Voltar
The 2026 NFL trade deadline has come and gone, and while we did see a couple of blockbuster trades in recent weeks, such as the Chicago Bears trading for Jeffery Simmons and the Jacksonville Jaguars swinging deals for three players in one day, the final 24 hours of the trade deadline were relatively quiet.
On Tuesday, the Minnesota Vikings brought back Kirk Cousins to replace Kyler Murray, and the Kansas City Chiefs added a new wide receiver in Josh Downs. However, there were plenty of other teams perceived to be "buyers" who stayed put, while other "sellers" were hesitant to part ways with their assets. In all, 23 teams combined to make 18 trades with 19 players and 34 picks changing hands. It was the Indianapolis Colts who led the way with an NFL-high four trades for six draft selections, although star running back Jonathan Taylor was not moved.
So, who won and who lost at the trade deadline? Let's take a look.
Credit to CBS Sports Research
The Vikings and Las Vegas Raiders made the deal of the day, as new general manager Nolan Teasley sent a third-round pick to "Sin City" for Kirk Cousins. It feels like everyone is a winner in this situation.
The Vikings are a winner because they absolutely had to do something at the quarterback position. Kyler Murray wasn't cutting it, and then Carson Wentz registered one of the worst performances by a Vikings quarterback ever on Monday night with an 8.9 passer rating and a 32% completion rate. The Vikings were wasting the efforts of the best defense in the NFL and found themselves in a spot where they were forced to make an addition. Bringing back a familiar face who has been performing well this season with 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions is a good move.
Cousins actually has the most passing touchdowns (20) and career passing touchdowns (318) by a quarterback changing teams midseason, all-time. During his six seasons in Minnesota (2018-2023), he ranked top five in completion percentage, passing yards and passing touchdowns while going 50-37-1 as the starter.
The Raiders are a winner because they got a third-round pick for their rental quarterback in a season where they likely aren't making the playoffs. The Vikings didn't enter this year expecting to trade for a quarterback in November, which allowed the Raiders to drive up the price.
Kirk Cousins is a winner because he upgrades his own situation. He goes from 4-5 to 6-2, and has the opportunity to spark a legitimate Super Bowl run. That may sound like an exaggeration, but with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson, the Vikings have everything in place to make a run. All they needed was better quarterback play. It could be a storybook ending for Cousins.
Fernando Mendoza is a winner because he's the new starter in Vegas, although the No. 1 overall pick has to begin his NFL career against some aggressive defenses with the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday and then the Denver Broncos the following week.
Another winner is Justin Jefferson, because he gets his quarterback back. JJ began his NFL career with three straight 1,400-yard seasons — including a 1,809-yard campaign in 2022. Jefferson barely crossed 1,000 yards receiving last season. Now, he can suit up next to the best quarterback he's ever played with again. His 98.9 receiving yards per game when catching passes from Cousins are the most by a QB-WR duo all-time (min. 50 games).
Tuesday morning, it was reported that the Cincinnati Bengals were sending a sixth-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles for pass rusher Arnold Ebiketie. This wouldn't have been a massive story, except the Bengals front office didn't realize they would also be giving up a third-round pick in the deal!
Nick Korte of Over The Cap pointed out that Ebiketie was signed as a compensatory free agent by the Eagles. The Bengals lost three compensatory free agents and signed two, with Cordell Volson not qualifying as a CFA lost since he hasn't played a snap this year. So, adding Ebiketie means the Bengals would lose a 2027 compensatory third-round pick that was coming after Trey Hendrickson signed with the Baltimore Ravens.
Oh that's brutal on the 3rd round comp pick! as noted by @nickkorte pic.twitter.com/OwwyNB71PA
— Troy_OTC (@TexansCap) November 10, 2026
"If a Club trades for a player who was a CFA during that League Year, whether the player was another Club's CFA or the acquiring Club's own CFA, the player will be considered a CFA gained by the acquiring Club and will be included in the Compensatory netting process described above."
It's believed Cincinnati initially thought Volson counted toward the formula.
Naturally, when the Bengals discovered this, they backed out of the deal. This isn't even the first time Korte has had to correct the league about compensatory picks. He actually helped the Bengals secure a top-100 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft after a compensatory mix-up.
Duke Tobin and the Bengals look silly because they almost gave up a third-round pick for Ebiketie. They should hire Korte in the front office after helping them twice in three years.
There's no questioning the Jaguars' goal this season: They are all-in on a Super Bowl. Here's what they traded just this week:
Jacksonville saw Eric Murray go down with a season-ending injury, so they targeted Bates to replace him. He's tied for the second-most interceptions (28) since entering the league in 2018 and is the only NFL player to have recorded a pick-six in each of the last three seasons.
The Jaguars also lost defensive tackle DaVon Hamilton for the remainder of the season after he tore his quad, so the front office went out and acquired a couple of legitimate starters in Godchaux and Davis.
The Jaguars are "winners" because it's exciting when a team gets this aggressive and pushes all of their chips to the middle of the proverbial table. Fans have all the reason in the world to be excited about this run for the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
However, while Jacksonville's roster got better this week, I am questioning all the capital the Jags just spent.
Trading second- and fifth-round picks for Bates is expensive, but giving up first- and second-round picks for Davis was shocking. He's a solid player in the middle, but no one had any idea the Eagles would fetch that kind of return for him. He's recorded 31 tackles and 1.5 sacks in nine games played this season, and he recorded a career-high 4.5 sacks in 2025. Just eight months ago, Davis signed a three-year, $78 million extension that made him one of the highest-paid defensive tackles in the NFL.
If the Jaguars win the Super Bowl, then we can't complain about the compensation. But Jimmy James Gladstone is clearly in an "eff them picks" mood.
| Player | Trade compensation |
|---|---|
S Jessie Bates III |
2027 second-round pick, 2028 fifth-round pick |
DT Davon Godchaux |
2028 sixth-round pick (conditional) |
DT Jordan Davis |
2027 first-round pick, 2029 second-round pick |
There was a lot of oxygen given to running backs at this year's trade deadline. The Colts' Jonathan Taylor was a player everyone was watching, the Ravens' Derrick Henry was another big name brought up in rumors, theTennessee Titans' Tony Pollard was viewed as a potential target and Breece Hall had seemingly fallen out of favor in New York with the emergence of Braelon Allen. However, not one running back was moved.
It's understandable if a team didn't want to trade a Christian McCaffrey-like package for Taylor, but what about Pollard? He shredded the Cleveland Browns for 129 yards and three touchdowns in Week 7, and then racked up 117 rushing yards and two touchdowns in Week 8 against the Bengals. He's averaging a career-high 74.4 rushing yards per game and ranks top 12 in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns this season. Pollard and Henry are the only players to have rushed for 1,000 yards in each of the last four seasons. Isn't that worth a fourth-round pick?
There were multiple Super Bowl or playoff hopefuls that could have used a new running back, such as the Vikings, Broncos, Green Bay Packers and New York Giants. Instead, Taylor, Henry, Pollard and Hall will continue running the ball for teams that won't be playing meaningful football in January.
The Chiefs have the No. 2 offense in the NFL through nine weeks, but this passing attack has struggled. They needed to make an addition at wide receiver at the trade deadline, and Brett Veach did just that by trading a fourth-round pick and a fifth-round pick to the Colts for Josh Downs and a seventh-rounder.
Downs has recorded the second-most receiving yards from the slot (1,995) since 2023, trailing only Amon-Ra St. Brown. While he's not exactly a "field stretcher" that is going to slice through defenses for 40-yard bombs, he still upgrades this passing offense.
Mahomes is actually the only quarterback in the past 20 years to average under 5.0 air yards per attempt in four straight games (min. 30 attempts).
| Air yards per attempt | 20+ air yard attempts | |
|---|---|---|
Week 6 |
3.6 |
0/0 |
Week 7 |
4.7 |
0/3 |
Week 8 |
4.7 |
0/3 |
Week 9 |
3.6 |
0/1 |
The 5-2-1 Giants are the clear-cut frontrunners in one of the worst divisions in the NFL. However, John Harbaugh hasn't clinched the division just yet. The Giants did swing a trade for a new quarterback in J.J. McCarthy, but they were also interested in adding a star defensive tackle like Jeffery Simmons or a running back like Jonathan Taylor. Instead, they remained quiet on Tuesday.
We'll see if Cam Skattebo can carry this rushing attack for the remaining nine games and if the Giants can finish atop this weird NFC East. But Giants fans wanted to see Harbaugh make an addition on Tuesday.
The Eagles traded away two starters in the past few weeks, defensive tackle Jordan Davis and offensive lineman Cam Jurgens. Remember, they also traded star wideout A.J. Brown to the New England Patriots in June.
When you count up all the capital the Eagles acquired for those three players, Philly received two first-round picks, two second-round picks and two fifth-round picks. That's comparable to the Ricky Williams trade between Washington and New Orleans back in 1999.
| Trade | Return |
|---|---|
Ricky Williams haul |
Two 1st-round picks, two 3rd-round picks, 4th-round pick, 5th-round pick, 6th-round pick, 7th-round pick |
Jordan Davis, Cam Jurgens, A.J. Brown haul |
Two 1st-round picks, two 2nd-round picks, two 5th-round picks |
One team that should have been in the running for Downs along with the Chiefs was the Los Angeles Rams. Davante Adams is on injured reserve with a hamstring injury, Puka Nacua is expected to join him with a knee issue, and Jordan Whittington was just placed on injured reserve due to a back injury. That means Tutu Atwell, Konata Mumpfield and CJ Daniels are Matthew Stafford's top receivers.
The 5-4 Rams are not the "Super Team" many thought they would be in 2026, and they didn't make any moves at the trade deadline in an attempt to right the ship. Sean McVay will try to grind out wins through Kyren Williams, Blake Corum and his tight ends.
The Jaguars orchestrated multiple trades to boost their roster with sights set on the No. 1 seed in the conference. How were the Buffalo Bills going to respond? On Tuesday, Brandon Beane sent a second-round pick to the Titans for safety Amani Hooker and a fifth-round pick.
Hooker has been a beast as of late. He powered the Titans to their first win of the season against the Colts with 13 tackles and an interception, then picked off Joe Burrow THREE times in Week 8. Hooker is just the third player in the past 40 years to begin a season with 40 tackles and five interceptions through seven games.
Following the release of C.J. Gardner-Johnson, the Bills needed to make an addition on the back end, and Hooker fits the bill. It was a pricey move, but I respect the swing from a Super Bowl-or-bust team.
Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. was viewed as a prime trade candidate this year, but he's staying put in Jacksonville. A change of scenery could have done him some good, but BTJ will just have to deal with being WR4 behind Parker Washington, Jakobi Meyers and Josh Cameron. His 117 yards receiving through nine weeks rank No. 7 on the team.
Remember, back in 2024, Thomas became the fourth rookie to record 1,200 yards receiving and catch double-digit touchdowns, joining Randy Moss, Odell Beckham Jr. and Ja'Marr Chase. However, he's quickly fallen out of favor in Jacksonville. Thomas has played just 43.1% of offensive snaps this season and has caught zero passes in three out of the last four games.
We saw two big-name defensive tackles traded this cycle in Jeffery Simmons and Jordan Davis. The Bears sent the Titans two first-round picks and a Day 3 pick swap for Simmons, while Davis went from Philly to Jacksonville for a first-round pick and a second-round pick.
Forget pass rushers, defensive tackles are the new premium position! There have been five first-round picks traded for veteran defensive tackles in the past two seasons. There have been just six first-round picks traded for all other veteran players in that same timeframe. Simmons, Davis, Dexter Lawrence and Quinnen Williams are the interior linemen who went for first-round picks in the last 365 days.
Voltar
Top
| Declaração de privacidade Termos de serviço Contact |
Atualizar
|
All the best breaking news stories from Apex Scores Lite. Optimised for feature phones and low end Android devices, Apex Scores Lite helps users with legacy devices and poor network connectivity access the latest football news and live scores. Particularly relevant for breaking football news in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.