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The 2026 NFL trade deadline has a tough act to follow. Last year saw 27 players traded in-season, which was the most in a single year in a quarter of a century. This is shaping up to be an active push to Nov. 10, but will it rival the mayhem of 2025? That remains to be determined. It is the quality of the transactions that matters more than the volume. Last year can be both a blueprint for how to pull off beneficial midseason moves and for what to avoid, because the high number of trades included multiple examples of both good deals and bad.
No deal withstood the test of time worse than the Sauce Gardner trade. It has since been panned as one of the most one-sided transactions in recent NFL history and should be a reminder that just because a player carries All-Pro bona fides, he might not be worth mortgaging the future to acquire.
The most beneficial trades are often the ones made on the margins, where teams secure mid- or late-round draft capital for players on expiring contracts. These tend to be mutually beneficial, as one team lands an instant-impact rental while the other secures future assets in exchange for someone who was destined to walk away for free. Last year's trade deadline featured a plethora of such deals.
After the 2025 deadline, we ranked every major trade. And now with the benefit of hindsight, let's re-grade the top 10.
The Gardner trade aged so poorly for Colts general manager Chris Ballard that it became a primary reason why the franchise fired him in the middle of the season. Nobody could have foreseen the stark regression the two-time All-Pro cornerback experienced upon his arrival in Indianapolis, but it is very real, and it looks awful in the context of what Ballard gave up to acquire him. Gardner has played the worst football of his career in his 17 games with the Colts, while the Jets constructed an exciting young offensive core with the assets they received in return -- plus they still have another first-round pick to add to it.
Since the Colts are trending downward this year and may emerge as sellers at the deadline as they barrel toward a potential rebuild, this is the exact situation in which they would prefer to own a 2027 first-rounder. Instead, with every loss they add to their tally, they watch the Jets lick their lips and prepare to cash in.
Colts: F | Jets: A
The Dallas defense is still a disaster, even with Williams offering solid run-stopping ability in the middle of the line. His six tackles for loss through the first six games of the year were the most by a Cowboys defensive tackle since 2013 and were tied for the most of any defensive tackle in the league this year. On an individual level, he is delivering what the Cowboys paid for when they parted with all those draft picks and signed him to a three-year, $105.9 million extension, even if it is short of the All-Pro caliber of production he logged at his peak in New York. The problem is that it has not translated to improvement on the defensive side of the ball at large.
On the Jets' side, they released Smith and have gotten practically nothing out of Ponds in the first five games of his career. He could still develop into a good cornerback, but he has only seen 59 snaps of action and allowed three catches and a touchdown on five targets in that small sample size. If he does not pan out, it will come down to the 2027 first-rounder to save this trade. That player needs to turn into a Pro Bowler to at least match what New York gave up in Williams.
Cowboys: B | Jets: C
The idea behind trading for Flacco was to keep the offense afloat last season until Joe Burrow returned from turf toe. It worked to an extent, as the veteran delivered a string of entertaining passing performances, including a 470-yard outburst and three consecutive games of at least 33 points. The defense was the real issue and the main reason Flacco went just 1-5 as the starter. At face value, the trade did not move the needle because of the poor record. But the offense was better with Flacco than Jake Browning, at least. Plus, the pick swap gave the Bengals another interesting young wide receiver.
Flacco was never going to be long for Cleveland as it churned through quarterbacks, so to package him in a trade swap that saw the Browns move up a round was a win for a non-contending team. A small win, but one nonetheless.
Bengals: B- | Browns: B
The Dugger deal was effectively a salary dump for the Patriots and one that benefited the Steelers immensely. The safety had fallen out of favor in New England to the point where the franchise bought out the remainder of a four-year extension they signed in 2024 in order to move him. It was an admission that the deal had failed and cost the Patriots $5.4 million in cash, plus roster bonuses.
Dugger was a winner from the trade because he reached unrestricted free agency two years early. The Steelers also came away on top because they got a productive version of Dugger for half a season at essentially no cost. He filled a hole in the lineup following DeShon Elliott's injury and delivered an impact with two interceptions (one of them a pick six), five passes defended, a sack, two tackles for loss and a safety. Not bad for a nine-game rental.
Steelers: A | Patriots: C
A third-rounder is a steep price to pay for eight games of Phillips, but when all is said and done, this trade should end up as a good one for the Eagles. Phillips was a pleasant addition to the defense, playing some of the best football of his career on a per-game basis to help Philadelphia secure a playoff spot. The Eagles elected not to re-sign him at the high price tag of four years and $120 million (which the Panthers awarded him in free agency), but they will not come away empty-handed, as his departure should net them a third-round compensatory pick in the 2027 draft. They will effectively get back what they put in.
Meanwhile, the Dolphins were unlikely to sign Phillips to an extension, too. They manifested a third-round pick instead of getting nothing in return for what would have been an exit in free agency. Everyone won here with the compensatory pick, essentially creating an invisible third piece in the trade.
Eagles: A | Dolphins: A-
Last year's Chargers offensive line was a MASH unit, and the 2026 group is only slightly healthier. Penning arrived midway through last season as an emergency fill-in and was called into action early this year, too, before he suffered a concussion of his own and landed on injured reserve on Oct. 10. That Los Angeles re-signed him at the end of his rookie contract salvaged some value from the trade, but this still is a bust of a former first-round pick whose main contribution is depth. His PFF pass-blocking grade in 2026 is the worst among all 74 qualified guards.
It was a shame that Penning did not catch on in New Orleans, considering the Saints used the No. 19 overall pick on him in 2022. At least he did not walk away for nothing.
Chargers: C- | Saints: C+
Mike Macdonald said Monday that "early returns are positive" on Rashid Shaheed's knee after he suffered an injury in Sunday night's win over the Chiefs. His availability for the rest of the year would go a long way in cementing this trade as a fruitful one for the Seahawks, but regardless of his health, Seattle seems pleased with where it stands. Shaheed was never supposed to be more than a secondary receiving option behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba and, in fact, is more of a gadget offensive weapon and special teams threat than a downfield target. He returned two kickoffs for touchdowns last season, including one in the playoffs en route to a Super Bowl ring, and earned himself a three-year, $51 million extension at the end of his 12-game run in Seattle in 2025.
Shaheed was similarly a boom-or-bust asset in New Orleans and one who would have been phased out eventually had he re-signed as the Saints identified Chris Olave, Devaughn Vele and (once healthy) Jordyn Tyson as the future of their receiving corps. Turning his expiring contract into a pair of high-end Day 3 picks should be viewed as a success since the Saints are no worse off at wide receiver.
Seahawks: B+ | Saints: B
McCreary amounted only to depth at cornerback for the Rams in his six regular-season and three playoff appearances before his contract expired, but he did make one postseason start. The former second-rounder was a low-cost addition to the back end of the defense as part of a pick swap and filled Los Angeles' need after injuries affected their secondary. The Rams made two splash moves at cornerback in the offseason by bringing in Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson instead of re-signing McCreary.
The trade closed the book on the Titans' 2022 second-round selection. He would have been expensive to re-sign as a nickelback, so while a late-round pick swap is only the most modest of returns, Tennessee did at least secure something for a player that would not have been on their payroll in 2026.
Rams: B | Titans: B
Meyers requested a trade from Las Vegas and found himself an ideal landing spot. It was a victory for himself as he upgraded teams and secured the long-term contract he wanted. It was also a mutual victory for the teams. Las Vegas made the pragmatic decision to grab a couple of draft picks for a player who neither wanted to be there nor fit into the offense's younger timeline. It turned one of them into a starting cornerback in Johnson and used the other to address a longer-term need on the offensive line.
Jacksonville came away on the more eye-catching side of the deal because it not only made Meyers a significant part of its offense from the jump but also locked him in on a three-year, $60 million extension. He is now part of a terrific passing attack and serves as the No. 2 target behind Parker Washington, effectively filling the role that Brian Thomas Jr. was unable to cling onto. Meyers' arrival could even allow the Jaguars to flip Thomas, making this trade an even bigger win.
Jaguars: B+ | Raiders: B
The condition on the seventh-round pick New England sent to San Francisco stipulated that if White was active for at least seven of the 49ers' final nine games in 2025, the Patriots would keep the pick. White reached that threshold with ease when he appeared in nine regular-season games (with two starts) and two postseason contests. A rash of injuries on the 49ers' defensive front required him to make an impact, and he did just that in helping the squad overcome its roster crunch and make a playoff run. He even earned himself an expanded role in 2026 and is on pace for the best year of his career with 3.5 sacks through seven weeks.
White was not a schematic fit in Mike Vrabel's defense, so while it was unfortunate to only get a sixth-round pick in return for someone the Patriots selected in the second round in 2023, it was at least something. Plus, they got to keep their seventh-rounder, and by trading down in the final rounds in April, they maximized the value of the 49ers' pick. It turned into two picks, one of which became a dart throw at a quarterback.
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