A trade deadline that NFL observers anticipated would be a snoozer actually had some headline names change teams.
Two surprise teams sitting atop the NFL standings made impact moves, showing they expect to contend at the end of the season. Meanwhile, two bottom feeders unloaded talented players for valuable draft picks to continue their rebuilding process.
The New York Jets‘ fire sale headlined all the moves from deadline day. They traded All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts for two first-round picks and wide receiver Adonai Mitchell before shipping Pro Bowl defensive tackle Quinnen Williams to the Dallas Cowboys for a first-round pick, second-round pick and defensive tackle Mazi Smith.
The moves signal that the 1-7 Jets are not only waiving the white flag on the 2025 season, but they hit the reset button once again on a challenging rebuilding project in New York by getting rid of two cornerstone players. However, a pair of people around the league I spoke to liked the moves for the Jets.
“The Jets now have a future with picks coming up,” a longtime NFL scout told me. “But Sauce can also plug and play, resurrecting himself to what he was his rookie season. It’s good the Jets are ready to shake things up, but no telling what a young head coach (Aaron Glenn) and GM (Darren Mougey), and an old owner (Woody Johnson) want to establish with the Jets.”
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“I like the potential of what the Jets did by acquiring draft capital and two young players who were recent top 64 picks,” a league source added. “I use the word ‘potential,’ because the success of what the Jets did today will be based on how they use those picks. But they definitely gave themselves draft flexibility as they reconstruct the roster.”
Following Tuesday’s trades, the Jets now have five first-round selections over the next two drafts. That potentially puts them in a great spot to finally find a franchise quarterback as they haven’t had a Pro Bowl player at the position since Brett Favre in 2008.
In all, 25 trades were consummated since the start of the NFL regular season, up from 19 a year ago. Last year, the biggest name to change teams was future Hall of Famer Davante Adams, shipped from the Las Vegas Raiders to join friend Aaron Rodgers with the Jets.
Of course, both Adams (Los Angeles Rams) and Rodgers (Pittsburgh Steelers) are with new teams this season, which shows how fickle midseason trades can be.
Even though Dallas has lost two straight and is 3-5-1 on the year, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones made moves. On top of trading premium picks for Williams, the Cowboys traded a seventh-round selection for Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson as they try to improve their underperforming defense.
Jerry Jones and the Cowboys swung two trades on deadline day. (Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The Colts, meanwhile, embraced the Rams’ mantra of trading premium picks for premium players to chase a Super Bowl this season by upgrading a depleted secondary with the addition of Gardner. Paired with Charvarius Ward once he returns from the injured list (concussion), Indianapolis will have one of the top cornerback duos in the NFL.
The Jets had just signed Gardner to a four-year, $120-million contract extension earlier this year in July, making him the highest-paid cornerback in the league. So, moving him four months later surprised folks around the league.
However, the Jets only paid Gardner a $13.75 million signing bonus, so the dead money cap hit for the team in 2026 will be $11 million. Most of the cash payout was deferred to future seasons, making it an easier contract to move in a trade.
“I always say that the structure of deals (not the value necessarily) is a more telling interpretation of a deal,” a league source told me. “So, it’s interesting the Jets’ Gardner deal was structured with a potential future trade of a contract contemplated.”
Already in possession of one of the more explosive offenses in the league led by quarterback Sam Darnold, the Seattle Seahawks got a home-run threat in Rashid Shaheed to play opposite of chains mover Jaxson Smith-Njigba. Seattle traded fourth and fifth-round picks in next year’s draft to New Orleans for the explosive receiver’s services.
An undrafted rookie for New Orleans in 2022, Shaheed still had one year left on his contract at $4.2 million in base salary, of which the Seahawks will pay the remaining $2.1 million. Shaheed becomes a free agent at the end of the year.
A San Diego native who played at Weber State, Shaheed returns to the West Coast and should be familiar with Seattle’s scheme, having played for Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak while in New Orleans last season.
“From a roster-building standpoint, the Saints‘ trade of Rashid Shaheed was good value,” a league source told me. “Shaheed is a former undrafted free agent who the Saints got really good production from and who they were ultimately able to flip into two mid-round picks. That’s solid succession planning and efficiency.”
The Jacksonville Jaguars also added help on the perimeter to a wide receiver group that has struggled with drops, trading fourth and sixth-round picks to the Las Vegas Raiders for Jakobi Meyers.
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And with both Pro Bowl offensive tackles in Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt out for the year due to injuries, the Los Angeles Chargers executed a critical move to protect their top investment in Justin Herbert by trading with New Orleans for offensive tackle Trevor Penning, giving up a sixth-round selection in the 2027 draft. Herbert has been pressured a league-high 165 times.
The Chargers also acquired a conditional, seventh-round selection from the Jets in exchange for defensive back Ja’Sir Taylor.
“The Chargers basically got a starter to play OT and didn’t have to give up a lot to get him,” an NFL scout told me. “He has a lot of work to do still in his fourth year, but he may fit and ascend in that offensive scheme.”
And you can’t write a trade deadline story without mentioning the Philadelphia Eagles, who always make moves to get better under the direction of general manager Howie Roseman. The defending champs got some pass rush help, giving up a third-round selection for edge rusher Jaelan Phillips, who has familiarity with Philadelphia’s scheme from playing for Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio while he was with the Dolphins two years ago.
The Eagles also got help for the secondary by trading a sixth-round pick for cornerback Jaire Alexander and a seventh-round pick with the Baltimore Ravens.
The NFL had eight trades on the final day of the deadline. However, players that were thought to be on the trading block but didn’t get moved include Trey Hendrickson, Tariq Woolen, Breece Hall, Bradley Chubb and Jaylen Waddle.
Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on X at @eric_d_williams.
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