The NFL Trade Deadline is at 4pm today. Stay tuned for news, rumors, and analysis. The Eagles may have already done their heavy lifting, but we’ll wait and see if Howie Roseman is done and if the rest of the league tries to keep up.
4:15p: NFC East Wrap
I started going on, so I made it a new post.
3:30p: 30 minutes To Go
With 30 minutes left the big stories to me are the possibility of more Jets moves including Breece Hall, Garrett Wilson, and Jermaine Johnson; and the possibility of the Commanders not making any moves at all.
The Jets have already embraced the tank by making two blockbusters today and acquiring 3 first round picks and a 2nd with possibly more to come. Not only do they need all the talent they can get, but they have to be in the poll position for the #1 pick now. Keep going guys, all the way down.
The Commanders offseason plan was to act like they were real contenders and supplement an old roster by getting older. With a young QB, this was incredibly foolish. Now they are old, broken, and out of picks. By my count, they have 6 guys who should be off this roster by 4pm: Zach Ertz, Bobby Wagner, Deebo Samuel, Laramy Tunsil, Deron Payne, and Von Miller. The season is over guys, act like it
Then there are the Bills and Lions who clearly need to make some moves but have thus far been silent. We’ll see if they get anything in before the buzzer.
2:30p: Cowboys in Denial, Trade for Quinnen Williams
The Dallas Cowboys are trading a 2026 2nd round pick and a 2027 first round pick (the better between the Cowboys and Packers) to the Jets for DT Quinnen Williams. Williams is a former first team All Pro who the Cowboys are banking on to save their sinking defense. Boy did they pay a premium too. That’s almost the same amount they got from the Packers for Micah Parsons
Williams signed a 4/$96m extension a few years ago with the Jets who are now in a total rebuild after dealing Sauce Gardner an hour ago. The Cowboys are on the hook for around $8m this year and $21m next year.
The big problem with this move is that if they are not already out of the playoff race, the window to get there is damn near closed. They are 3-5-1 and currently 11th in the NFC and lost tie breakers to 2 of the 3 teams directly in front of them (Carolina and Chicago). The playoff field is damn near locked in and they mortgaged damn near everything they got from the Packers. Jerry Jones does not know what he is doing.
The best part in the trade? They got rid of Mazi Smith too. Lol.
This trade seems a whole lot like when the Mets traded for Victor Zambrano and Kris Benson at the 2004 Trade Deadline despite being way out of the playoff race. You do not make in season trades when you are out of it, it’s the worst time to get a good deal! You are paying a premium for a season you aren’t using and you have no leverage. So dumb.
1:10p: Seahawks trade for Rashid Shaheed
The Seahawks needed to make a move at WR and they did, getting breakout Saints WR Rashid Rasheed for a 4th and 5th round pick. Shaheed is on an expiring $5m contract. Unless the Saints picked up the tab, they will be responsible for around $2.5m. The former undrafted WR out of Weber State is only 5’9″, but became a prolific return man and now a solid slot receiver and should bolster the Seahawks WR room that has Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Cooper Kupp, but needed more weapons. He brings a different dynamic.
12:50p: HOLY SHIT! Sauce Gardner to Indianapolis!
The Colts are trading to first round picks to the Jets for All Pro CB Sauce Gardner. Hook this into my veins!
The Jets have no timeline because they have no QB, so having an expensive CB was a luxury that they just took advantage of. He signed a 4/$120m extension just this past offseason. The interesting part was the $14m signing bonus. Like Myles Garrett, this means the contract was designed to be traded. Big signing bonuses are meant to distill through the salary cap over 5 years. Small ones are meant to just take a small chunk out so another team can pick up the big bucks.
For the Jets, their dead cap should be around $11m next season, but for a team this far gone that hardly matters. Indy is getting a steal here payroll wise. He will only cost $5m against the cap next season because the extension doesn’t even kick in until next year. Basically, they get the whole contract minus the signing bonus. That’s 5 years of Sauce for roughly $114m.
UPDATE: The Jets are getting WR Adonai Mitchell in the deal too. Mitchell was drafted in the 2nd round in 2024 but has fallen out of favor in Indy.
11:45a: Jaguars Trade for Jakobi Meyers
The Raiders are sending WR Jakobi Meyers to the Jaguars for a 4th and a 6th round pick. The Jaguars are surprisingly in the playoff picture (and own the tie break on the Chiefs) but just lost top draft pick Travis Hunter to injury. While he didn’t tear his ACL, it is still a rough injury and the Jags needed WR help. Meyers will cost the Jags about $5m in salary for the rest of the season. As much as I was pumping up the possibility of better receivers being traded they are likely not moving. Meyers was always likely the best WR legitimately on the block.
For the Raiders, there was doubt that they would actually throw in the towel this year considering Pete Carroll was lured out of retirement to seemingly contend. Unfortunately, the Raiders stink. Carroll didn’t sign on for a rebuild, but with Meyers headed to free agency anyway, this was a deal they had to make.
10:40a: Looking at High End WRs
The Miami Dolphins and New Orleans Saints are both non-contending messes this season, albeit for completely different reasons. They also both happen to employ former 1st round pick receivers that could be dealt today: Jaylen Waddle and Chris Olave.
- Jaylen Waddle – Waddle has been a high end #2 receiver in the league from the jump and is only on the trade block because Miami is not only terrible, but their QB situation is so problematic that Waddle might no longer fit their timeline. He is in the first year of a contract extension that comes with a very low base salary this year and next, but does have a guaranteed $16m option. That number is an absolute steal for a WR of Waddle’s talents. Trading him would be great for the acquiring team, but would mean a $23m dead cap hit for the Dolphins next year. Considering his price tag and the dead cap, the price should be a 1st round pick at least. A team like the Bills or Seahawks should pay that price for a major upgrade who is under contract.
- Chris Olave – While Waddle already signed his extension, Olave is set to play out his 5th year option next year unless he can get an extension either with the Saints or whoever ponies up for him. While the Dolphins were caught off guard by their current disaster, the Saints expected this. With that expectation had to come a conversation about Olave. While they could probably recycle him for a new 1st and get a rookie WR to grow with whoever they pick at QB, they also might want an experienced and talented vet to help their new signal caller acclimate to the league. We don’t know what the outcome of that conversation was, but teams would love to get him and give him his next contract. We’ll see what New Orleans has planned.
10a: Could Washington Start Selling?
Washington has predictably fallen to Earth after an offseason of getting older and putting every damn one of their eggs in the Jaylen Daniels basket. At 3-6 and Daniels likely done for the season, they should really think about selling pieces for draft picks, you know the exact opposite of what they did in the offseason. Here are possible players on the trade block:
- Deebo Samuel – WR: Samuel was traded from SF in the offseason for a 5th round pick. He has 42 catches and 3 TDs on the year. Considering he is on a minimum salary, they should be able to get a 6th round pick back for him or at least some kind of Day 3 pick swap.
- Zach Ertz – TE: Ertz is still productive even at 35 with 31 catches and 4 TDs in 9 games so far. His base salary is $2m, so a new team would only pick up around $1m of that for a starting TE. I think they could get more for him than Deebo.
- Laremy Tunsil – LT: The best reason to trade Tunsil is that LTs do not get traded at the deadline. They would have the market cornered and recouping any of the draft picks they lost to get him would be a boon for the future of the franchise. He will be 32 next year, so the time is now.
- Bobby Wagner – LB: Wagner is going to go down as a top 5 LB of all time for his elite talent and longevity. He is still crushing it, on a small salary, and is on an expiring deal. Move him Washington! Don’t think twice, you can probably get a 3rd or 4th round pick for him.
- Daron Payne – DT: Payne is not likely to get dealt, but he could probably nab a very good return. His base salary is big ($19.5m), but Washington could pay that down for a better draft pick. His $16m salary next year is appropriate and would not scare teams away in the least. With some leverage, they could parlay him into a 2nd rounder.
- Von Miller – EDGE: Miller is just a pass rush specialist at this point, but that kind of player has value right now. Any contender would give up a Day 3 pick to get someone like Miller in the rotation. If it were any other team, I’d expect the Eagles to be in the mix.
- Javon Kinlaw – DT: JUST KIDDING! He was one of the worst signings of the offseason and Washington guaranteed his $12m salary for next year. No one would trade anything for him. Have fun with that guys.
8:30a: The Bengals are rumored to want a 1st round pick for Trey Hendrickson
Good luck with that Cincy GM …whoever you are.1 The Bengals have ZERO leverage in trade talks because everyone knows they do not want to pay Hendrickson, he does not want to be there, he’s almost 31, and will be a free agent. Realistically, the best they can possibly do is get a 2nd round pick for him if they eat his whole contract. Right now, he has about $8m in salary that would have to be accounted for by an acquiring team. The Eagles just gave a 3rd to the Dolphins for eating the contract of Jaelan Phillips. Why a 2nd? Because the best the Bengals can get as a compensatory pick for losing him in free agency is a 3rd rounder. Getting offered a 2nd and not taking in a lost season is malpractice. For anyone thinking he might get franchise tagged, considering his $29m pay for this season, that would come to around $35m.
Over Night: Cowboys trade for LB Logan Wilson, 7th round pick to Cincinnati
Jerry Jones attempted to build some hype for this move last night when he half-announced that he had completed a trade without giving any details. Then his team was demolished by a backup QB and no one cared. Dallas is playing this move up like they traded for the captain of the Bengals defense, but in reality, Wilson was no longer starting, getting most of his snaps on special teams, and demanded a trade. A guy who couldn’t get playing time on maybe the worst defense in the league? I know I’m hyped Jerry!
From a salary perspective, the Cowboys are picking up $2.5m of Wilson’s remaining salary this season. He has $6m coming to him next season, but none of that is guaranteed.
All contract numbers courtesy of spotrac.com
NFL Trade Deadline
Everything to get you ready before today’s 4pm deadline
Philly Front Office 
Leave a comment