Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Deadline Deals

The NFL trade deadline passed yesterday at 1pm PT. Despite the weeks of buildup, it was more of a trading flurry than a trading frenzy. On deadline day, only six players found new teams.

1. Montez Sweat, DE
The Chicago Bears acquired Sweat from the Washington Commanders for a 2024 second-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick. 

2. Josh Dobbs, QB
The Minnesota Vikings acquired Dobbs and a conditional seventh-seventh-round pick from the Arizona Cardinals for a 2024 sixth-round pick.

3. Ezra Cleveland, G
The Jacksonville Jaguars acquired Cleveland from the Vikings for a 2024 sixth-round pick. 

4. Chase Young, DE
The San Francisco 49ers acquired Young from the Commanders for a 2024 third-round pick. 

5. Donovan Peoples-Jones, WR
The Detroit Lions acquired Peoples-Jones from the Cleveland Browns for a 2025 sixth-round pick. 

6. Rasul Douglas, CB
The Buffalo Bills acquired Douglas and a fifth-round pick from the Green Bay Packers for a third-round pick. 

The highlight deal of the day was the Vikings deal for a quarterback. After the season-ending loss of Kirk Cousins to an Achilles tear, the Vikings made the best of a terrible situation. Rookie Jaren Hall is the only healthy quarterback on the active roster. He will start this week against the Atlanta Falcons. Nick Mullens is on injured reserve for at least another week with a back injury. Back injuries are rarely predictable. Sean Mannion is on the practice squad. Hopefully, he stays on the practice squad. For merely depth purposes, the Vikings had to do something. There were no appealing options among the free agent quarterbacks. Trading substantial draft capital for a more established quarterback (Ryan Tannehill, Jameis Winston, etc.) this late in the season wasn’t appealing either. Adding Josh Dobbs provides security if Hall flourishes and solid potential if he falters. The Vikings quarterback situation feels much better today than it did on Monday. 

It was expected that the Commanders might move one of their defensive ends. Each was scheduled to be a free agent in March and it wasn’t expected that the Commanders would or could sign both. It felt inevitable that one would be traded. It was a surprise that both were traded. It was also a surprise, at least I was surprised, that the trades combined only returned second- and third- round picks in 2024 and a fifth-round pick in 2025. 

The 49ers continue to add to their defensive line. Nick Bosa and Drake Jackson were supposed to become an edge-rushing force for the 49ers. I guess the 49ers decision-makers have already lost patience with the supposedly promising Jackson in his second year. They added Randy Gregory in an earlier trade. I guess that Young was too intriguing to pass up on deadline day. The 49ers have a load of third-round compensatory picks from the departures of coaches and executives. Why not toss one to the Commanders for Young? On paper, the new 49ers defensive front is ridiculous.

Nick Bosa
Javon Hargrave
Arik Armstead
Chase Young

With Randy Gregory and the still promising Drake Jackson in reserve. 

Reportedly, the 49ers had also agreed to a trade with the New York Giants for cornerback Adoree Jackson. The trade didn’t go through as it wasn’t submitted to the league before the deadline. 

The six deadline day deals capped off a modest trading frenzy over the past few weeks. 

Pre-deadline day trades: 

September 20
Minnesota Vikings acquired RB Cam Akers from Los Angeles Rams for draft picks. 

October 5
New England Patriots acquired CB J.C. Jackson from Los Angeles Chargers for draft picks.

October 6
San Francisco 49ers acquired DE Randy Gregory from Denver Broncos for draft picks.
Miami Dolphins acquired WR Chase Claypool from Chicago Bears for draft picks.

October 10
Atlanta Falcons acquired WR Van Jefferson from Los Angeles Rams for draft picks.

October 18
Kansas City Chiefs acquired WR Mecole Hardman from New York Jets for draft picks. 

October 23
Philadelphia Eagles acquired S Kevin Byard from Tennessee Titans for S Terrell Edmunds and draft picks.

October 30
Seattle Seahawks acquired DT Leonard Williams from New York Giants for draft picks. 

Atlanta Falcons acquired DT Kentavius Street from Philadelphia Eagles for a swap of draft picks. 

In total, 16 players changed teams in 15 trades during the 2023 NFL season. It was a step back from the relative trading frenzy of 2022. 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 

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
2022: 10
2023: 6

While this year’s six deadline day deals was a significant drop from last year’s trading frenzy, it was still much more active than most of the previous ten years. 





No comments:

Post a Comment