Let's grade every big deal that happened before the 2024 NFL trade deadline. We're sizing up Tuesday's deals, such as Tre'Davious White to the Ravens, Mike Williams and Preston Smith to the Steelers, Marshon Lattimore to the Commanders and Za'Darius Smith to the Lions. We also have grades for deals that happened before Tuesday, such as Diontae Johnson to the Ravens, Cam Robinson to the Vikings, Davante Adams to the Jets, Amari Cooper to the Bills and DeAndre Hopkins to the Chiefs.
I'm a big believer in judging decisions based on information available at the time. The saying "Let's see how it plays out" isn't an option for general managers making deals for their teams, so why should it be for us evaluating those transactions? So when I'm grading trades, I evaluate them for each team based on on-field impact, cap implications, draft compensation and effects within the context of a team's overall short- and long-term outlook. I like to think about decisions on two axes:
How confident are we in knowing if this is a good or bad decision?
How big is the impact of this decision?
They'll both play a role in our grades, though a low-impact decision can still receive a strong or poor grade. Low-stakes, clear-cut wins or losses still matter. Latest grades are at the top, but you can also jump to the biggest ones.
Jump to a big trade:
P. Smith | Williams | Lattimore | Z. Smith
Johnson | Adams | Cooper | Hopkins
49ers trading for DT Davis
San Francisco 49ers get: DT Khalil Davis
Houston Texans get: 2026 seventh-round pick
Trade date: Nov. 5
Grade for the 49ers: B
Grade for the Texans: B
The 49ers and Texans snuck in one last deal before the deadline.
Davis can provide depth for the 49ers at defensive tackle behind Maliek Collins and Jordan Elliott. The 49ers previously lost Javon Hargrave to a triceps injury that will likely end his season. Kevin Givens missed last week's game with a groin injury, too.
Davis, a 2020 sixth-round pick who didn't really get on the field until 2023, has posted decent numbers as a backup since the start of last season. In that span, he had a 9% pass rush win rate (average for a defensive tackle) and three sacks along with an above-average 40% run stop win rate.
But his playing time in Houston was on the way down with Denico Autry back from suspension, Kurt Hinish back from injury and Tim Settle Jr. taking a larger role.
Davis is in the final year of his rookie contract.
Ravens trading for CB White
Baltimore Ravens get: CB Tre'Davious White, 2027 seventh-round pick
Los Angeles Rams get: 2026 seventh-round pick
Trade date: Nov. 5
Grade for the Ravens: B-
Grade for the Rams: B
White's time in Los Angeles didn't go according to plan.
The two-time All-Pro corner was coming back from an Achilles injury that cost him most of 2023, after a torn ACL cost him parts of 2021 and 2022. White was unable to get back to his performance level of old with the Rams, allowing a high 1.8 yards per coverage snap before being a healthy scratch in Weeks 5-8.
White is a lottery ticket for the Ravens. Their pass defense is struggling and currently ranks 28th in EPA allowed per dropback. Could White help? Anything is possible, but the Rams didn't think he could, to the point of making him inactive.
It's fine to add White for basically the cost of a veteran minimum free agent, and I consider the draft pick swap here to be worth next to nothing. But it feels unnecessary for the Ravens to end up paying any more than that (the finances aren't quite clear as of this writing), because White had a $1.5 million salary plus $900,000 in per-game roster bonuses this year.
Steelers pick up DE Smith
Pittsburgh Steelers get: DE Preston Smith
Green Bay Packers get: 2025 seventh-round pick
Trade date: Nov. 5
Grade for the Steelers: B
Grade for the Packers: C+
The Steelers must truly feel they can never have enough edge players to get after the quarterback. In dealing for the 31-year-old Smith, the Steelers added depth to an already strong group that features T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig (who is injured but working his way back).
It's an interesting move because Smith serves as depth at this point of his career. In Green Bay, he recorded 2.5 sacks and had a 10% pass rush win rate that is solidly below average for an edge rusher and his worst rating since the metric was launched in 2017. His playing time had been sliding, as he played only 38% of defensive snaps in Week 9.
When I first saw this trade without any terms, I thought, "Why would Pittsburgh make this trade given their strength at the position?" But for a 6-2 team attempting to shore up depth of a group that has periodically been struck by injuries (Highsmith was previously hurt, too) it seems ... fine?
If the contract is left as is, Smith will be owed roughly half of the $4.1 million of salary plus roster bonus remaining for 2024. The Steelers will presumably cut him in the offseason before paying out the $13.4 million in cash he's due in 2025.
I can understand Green Bay wanting to shake up its lackluster pass rush and deciding to get something for Smith before they cut him next offseason, but I don't think I'd have let go of him for so little unless this is accompanied by a trade to bring in a different pass rusher. Especially because the Packers are contenders! Without another trade, Smith's departure means more playing time for Lukas Van Ness and Kingsley Enagbare, but their pass-rushing numbers aren't particularly stout, either.
Steelers trading for WR Williams
Pittsburgh Steelers get: WR Mike Williams
New York Jets get: 2025 fifth-round pick
Trade date: Nov. 5
Grade for the Steelers: C
Grade for the Jets: A
Once Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw Williams under the bus for his end-of-game interception against the Bills and the team traded for Davante Adams, Williams looked like a spare -- and perhaps unwanted -- part for New York.
The Steelers have been searching for a No. 2 wide receiver to pair with George Pickens and get one here, though they were likely hoping for a higher level of player than Williams is at this stage of his career. Williams has struggled in his return from an ACL tear last season, managing just 0.8 receiving yards per route run this season with the Jets. His receiver scores tell the same story. Williams has a 28 overall score, which is tied for 106th out of 111 wide receivers if we lower the qualifying threshold. His open score is just a 30. Williams was a 2.1 and 2.0 yards per route run receiver back in 2021 and 2022, respectively, but that was before his latest injury.
This is a rental. Williams, 30, was on a one-year deal with the Jets, and the Steelers are taking on the remainder of his contract, which included $6.7 million in salary and per game roster bonuses going into the year.
It's hard to not immediately compare this move to the Ravens' trade for Diontae Johnson and not think Pittsburgh landed a worse player for more money and more draft pick compensation (though, Johnson coming back to Pittsburgh was presumably not an option). To be fair, Baltimore's trade was a heist and shouldn't be considered the market.
Pittsburgh is making a move at a serious position of need -- after Pickens the team had Van Jefferson, Calvin Austin III and Scotty Miller at wide receiver. I'm quite skeptical of the Steelers' chances to make a real run in the postseason given their quarterback situation, but wide receiver was a major weak point.
That said, I think the Steelers overpaid a bit given Williams' play this season. Though the draft pick compensation was lower than other rentals dealt this trade season such as Amari Cooper and DeAndre Hopkins, Williams is not as good a player, and the Steelers will have to pay him a couple of million more than Cooper and Hopkins are getting from their new teams.
Commanders trading for CB Lattimore
Washington Commanders get: CB Marshon Lattimore, 2025 fifth-round pick
New Orleans Saints get: 2025 third-round pick, 2025 fourth-round pick, 2025 sixth-round pick
Trade date: Nov. 5
Grade for the Commanders: B+
Grade for the Saints: B+
When you have a quarterback playing well on a rookie contract -- even if he is literally a rookie -- there is no time to waste. The window is open, and the time is now. You must go for it, so credit to the Commanders for making a move to address a major weakness at the deadline.
The Commanders are currently 31st in defensive open score against opposing wide receivers, meaning they allow their opponent's wideouts to get open more often than expected than every team but one.
A large part of the problem was cornerback Benjamin St-Juste, who has been targeted 25% of the time (second most among outside corners with at least 150 coverage snaps) and is allowing 1.9 yards per coverage snap (also second most), per NFL Next Gen Stats. Meanwhile, Lattimore has the lowest target rate among outside corners (10%) and is allowing 0.7 yards per coverage snap (third lowest). To put it simply, this is a major upgrade.
I suppose it isn't clear if St-Juste or rookie Mike Sainristil will play opposite Lattimore in two-wide receiver sets (Sainristil was originally presumed to be a nickel as a prospect), but Lattimore significantly improves that position group regardless. We should note Lattimore is still recovering from a hamstring injury that kept him inactive in Week 9 and only played in 17 total games across 2022 and 2023.
This likely isn't a rental. Lattimore will cost the Commanders the minimum salary for the rest of 2024, but is under contract for $18 million and $18.5 million between salary and roster bonuses for 2025 and 2026, respectively. He is 28 years old. Those next two years are probably only light values for him relative to his market worth.
The draft compensation is not trivial. Using the current draft order and our draft pick valuation, the Commanders surrendered the equivalent of a late second-round pick for Lattimore. So this isn't a bargain, but to me it's worth the price considering Washington's current standing as the NFC East leader and the degree to which Lattimore upgrades the secondary.
For the Saints, this might be a sign the team realizes it is time to rebuild. Better several years too late than never.
On the surface, trading Lattimore makes their already brutal 2025 cap situation -- they are currently $68 million over the 2025 cap, per Roster Management System -- more difficult, with Lattimore's prorated money accelerating onto next year's cap. But the alternative was spending another $16 million on him in a likely noncontending season and turning down draft capital to do so. That is exactly how they ended up in this mess in the first place.
I like this trade as a win-win.
Cowboys trading for WR Mingo
Dallas Cowboys get: WR Jonathan Mingo, 2025 seventh-round pick
Carolina Panthers get: 2025 fourth-round pick
Trade date: Nov. 5
Grade for the Cowboys: D+
Grade for the Panthers: A
The noncontending Cowboys just gave up a real asset for a player who doesn't look like he can hang on an NFL field more than a season into his career. In 24 games with the Panthers, Mingo -- who was selected with the No. 39 pick in the 2023 draft -- has caught 55 passes for 539 yards. And he sits at just 0.8 yards per route run. To make matters worse, Carolina had been phasing out Mingo, dropping him to 30% (or below) of the team's offensive snaps in two of the past three weeks.
His advanced numbers are disastrous, too. Mingo ranked 108th of 109 wide receivers in overall score via ESPN's receiver scores in 2023 (21 on a 0-99 scale). That was largely driven by a poor 21 open score, the most important category for predicting future performance. In 2024, Mingo hasn't been targeted enough to qualify, but if we lower the threshold, he would rank 110th out of 111 wide receivers in overall score at 25. Those receiver scores are key to the evaluation here, because while Mingo has had bad quarterback play in his career, the scores adjust for quality of passer. That he performed poorly in two different offensive systems during his time in Carolina is another poor sign.
In general, I don't hate the idea of Dallas going after a young receiver because it needs to rebuild at that position. And because they are out of contention -- especially with Dak Prescott injured -- the Cowboys have plenty of noncritical games ahead to give Mingo playing time and try to develop him. But this is a straight-up overpay, and it's for a player with really rough numbers. We've learned a lot about Mingo since he was selected with an early second-round pick, and the Cowboys appear to be holding onto their priors too long.
The fact that the Panthers were able to recoup a fourth-round pick for a young player whose playing time had been winding down is a great return.
Bengals shore up RB room with Herbert
Cincinnati Bengals get: RB Khalil Herbert
Chicago Bears get: 2025 seventh-round pick
Trade date: Nov. 5
Grade for the Bengals: B+
Grade for the Bears: B-
With Zack Moss not playing due to a neck injury that we now know will keep him out for at least the regular season, Chase Brown handled 100% of the Bengals' running back carries in their 41-24 win over the Raiders on Sunday. That's not sustainable. So if the Bengals didn't feel like their internal replacements were good enough, then a trade was necessary.
Herbert is a nice fit as a complementary RB available for cheap, but he also has some upside. He had been relegated to the third-string role behind D'Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson in Chicago, and being in the final year of his rookie contract, he was an obvious trade candidate given the lack of playing time. He has just eight carries this season.
Two years ago, however, Herbert stood out. He rushed for 731 yards on 129 carries (5.7 per carry) and 165 rush yards over expectation, per NFL Next Gen Stats. That advanced number dropped to 38 rush yards over expectation on a similar number of carries in 2023, but his past performance makes me believe he's a perfectly good running back -- perhaps still with some potential. Chicago and Cincinnati have similar run schemes on paper, with a heavier emphasis on duo runs and fewer outside zones than most teams.
How confident are we that Herbert wasn't simply the Bears' best running back? That the team preferred its other two options is a data point against him. But on the flip side, Swift hasn't been particularly productive, with minus-57 rush yards over expectation (his third negative season in four years). Johnson is in the red there, too. To be fair to Swift, he has made up for some of his negatives on the ground in the receiving game. Swift has 61 receiving yards over expectation, per NFL Next Gen Stats, almost all stemming from yards after the catch.
I would have been tempted to give Herbert more playing time this season. The Bears might have been able to get better play and increased their return in a trade. But once the Bears were in this spot, it did make sense to trade him. They have plenty of cap space next year, so if they had held onto Herbert, they may not have received a compensatory pick for him.
Lions land DE Smith in deal with Browns
Detroit Lions get: DE Za'Darius Smith, 2026 seventh-round pick
Cleveland Browns get: 2025 fifth-round pick, 2026 sixth-round pick
Trade date: Nov. 5
Grade for the Lions: B+
Grade for the Browns: B
The second Aidan Hutchinson broke his leg in mid-October, it was apparent the Lions were going to need to add a replacement pass rusher. In Smith, they landed a veteran with a long history of production, including this season in Cleveland, as he had five sacks.
Smith's 2.7% sack rate is near his career high, but there is one large red flag: His pass rush win rate is down at 10%, under half of the 21% he recorded in the same defense last season and well below his 16% career average (since 2017). Considering his age (32), that gives me real pause.
The Lions had to make a move, though. This is a team primed to win the Super Bowl. They rank first by ESPN's Football Power Index (FPI) and are FPI's Super Bowl favorite, with a 20% chance (slightly inflated because it isn't explicitly aware of Hutchinson's injury). They could not afford to keep rolling out a rotation of James Houston, Trevor Nowaske and Al-Quadin Muhammad at edge.
Detroit was not exactly flush with options, either. Jadeveon Clowney (Panthers) and Azeez Ojulari (Giants) were other potential trade candidates, and all else being equal, I probably would have preferred Clowney, he has a better pass rush win rate and is a better run defender. Still, it was unlikely the Lions were going to be able to pry a star pass rusher away from another team, especially after the Bengals won last week (thus presumably making a Trey Hendrickson deal impossible). If I were running the Lions, I would trade for another pass rusher (perhaps one of the two mentioned above).
The cost here is plenty reasonable. Compared to the Baron Browning trade Monday, the Lions gave up more in draft capital for Smith, but they will pay him less; the Browns already paid the majority of his compensation through bonuses and Detroit will owe just $605,000.
From Cleveland's perspective, it needed to offload veterans, and this was fine. Ideally I'd be tempted to strong arm the Lions into paying more knowing how desperate they were for the position, but the reality is there were other equally palatable options that are just as likely to be moved, so the Browns weren't in a position of major leverage.
Smith isn't a perfect solution for the Lions, but they needed a solution. As a result, they are better at pass rusher today than they were yesterday. In an ideal world for them, though, maybe they could add at that position again before the deadline at 4 p.m. ET.
Cardinals add pass-rushing help with OLB Browning
Arizona Cardinals get: OLB Baron Browning
Denver Broncos get: 2025 sixth-round pick
Trade date: Nov. 4
Grade for the Cardinals: B
Grade for the Broncos: B
The Cardinals needed some pass-rush help. Arizona ranks 31st in pass rush win rate (28%) and recently lost Dennis Gardeck for the season to a torn ACL after previously losing BJ Ojulari -- also to a knee injury -- before the season began.
Browning has had injury issues of his own and was on IR earlier this season for a foot injury. But in acquiring him, Arizona lands a player who can presumably start right away at edge. Browning has an average 16% pass rush win rate at edge in a small sample this season and has a 13% pass rush win rate at the position over the course of his career. He does not have a sack this season but racked up 9.5 combined sacks over 24 games the past two seasons. That makes him a likely upgrade for the Cardinals over Mack Wilson Sr., who has a 7% pass rush win rate and one sack this season.
A Browning-Zaven Collins pairing isn't that frightening to opponents, but it is better than what the Cardinals had in the first half of the season. Arizona doesn't figure to be a true contender, but it is currently in first place in the NFC West and has a 49% chance to reach the playoffs, according to ESPN's Football Power Index. So I don't mind the Cardinals making a small addition to mitigate a major weakness.
Browning is a rental, as he'll be a free agent after this season. That's partly why it's also logical for the Broncos to deal him even though they, too, have a viable chance to make the playoffs (36%). The Broncos also don't need Browning to start on the edge, as they have Jonathon Cooper (whom they signed to a four-year extension Monday) and Nik Bonitto, so Browning is worth more to Arizona than to Denver.
The Broncos have a lot of cap room next year (as does Arizona), so there was a pretty good chance they would not have received a compensatory pick had Browning left in free agency.
Vikings add OT help with Robinson
Minnesota Vikings get: OT Cam Robinson, 2026 conditional seventh-round pick
Jacksonville Jaguars get: 2026 conditional fifth-round pick
Trade date: Oct. 29
Grade for the Vikings: C+
Grade for the Jaguars: B+
The Vikings had a hole at left tackle after Christian Darrisaw sustained a season-ending knee injury in Week 8. They opted to head to the trade market to fill it. Minnesota is 5-2 and in the middle of a surprisingly strong season, and the franchise understandably hoped to mitigate the damage of losing Darrisaw.
In Robinson, the Vikings landed a player with a ton of experience -- 91 career starts. But Robinson's performance numbers indicate he has long struggled to deliver adequate pass protection. His 82% pass block win rate (PBWR) ranks 60th out of 67 tackles, which is in line with his career averages. He has never finished in the top half of qualifying tackles in PBWR in a season. To be fair to him, I watched all of his pass-block losses from this season and felt the tape was not as bad as the numbers suggested, at least in those seven games.
Robinson's run block win rates have been consistently below average the past several seasons, too. While no single metric (or in this case, two metrics) tells the full story, the Jaguars made a telling move themselves last week when they benched him in favor of Walker Little.
In general, I don't love Robinson as a Darrisaw replacement. But the real question is: What were the alternatives? David Quessenberry came in for Darrisaw immediately after the injury and has recorded an 82% pass block win rate in a tiny sample this season, but he has an 88% pass block win rate since 2020 -- almost average in a sample that includes 30 starts (with a run block win rate that's about average). That's not bad at all in terms of an internal backup plan. ESPN Vikings reporter Kevin Seifert mentioned left guard Blake Brandel and sixth-round tackle Walter Rouse were also replacement candidates on the roster.
The trade market options were thin. Washington's Cornelius Lucas might have been an ideal option considering he has been splitting work with Brandon Coleman, but Lucas sustained an injury Sunday. Cleveland's Jedrick Wills Jr. could have been option, too, but he also has been dealing with injuries. Morgan Moses would be a good pass protector who theoretically could be available from an underperforming Jets team, but he's a right tackle. Las Vegas' Andrus Peat might have been a possibility, but his numbers at tackle are below average too. From the same Raiders team, Kolton Miller could be worth a call, but he would probably be expensive.
Ultimately, I don't love giving up draft capital for a player who hasn't performed and was recently benched, but I also understand there weren't incredible alternatives elsewhere. The internal options and a late-round pick swap for a depth lineman might have been preferable. The conditions offer some downside protection for Minnesota here, though.
For Jacksonville, potentially getting a fourth-round pick for a player who you just benched is a nice return. Given its status as a noncontender, replacing Robinson with Little is fine, particularly since Robinson's contract is up after the season ends. Though the Jaguars might have received a compensatory pick for Robinson had they held onto him and let him walk in free agency, those picks are far from guaranteed.
A big part of this equation that is unknown is: Who is picking up the tab on the rest of Robinson's deal? The tackle entered the year due $17.25 million in salary and per game roster bonuses, according to OverTheCap.com. Will the Jaguars take on most of the prorated remainder themselves? My initial grade here assumes that's the case, so if it ends up that the Vikings are paying the rest of his salary I would adjust their grade down, and the Jags' up.
Ravens pick up WR Johnson from Panthers
Baltimore Ravens get: WR Diontae Johnson, 2025 sixth-round pick
Carolina Panthers get: 2025 fifth-round pick
Trade date: Oct. 29
Grade for the Ravens: A
Grade for the Panthers: D
Another contender landed another wide receiver via trade -- and this is my favorite of those deals so far. The Ravens paid almost nothing to acquire a good player who can help them in their Super Bowl quest.
In Johnson, the Ravens land a high-end route runner who can create open windows for quarterback Lamar Jackson. There's no better illustration of this than open score -- ESPN's measure of how much openness a receiver generates relative to expectations based on the play and regardless of whether they are targeted -- a metric that has always loved Johnson. In his five prior seasons, Johnson has recorded an elite 90-plus rating three times, including a 99 -- the highest possible score -- in 2022.
While that has not translated into massive production (he has only one 1,000-yard season in five completed seasons), Johnson hasn't played on the most effective offenses or with the best quarterbacks since he entered the league as a third-round pick of the Steelers in 2019. Johnson's open score of 62 this season is lower than usual, but keep in mind that it is a small sample of seven games.
The emergence of Rashod Bateman this season has given the Ravens a better one-two combination at wide receiver (with Zay Flowers) than in the past. Bateman has recorded 2.0 yards per route run and a strong 82 open score through Week 7. With Johnson, the Ravens bolster their depth (Nelson Agholor had been the team's No. 3 receiver) and add a player with a much longer record of strong play.
And of course, having three good wideouts is better than two. Flowers has played in the slot on 30% of his snaps this season and has been in motion at the snap 17% of the time, per NFL Next Gen Stats. One could imagine both those numbers increasing with the arrival of Johnson, who played in the slot 19% of the time in Carolina.
In a vacuum, I like the pickup. Given the price? It's a home run. A fifth- and sixth-round pick swap, considering that the Ravens will likely be drafting in the back half of the fifth round and the Panthers at the very top of the sixth, is worth the equivalent of a seventh-round pick in ESPN's draft pick valuations (and that's probably generous). That the Panthers also opted to pick up most of Johnson's remaining salary for the year, per The Athletic, makes for a deal that borders on absurd.
And that's where we transition to the Panthers, because I don't understand how they made this trade at this time. On the surface, trading Johnson -- acquired from the Steelers by the Panthers in March for cornerback Donte Jackson -- makes perfect sense. This is a team going nowhere in 2024, and Johnson is in the last year of his contract. But you must get more than this. I'm flummoxed at how the Panthers weren't able to drum up more interest. They couldn't get the Commanders to top this? The Chiefs? Chargers? Texans? Cowboys? Literally any team that is going to get compensatory picks next year?
Normally, the claim that a team would get more in a compensatory pick for letting a player walk rather than trading the player is an exaggeration. It might not be in this case. Johnson will surely end up with a contract that garners more than a seventh-round pick in the compensatory pick formula, though it isn't totally clear whether Carolina could get one given that it doesn't have many other free agents expecting to leave and has a decent chunk of cap space next year.
But even if the Panthers were convinced that they were not going to earn a compensatory pick, the trade deadline is a week away! You have seven more days to generate interest and see whether an injury strikes a contender. And since they are eating most of Johnson's salary, they aren't saving money. It's hard to imagine how the Panthers could walk away from this deadline season getting this little for Johnson.
Chiefs obtain OLB Uche in trade with Patriots
Kansas City Chiefs get get: LB Joshua Uche
New England Patriots get: 2026 sixth-round pick
Trade date: Oct. 28
Grade for the Chiefs: A-
Grade for the Patriots: B
The Chiefs keep augmenting their roster in pursuit of a three-peat -- as they should. And this one makes so much sense that we forecast it in our trade deadline preview a week ago. Uche will presumably be a situational pass rusher for the Chiefs, but that can be an important role and is something that Kansas City needed.
Uche has had an inconsistent career, but the signs are there for him to be a very useful player for the Chiefs down the stretch and into the playoffs. Though he has only two sacks and has played just 34% of snaps in seven games (he was held out of Sunday's victory over the Jets), he has a very impressive 24% pass rush win rate this season -- which would rank in the top 10 if he played enough to qualify.
This season isn't the first time Uche has shown serious pass-rushing promise. In 2022, Uche recorded 11.5 sacks, a 19% pass rush win rate and a massive 19% pressure rate -- which is the highest by any player in any season since ESPN began tracking pressure in 2017. Of course, he has not maintained that level of play. He had pedestrian pass rush win rates of 13% and 10% in 2021 and 2023, respectively, along with just three sacks in each of those seasons. But we've seen periods of high-level play from Uche, so it's definitely possible that he can unlock it again, especially given his play in the first half of this season.
And the Chiefs need it. Mike Danna -- who has missed the past two games with a pectoral injury -- has a 4% pass rush win rate at edge that would rank 48th out of 50 if he qualified. Uche can now replace Danna and line up opposite George Karlaftis in clear pass-rushing situations while allowing defensive tackle Chris Jones to dominate inside.
Uche's contract also fits the bill for the cash-strapped Chiefs, as his base salary and roster bonuses this year total $1.8 million, so Kansas City will owe just a prorated portion of that.
As for the Patriots, Uche was an obvious candidate to move. They were able to re-sign him for cheap this offseason, but Uche is a pending free agent and New England is as far away from being a contender as a team can get. Since the Patriots have the most 2025 cap space of any team, per Roster Management, the risk of not receiving a compensatory pick for Uche had they kept him and let him walk in free agency was high.
Seahawks and Titans swap linebackers
Seattle Seahawks get: LB Ernest Jones IV
Tennessee Titans get: LB Jerome Baker, fourth-round pick
Trade date: Oct. 23
Grade for the Seahawks: B-
Grade for the Titans: A
The Seahawks opted to upgrade in the middle with a rare linebacker-for-linebacker swap. Jones -- who has now been traded twice this year -- is the better player and potentially a better fit in Mike Macdonald's Seattle defense. Baker, whom the Seahawks signed as a free agent in March, heads back the other way, along with a midround pick. Both players are in the final years of their contracts.
In terms of stopping the run, Jones clearly fares better in our metrics with a 42% run stop win rate since the start of last season. That ranks third among off-ball linebackers who have played at least 70% of snaps in games played. Baker, meanwhile, is at 32% in the same span. In that same time frame, Jones recorded a tackle on 16% of plays and 27% of run plays (the latter number ranked first among qualifying linebackers), while Baker's numbers were just 12% and 15%, respectively, in those categories.
I also suspect the pass rush component was particularly attractive to Seattle. Last season in Baltimore, Macdonald became famous for his simulated blitzes, frequently sending Patrick Queen and Roquan Smith at the quarterback. This year, however, he's running simulated blitzes just 16% of the time -- right around league average -- and Baker has rushed the passer only 22 times. As a Ram in 2023, Jones rushed the passer 120 times -- third-most by an off-ball linebacker -- and boasted an impressive 35% pass rush win rate and 4.5 sacks. So perhaps Jones as a potential pass-rushing threat can allow Macdonald to get more creative in his pass defense.
The coverage numbers are pretty even for the two players, though Jones' completion percentage over expectation allowed (minus-4%) over the past three seasons is much better than Baker's number (plus-7%), per NFL Next Gen Stats.
In a vacuum, I like Seattle moving from Baker to Jones, but I'm surprised it took this much draft capital to get the deal done. Baker and Jones will cost their new teams about the same amount of money, considering Jones is a rental. And it feels a bit pricey for a Seahawks team that has a 29% chance to reach the playoffs, per ESPN's Football Power Index. That being said, Jones is a good player, and I could imagine Seattle seeing him as a long-term solution and wanting to trade for him now in hopes of securing him with a new deal before free agency. That the Seahawks are expected to earn a fourth-round compensatory pick for Damien Lewis (per OverTheCap.com) should not really be a factor -- a fourth-round pick doesn't become less valuable just because you have another one.
For the Titans, this is an easy win. At 1-5, they are (rationally) moving expiring contracts/veteran players for draft capital that can help them in the future, when they might be a contender again. Tennessee acquired Jones in a fifth-/sixth-round pick swap with the Rams in August, got six games from him and then flipped him for a profit. That's good business.
Chiefs land WR Hopkins in trade with Titans
Kansas City Chiefs get: WR DeAndre Hopkins
Tennessee Titans get: 2025 conditional fourth-round pick
Trade date: Oct. 23
Grade for the Chiefs: A-
Grade for the Titans: B
The Chiefs did what needed to be done: upgrading at wide receiver. After winning Super Bowl LVIII with a weak wide receiver room last season, they understood that the model wasn't sustainable. In the offseason, they signed veteran Marquise "Hollywood" Brown and drafted Xavier Worthy in Round 1 to play alongside Rashee Rice. But after Rice and Brown suffered major injuries -- Rice is out for the season (knee) and Brown will miss at least the regular season (shoulder) -- and Worthy has been slower to develop, the Chiefs were worse off at receiver than where they started. Enter Hopkins.
To be clear, the player the Chiefs are getting is long removed from his peak from 2014 to '20, during which he averaged 2.3 yards per route run and recorded at least 1,350 receiving yards four times. Hopkins, 32, is averaging 1.8 yards per route run this season and has a 63/51/33 open/catch/YAC score by ESPN's receiver metrics, which is solid but unspectacular. His production is surely affected by playing with Will Levis, however.
Hopkins was an exceptional pass catcher in his prime, but that skill has deteriorated over the years; he posted four seasons with a catch score of 75-plus from 2017 to '22 but dropped to a 44 last season. He's at 51 this season. His open score had a strong outlier season in 2023 (82), and his yards per route run was an impressive 2.2, too. Though he might not be in his prime, he is still an important addition and will help Kansas City's quest for a three-peat. That Hopkins will be replacing snaps taken by Justin Watson or Skyy Moore makes the impact particularly significant.
The cost and risk are minimal. The Chiefs are shipping out a conditional fourth-round pick, and he will be very cheap. The team will pay between $5-6 million to Hopkins in salary and per game roster bonuses, based on numbers from OverTheCap.com. He will be a free agent in 2025. That is a small price to pay to immediately upgrade a major weak point. That cost for the rest of the season is important here, because the Chiefs are tight against the cap in 2024 and have only $27 million in 2025 cap space, which is below average.
And I do want to stress: Though Kansas City is 6-0, its offense has not been good enough. It ranks 11th in expected points added (EPA) per play and 11th in EPA per dropback this season. That shouldn't be the case with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, though he certainly shoulders some blame here, too, as he has thrown eight interceptions.
If I were Kansas City, I might not be done here, as a third straight title is very much in play. Carolina's Diontae Johnson is still out there as a potential trade candidate.
As for Tennessee, trading Hopkins was a no-brainer move that had to be done. While it made sense for the Titans to improve their roster in 2024 in hopes of contending if Levis significantly improved, he hasn't, and the 1-5 Titans aren't going anywhere. Given that Hopkins was going to be 33 and they had money to spend, a compensatory pick for losing him in free agency was far from guaranteed, if not unlikely. Given the receiver's age and contract, they had virtually no choice. They had to move Hopkins and take the best offer they could get.
Vikings trade for RB Akers in deal with Texans
Minnesota Vikings get: RB Cam Akers, 2026 conditional seventh-round pick
Houston Texans get: 2025 conditional sixth-round pick
Trade date: Oct. 15
Grade for the Vikings: B-
Grade for the Texans: B
It's déjà vu all over again -- the Vikings traded for Akers, roughly 12 months after acquiring him in the middle of the 2023 season. The move comes at a time when Aaron Jones is a little banged up with a right hip injury, so Akers helps add depth behind Jones (along with Ty Chandler) and can serve as a third back if/when Jones returns. ESPN's Kevin Seifert pointed out that coach Kevin O'Connell spoke glowingly about Akers when asked about him last month.
Akers started two games for the Texans this season while Joe Mixon was injured. He averaged 3.7 yards per carry on 40 attempts in Houston and recorded minus-36 rush yards over expectation, per NFL Next Gen Stats. You can't pin that on blocking, too. On that same team, Mixon is averaging 5.5 yards per carry and has plus-67 rush yards over expectation. Akers has never finished a season with positive rushing yards over expectation. But that Akers was able to get the starts in Mixon's stead at all was an accomplishment. He tore an Achilles in both 2021 and 2023.
For Houston, Akers is superfluous with Mixon back healthy -- especially given his lack of production. The team still has Dameon Pierce and Dare Ogunbowale, the latter of whom is particularly helpful in the passing game.
Ultimately, this is a conditional sixth-seventh future pick swap, so the price is as small as it gets. I wouldn't personally trade for Akers if I were Minnesota, given his injury history and continued lack of efficiency (he had just 2.8 yards per carry between the Rams and Vikings last season), but the cost is so low that it is barely going to move the needle.
Bills add WR Cooper from Browns for third-round pick
Buffalo Bills get: WR Amari Cooper, 2025 sixth-round pick
Cleveland Browns get: 2025 third-round pick, 2026 seventh-round pick
Trade date: Oct. 15
Grade for the Bills: A-
Grade for the Browns: B
The Bills needed to add a wide receiver before the deadline. That was always going to be the case unless rookie second-round pick Keon Coleman was great right away. That hasn't happened, and Buffalo is way, way too good to let its MVP-caliber quarterback not have another playmaker. In Cooper, the Bills land the receiver they need -- and one they can afford.
Cooper, 30, has been a steady and reliable producer for years. He has played in at least 14 games in every season of his career, which started in 2015, and has reached 1,000 yards in seven of nine of those full seasons. He's also coming off a season in which he reached a career high in yards (1,250) and yards per route run (2.5), despite playing with subpar quarterbacks Deshaun Watson, Joe Flacco, PJ Walker and Dorian Thompson-Robinson. He played more of a deep-threat role than he ever had before last season, with 14.2 average air yards per target and career highs in yards (636) and catches over expectation (5.6, per NFL Next Gen Stats) on passes 20-plus yards downfield.
He does not come without risk. Cooper's production has dropped substantially in 2024, with his yards per route run dropping to 1.2, though his numbers against man coverage only -- often a better indicator of skill -- are almost identical. His open scores also indicate some decline, dropping steadily each year from 2020 starting at 64, 58, 54, 54 and then 46 both last season and this season. That his catch and yards-after-catch scores -- which dropped from 74 and 46 last season to 31 and 34 this season -- are the drivers of his 2024 production falloff is actually a good sign for Buffalo. Those numbers need more time to stabilize, and the falloff is more likely to be noise. Still, there are no guarantees Cooper hasn't actually declined a fair bit given his age.
The real question this all hinges on: Is the reason Cooper has been far less efficient simply because of Watson's struggles? No matter how you divide the blame between the offensive line and Watson himself, Cleveland's passing game has been horrendous, so it's a reasonable bet for Buffalo to make that Cooper will play much better with Josh Allen.
One obstacle Buffalo faced in acquiring a new receiver was that it was basically out of cap space, with just $3.3 million left this year and most of its restructure possibilities tapped out (and only $11 million next year, per OverTheCap.com). Cooper fills the need for a wide receiver and does so cheaply: Cleveland restructured his deal before the season, so he will cost the Bills just over $1 million this season.
In terms of draft pick compensation, the swap works out to the Browns landing the equivalent of around pick No. 100 for Cooper, assuming a later third-round selection by the Bills. His contract is up at the end of the season, so this is likely to be a rental.
A few other midseason rentals dealt in recent years in which the acquiring team had to pay minimal salary: Chase Young to the 49ers (third-round pick), Robert Quinn to the Eagles (fourth-round pick) and Von Miller to the Rams (second and third-round picks).
Cooper certainly isn't the player Miller was in 2021, but he also probably means more to Buffalo's Super Bowl chances than Young did to the 49ers' last season. There's a fair argument the Bills might have been better off trading for Carolina's Diontae Johnson or paying more to get the Raiders to pay most of Davante Adams' salary and acquiring him. But it's hard to know whether Johnson was available this early, and once Adams was off the table, it made sense for the Bills to move on Cooper rather than risk getting shut out at the position. In other words, it's easily worth it for the Bills to make this move; their Super Bowl window is open, and they need to go try to win a title.
For Cleveland, which is 1-5, this signals the team knows what was already apparent: Its 2024 season is over. The Browns are ranked 27th by ESPN's Football Power Index (FPI), and their offensive FPI rating is only better than the Dolphins' (with Tyler Huntley) and the Patriots' (with Drake Maye).
The Browns had no other move here than to move on from Cooper. They had to cash in on him now in exchange for a draft pick they can use when they are contenders again. I might have expected slightly more for Cooper, but if this was what the market yields, it was probably best for Cleveland to make the deal now rather than wait and risk an injury.
Jets land WR Adams from Raiders
New York Jets get: WR Davante Adams
Las Vegas Raiders get: 2025 conditional third-round pick
Trade date: Oct. 15
Grade for the Jets: A-
Grade for the Raiders: B-
It actually happened: The Jets reunited Davante Adams with Aaron Rodgers, despite a 2-4 start and firing their coach a week ago. And you know what? It was the right move.
The Jets had pushed their chips pretty far in with the hope of a Super Bowl run before the 40-year-old Rodgers calls it a career. The bull case remained the same Tuesday as it did in the preseason: A future Hall of Fame quarterback paired with an elite defense. The problem? The offense wasn't good enough. Rodgers isn't the MVP he was a few years ago, and the team needed another good pass catcher besides Garrett Wilson. Enter Adams. At this stage, what's splashing the pot with a few more chips anyway?
There are fair questions about who exactly the Jets are getting, though. At his peak, Adams was the NFL's best wide receiver. He led the NFL with 3.1 yards per route run and 18 touchdowns in 2020, the latter coming despite playing in 14 games. He also recorded a 99 open score, the highest possible score in our receiver metrics. In 2021 and 2022 -- his final season in Green Bay and then his first season as a Raider -- he still put up huge numbers: He averaged 2.7 yards per route run (third best) and had more than 3,000 receiving yards. His open score remained an elite 85 and 81 in those two seasons, respectively.
We began to see the first signs of Adams' decline in 2023. His yards per route run dropped to 2.0, and his open score fell to 71. Those two numbers continued to fall in the three games he played this season, to 1.8 and 64, respectively. While the yardage drop can be somewhat attributed to the decline in quarterback quality, open score is designed to account for the quarterback on the field. The signs of what appear to be his decline are happening for him at an age (he'll turn 32 in December) when we would expect it.
At this stage, Adams is probably a top-15 or top-20 wide receiver. He's also worth more to the Jets than any other team, however. Chemistry with Rodgers at this stage seems elusive; somehow Rodgers and Wilson have struggled to connect at times, while Allen Lazard, a much worse receiver who has spent years with Rodgers, has thrived. New York has no more time to waste.
It's ironic, perhaps, that some of the recent Jets dysfunction stems from ceding too much control to Rodgers, and yet the rational move at this stage was to give in to what he (almost certainly) wanted in acquiring Adams.
The offense, which looked much better in Monday's 23-20 loss to the Bills after the team replaced Nathaniel Hackett with Todd Downing as the playcaller, will be better with Adams. As of Tuesday morning, per ESPN's Football Power Index, the Jets rank as the 11th-best team, and they have a 46% chance to reach the playoffs. They have a 4% chance to reach the Super Bowl. Those projections likely will go up with the acquisition of Adams.
The cost to acquire Adams is not overly significant. A third-round pick that can become a second-rounder only in the event things go very well -- Adams would have to be an All-Pro or active for the AFC title game or Super Bowl. The Raiders are not eating any of his salary, so the Jets will pay a prorated portion of the roughly $17 million in cash he was due this year. That is a value price for him with 11 games left.
Adams might not remain a Jet beyond 2024, but the organization has to be OK making this deal as a rental, because it very well could be. He is scheduled to make more than $36 million in cash in 2025, so if the Jets cannot work out a new contract with him before then, they presumably would cut him. That is still OK: The point of this deal is to improve the Jets right now.
By far the most likely result of all of this is we end up looking back on this deal as a burned third-round pick by the Jets. But that's not what this trade is about for them: They are playing for the upside, the less likely scenario where a few breaks go their way. In the world in which that happens, Adams absolutely could be the player they need to make a run.
As for the Raiders, I want to be clear that the B-minus grade is strictly for their decision-making today. Their entire Adams trade saga deserves an F for the obviousness of the team's error. Adams has been an aging and declining player on a bad team with a value contract for a long time now, and it was only stubbornness by the franchise that it did not trade him before this season, or last trade deadline, or the offseason before that. The delay was costly: Vegas could have gotten far more in return 12 months ago. Instead, it kept him in order to deal him for less now while achieving zero playoff berths as a result.
That being said, once the Raiders found themselves in the position they did Tuesday -- with a lackluster team and a 32-year-old star receiver who wants out -- of course the correct move is to deal him. Whatever the best price they could get was the best price they could get. Still, they should have tried to take on Adams' salary in exchange for additional draft compensation (if that was offered to them).
The Raiders have $26 million in 2024 cap space and $80 million in 2025 cap space, per OverTheCap.com. They might not be able to use all of that cap space efficiently, and this offered them an opportunity to gain extra draft capital to convert Adams' salary into a bonus they pay. I won't overly criticize this point because we don't know if the Jets wanted to do that -- their cap situation is not all that different, though large contracts for Sauce Gardner and Wilson loom. We also don't know if they would have offered fair compensation, but paying down Adams' deal should have been Las Vegas' preference. If the Raiders not taking on Adams' salary kept other teams out of the negotiations (Buffalo?), doing this deal was even more costly.