It was a week of big, and little, moves within the league.
Nov. 3 was quite an eventful day in the United States. With elections taking the spotlight, it’s easy to forget the NFL had their trade deadline on the same day. Nevertheless, the deadline has passed and all trades have been locked for the remainder of the season.
Nine trades were made, but a majority of them revolved around one topic: strengthening contending teams. As always, there are teams in the league with bad records, poor offense and little hope of advancing to the postseason. Those teams played the role of sellers, as they hoped to acquire players and picks to benefit their future. While contending teams were buyers, hoping to pick up star-caliber players to strengthen their shot at the Lombardi Trophy.
The trading session began on Oct. 22 when the Minnesota Vikings traded defensive end Yannick Ngakoue to the Baltimore Ravens. In exchange, the Vikings picked up this year’s third-round pick and the 2022 fifth-round pick.
The Ravens have had a strong start to the season with a 5-2 record, ranking second in the AFC North. While Ngakoue’s arrival may lead to less reliance on blitzes for the Ravens and a more diverse defense, the Vikings benefited tremendously from this trade.
The Vikings have had a rough season, sporting a 2-5 record as well as the fourth-worst defense in the league. Perhaps these future draft picks will help the Vikings rebuild in the next few years and return with a stronger team in the future.
The next day, the New York Giants’ Markus Golden was traded to the Arizona Cardinals. The outside linebacker was traded so the Giants could obtain the Cardinals’ sixth-round pick in this year’s draft.
This marks the return of Golden to the Cardinals after he played for them from 2015-18, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. The Cardinals recently lost outside linebacker Chandler Jones in a season-ending bicep injury. While Jones is able to return next season, Golden has clearly been brought on to fill the gap Jones’ injury leaves.
Also hoping to fill a void left by an injured player, the Dallas Cowboys gave defensive end Everson Griffen to the Detroit Lions for their conditional sixth-round pick. The Cowboys have had an abysmal start to the season with a 2-6 record, and with the Lions’ Trey Flowers was placed on the injury reserve for at least the next three weeks. Griffen’s job will be to adjust to his new team and fill Flowers’ shoes.
Yet another trade surrounded by injury is the trading of the New York Jets’ linebacker Avery Williamson and a seventh-round draft pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers. In exchange, the Jets received a 2022 fifth-round pick. Miraculously, Williamson went from the worst team in the league with the Jets’ 0-8 record to the best with the Steelers’ 7-0 record. While it’s good for him, it shouldn’t be overlooked that Williamson must fill the gap linebacker Devin Bush’s injury brings, as he remains on injured reserve.
The Cincinnati Bengals traded defensive end Carlos Dunlap for Seattle Seahawks offensive linemen B.J. Finney and a seventh-round pick. The Seahawks currently have the worst defense in the league, and the addition of Dunlap is meant to strengthen their run defense and pass rush.
The Ravens, Cardinals, Steelers and Seahawks were all squads who were looking to strengthen their teams this season, but by focusing on the short term they may have given the other teams they traded a chance to be stronger in the long run. The other teams’ picks allow for young players to be molded into their system.
Other trades had their own reasonings behind them. But, of course, the main goal is to make teams stronger. Thus was the case with the Los Angeles Chargers sending cornerback Desmond King to the Tennessee Titans and the Miami Dolphins sending Isaiah Ford to the New England Patriots.
While the Titans and Patriots have had two very different seasons, a commonality between the two of them is that there is still room for improvement. King has a chance to strengthen the Titans’ 25th ranked defense, while Isaiah Ford can become a tool to open up the passing lanes for New England’s offense. It now comes down to the teams adjusting to their new additions and taking full advantage of the opportunities they have.
The last two trades made before the deadline were mostly inspired by one thing: opportunity. Be it playtime or paytime, the opportunities players were or were not receiving led to a couple of these trades, and while they weren’t incredibly game-changing, they still set the tone for the rest of the season and for seasons to come.
The San Francisco 49ers traded linebacker Kwon Alexander to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for linebacker Kiko Alonso and a conditional fifth-round pick. Alexander, recently out with an ankle injury, has been eating money from the franchise after being signed for four years under a $54 million contract. Ultimately, the 49ers decided enough was enough and let him go, saving $8.6 million dollars in cap space. Should Alexander heal, however, he may be a great defensive asset to the Saints, who are making a push for a Super Bowl win this season and are currently holding a 5-2 record.
One of the last trades made before the deadline was made by the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs traded running back DeAndre Washington and a seventh-round pick. Washington was sent to the Dolphins, while the Dolphins gave the Chiefs a sixth-round pick.
Despite being a talented running back, the former Raider only played one game while with the Chiefs, earning a total of five rushing yards all season. They simply didn’t need him at their now loaded position of running back. However, this trade to the Dolphins equips Miami with a strong, experienced, injury-free running back that is more than capable of inflicting damage on the field.
With eight weeks left in the season and rosters not shifting until next offseason, we’re looking at a slightly different ball game. Will teams with new players start to make a comeback? Were others too eager to solve a “now” problem over-focusing on their long-term prospects? Did one team make a playoff-making decision? Only time will tell.