One Year Later, the 2025 NFL Trade Deadline Gets a Fresh Set of Grades

The 2026 NFL trade deadline arrives Nov. 10 with a hard act to follow. Last year, 27 players changed teams during the season, the most in a single year in 25 years. Whether this year matches that volume is unknown, but the quality of the deals matters more than the count, and a year of hindsight shows how mixed the 2025 results were.

No trade has fared worse than the one that sent cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts. In return, the New York Jets received Adonai Mitchell, a 2026 first-round pick that became Kenyon Sadiq, and a 2027 first-round pick. Gardner has played the worst football of his career in 17 games with Indianapolis, and the deal became a primary reason the Colts fired general manager Chris Ballard midseason. The Jets earned an A and the Colts an F. With Indianapolis trending downward, the 2027 pick it surrendered could end up high in the draft order.

The Dallas Cowboys' acquisition of defensive tackle Quinnen Williams drew a B, while the Jets received a C for that side of the deal. Williams has delivered as a run stopper, with six tackles for loss through six games this season, the most by a Cowboys defensive tackle since 2013. He also signed a three-year, $105.9 million extension. Yet the Dallas defense remains a disaster. New York released Mazi Smith, and cornerback D'Angelo Ponds, taken with the traded-down second-round pick, has played only 59 snaps. The Jets' 2027 first-rounder now carries the weight of that trade.

The smaller deals tended to work out better for both sides. Pittsburgh earned an A for adding safety Kyle Dugger from New England for a seventh-round pick. The Patriots, who bought out the rest of a four-year extension to move him at a cost of $5.4 million in cash plus roster bonuses, received a C. Dugger filled the hole left by DeShon Elliott's injury and produced two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown, along with a sack and a safety over nine games.

Philadelphia also graded out well for adding pass rusher Jaelan Phillips from Miami in exchange for a third-round pick. The Eagles got an A and the Dolphins an A-. Phillips played some of the best football of his career and helped Philadelphia reach the playoffs. He then signed a four-year, $120 million deal with the Panthers, which should bring the Eagles a third-round compensatory pick in 2027, effectively returning what they gave up.

Cincinnati's trade for quarterback Joe Flacco, graded B- for the Bengals and B for the Browns, kept the offense functioning while Joe Burrow recovered from turf toe. Flacco produced a 470-yard game and three straight outings of at least 33 points, but went 1-5 as the starter because of the defense. Meanwhile, the Chargers' trade for tackle Trevor Penning earned a C-, and the Saints a C+. Penning has the worst PFF pass-blocking grade among 74 qualified guards this season.

Seattle received a B+ for acquiring receiver Rashid Shaheed, who returned two kickoffs for touchdowns, including one in the playoffs on the way to a Super Bowl ring, and earned a three-year, $51 million extension. Coach Mike Macdonald said Monday that early returns on Shaheed's knee injury from Sunday night's win over the Chiefs are positive. The Saints, who received fourth- and fifth-round picks, got a B.

Three more deals rounded out the list. The Rams' addition of cornerback Roger McCreary and the Titans' return both earned a B. Jacksonville's trade for Jakobi Meyers drew a B+ for the Jaguars and a B for the Raiders, with Meyers landing a three-year, $60 million extension. San Francisco's pickup of Keion White earned a B+, and New England received a B. White is on pace for the best season of his career with 3.5 sacks through seven weeks.