

William Jackson III 

Jeff Wilson 

Jacob Martin

Nyheim Hines

Zack Moss 

Rashad Fenton 

Dean Marlowe 

Bradley Chubb and Chase Edmonds were part of the same deal. Nyheim Hines and Zack Moss were part of another deal. 12 players changed teams in ten deadline deals. Those ten trades doubled the number of deadline day deals of the previous ten years combined.

Deadline Day Trades since 2012:

2012: 1

2013: 1

2014: 2

2015: 0

2016: 1

2017: 3

2018: 5

2019: 2

2020: 2

2021: 3

Compared to the past decade, last year’s deadline day trading frenzy was a significant outlier. Is it the start of a new trend? Will the league, media, and most fans get their wish and see the NFL’s trade deadline become something real? Doubt it.

It’s just so damn hard to incorporate a new player into a football team on the fly in the middle of the season. Sure, it’s possible. Last year, T.J. Hockenson jumped in and became a significant contributor in the Vikings offense on only a few days of preparation. He became an integral player for the team before he even found a place to live. There are far more failed attempts to incorporate a prized, in-season trade acquisition than there are successful attempts. There are far too many moving parts and too much needed coordination for a football team to adjust to new players on the fly. 

This opinion won’t slow the speculation. The NFL loves the attention the speculation brings. The media loves the clicks. Fans love the debate and possibilities. Fans love both sides of the deals. The fans of selling teams love the dreamy draft picks. The fans of buying teams love the dreamy new player. 

It’s the time of the season for all of those that follow the proceedings get worked up for something that’s ultimately NOTHING. Unless, we have a repeat of last year.