If you are an NFL trade deadline enthusiast, this year has treated you well. The annual buzz around this time of year resulted in important pieces moving around.
Who won at the deadline? Who lost? Let’s find out.
Wide receivers Davante Adams and Amari Cooper shook up the NFL early, but I won’t spend much time analyzing those moves..
A few more notable wideouts found new homes, with players such as DeAndre Hopkins and Diontae Johnson making drastic changes. Those two will go from playing on two abysmal offenses –– Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers –– to two extremely potent ones.
Kansas City Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach deserves a lot of credit for his engagement in reinforcing an injury-depleted WR group that already lost Rashee Rice and Hollywood Brown for the year. Hopkins proved to everyone he’ll fit right in and still has that juice, putting up eight receptions for 86 yards and two touchdowns in his Chiefs debut.
I expect similar production on a week-to-week basis from Hopkins, KC’s newest top wide receiver, with his only real competition for targets being Travis Kelce.
Johnson, on the other hand, had a rough start to his Baltimore Ravens debut, with Lamar Jackson not targeting him once. Johnson did carry a lingering rib injury from the Panthers, and as head coach John Harbaugh said, the wide receiver would have minimal involvement against the Broncos.
Johnson played in 17 of 57 offensive snaps, but I expect that to change as he becomes more accustomed to a very unique offense.
Another victor from Tuesday’s acquisitions was Mike Williams. He had signed with the New York Jets in March with the hopes of having a pivotal role, doing so alongside Aaron Rodgers and a Super Bowl-aspiring Jets team.
Through the first nine games of the season, Williams was underutilized. A player of his caliber should not have a 6.7% target share –– placing him 100th in league –– with only 12 receptions for 166 yards. Williams’s now former team has too many mouths to feed, but Williams himself gets an entirely fresh start.
Joining the Pittsburgh Steelers, Williams will slot in behind George Pickens as a second-tiered wide receiver, and should help relieve some pressure from the only real threat of this Pittsburgh offense.
This leads right into the next winners — the Steelers.
The Steelers didn’t only settle by adding another toy for a rejuvenated Russell Wilson to play with, but also improved their defensive depth with Preston Smith. They also not only allow the fourth-fewest yards-per-carry and fifth-lowest passer rating, but also uncharacteristically rank in the bottom 10 with only 19 sacks. I’m not claiming that Smith’s arrival will skyrocket those sack numbers, but it should give T.J. Watt some more one-on-ones and help fill in future injuries.
Now, on to the losers. I’ll start this side of the discussion with a team that stayed relatively quiet during the deadline.
Dallas Cowboys General Manager Jerry Jones told ESPN that the Cowboys will most likely place QB Dak Prescott on injured reserve, which would force him out of action for at least four weeks. With a 3-5 record and a question mark on its quarterback, I’m not sure where Dallas will go from here.
Unfortunately, their banged-up defense doesn’t help a team that wants to go all in. Yet, they just traded for Panthers WR Jonathan Mingo, who still has raw talent, in a move that seems more of a future investment than a current one. The only certain thing about this team is that, for another year, they have stayed true to their mysterious character.
Now, onto the other team that should consider their season a failure, which was proved by their trade log — the Cleveland Browns. Giving away Amari Cooper and pass rusher Za’Darius Smith all but signaled the waving of the white flag to fans.
Ever since Week 8, the Browns have worked to pick up the pieces following the season-ending injury to their franchise quarterback Deshaun Watson. However, salvaging the season after trading away two of your best players looks unrealistic.
Where did things go wrong with Cleveland, given the talent they have accumulated on defense? I believe their problems root to 2022, when they signed Watson to a fully guaranteed five-year, $230-million deal.
Tying themselves down to such a large contract has given them no wiggle room to grab free agents, and Watson’s performance in a Browns uniform thus far has made this investment look idiotic.
Many other teams made some noteworthy bargains. The New Orleans Saints shipped their best cornerback Marshon Lattimore to Washington, and the Detroit Lions attempted to replace Aidan Hutchinson’s production with Za’Darius Smith.
In this exciting part of the season, some teams will trend up, and some will trend down –– but it’s anyone’s guess who will fall into which category.
