The 2025 NFL trade deadline was much more active than any of us anticipated, with the New York Jets providing us with a pair of surprising trades.
New York shipped out star cornerback Sauce Gardner and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams in separate moves on Tuesday to give the Jets major draft capital. The Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys were the beneficiaries of the Jets’ sudden fire sale, but did they give up too much for the defensive standouts?
Let’s dish out grades for each team involved in Tuesday’s most notable trades on deadline day.
Colts trade for Sauce Gardner from Jets
Colts receive: CB Sauce Gardner
Jets receive: 2026 first-round pick, 2027 first-round pick, wide receiver Adonai Mitchell
This is a much bigger trade than most expected on Tuesday, and it’s an all-in move for the Colts, even though their first-rounders are likely to be in the bottom 10 each of the next two years. Coming off a six-turnover loss, it feels a little panicky for Indianapolis, but this is a solid longterm addition that will have major weight in the playoffs as it tries to make an extended postseason push.
Jets trade Sauce Gardner to the Colts, Is this a good trade?
Tuesday’s deals should seal the No. 1 overall pick for the Jets, and they now have two first-round picks and two second-picks in 2026 and to go along with three first-round picks in 2027. Can Aaron Glenn survive long enough to see all these picks turn into stars on the field?
Jets: B+
Colts: B
Cowboys trade for Quinnen Williams from Jets
Cowboys receive: DT Quinnen Williams
Jets receive: 2026 second-round pick, 2027 first-round pick, defensive tackle Mazi Smith
Why are the Cowboys buying? They’re 3-5-1 and have a 4% chance to make the playoffs, per The Athletic’s playoff simulator. The net of this and the Micah Parsons trade is to add two older, expensive defensive tackles to avoid paying a younger, elite edge rusher, and to move up one round in 2026. Their defense will still be a limiting factor with Williams up front, and they’re setting themselves up to be 7-9-1, but still not a playoff team with fewer draft assets to show for it than they did before Tuesday.
It’s hard to see the Jets sell what was not long ago a top-10 defense for parts like this, but they have a considerable war chest of draft assets in the next two years.
Jets: A-
Cowboys: C-
Seahawks receive: WR Rashid Shaheed
Saints receive: 2026 fourth-round pick, 2026 fifth-round pick
The price feels a little high, but I like this for Seattle. Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak was in New Orleans in 2024 and Shaheed averaged 17.5 yards per catch in his offense. He’s down to 11.3 yards per reception this year, and the Saints can’t afford to re-sign him.
Rashid Shaheed will reunite with former Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, who helped him have a strong 2024 season, and will be catching passes from Sam Darnold, who has suddely become one of the league’s best passers. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
Seattle is now overloaded at receiver, with Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Cooper Kupp, Shaheed and rookie Tory Horton, who has five touchdowns all of a sudden. To see what they got for Shaheed, it’s silly to think the Saints gave up a fourth and seventh to the Broncos before the season to get Devaughn Vele, who has five catches for 39 yards in a half-season in New Orleans.
Seahawks: B
Saints: B-
Jaguars receive: WR Jakobi Meyers
Raiders receive: 2026 fourth-round pick, 2026 sixth-round pick
Jacksonville’s offense needs a spark. Travis Hunter is injured, and Brian Thomas Jr. has not been the playmaker he was as a rookie, so this is just getting Trevor Lawrence a reliable, high-volume receiver. If the Jaguars can get the Meyers that had eight touchdowns in 2023 or the one who topped 1,000 yards in 2024, it’ll be much better than if they get the guy who has 352 yards and no scores in a bad Raiders offense right now. Jacksonville had 13 draft picks in April, so it helped itself to get rid of some early.
Las Vegas should be making more deals to get draft assets so it can try to be competitive in Pete Carroll’s second season. He turns 75 next September, so there should be some urgency to make this roster his, and better.
Jaguars: C+
Raiders: B-
Cowboys trade for Bengals‘ Logan Wilson
Cowboys receive: LB Logan Wilson
Bengals receive: 2026 seventh-round pick
The return is so small that it’s a fairly harmless trade. The Cowboys might have the second-worst defense in the NFL, and they’re giving something up to get a player benched by the only defense worse than their own. They’re likely getting DeMarvion Overshown back soon, so this isn’t going to be a game-changer either way.
Jets trade Quinnen Williams to Cowboys for a 1st-round pick
It’s a lost season for the Bengals, so good on them getting something for a player who wasn’t part of their plans moving forward.
Bengals: B+
Cowboys: C-
Chargers receive: OL Trevor Penning
Saints receive: 2027 sixth-round pick
Los Angeles has lost both starting tackles to season-ending injuries, so this just helps to make that be less of a vulnerability as it makes a playoff push. It’s short-term help for the Chargers at a very low cost.
As for Penning, the Saints have used two first-round picks on tackles since drafting him, which tells you a lot. New Orleans gets a small asset, and congrats to Tyler Shough, who lost his No. 2 receiver and a starting lineman while trying to convince the Saints not to use an even higher pick on a quarterback in April.
Chargers: B
Saints: C+
Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.
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