Pro Football Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat: 11/14/25
Pro Football Rumors' Sam Robinson will be holding a live chat at 12:30pm Central today, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers!
NFL Mailbag: Giants, Young, Browns
This week's edition of the PFR mailbag looks into the Giants and Browns as they contemplate major organizational changes this offseason, along with questions on Bryce Young's standing in Carolina, the NFC North race and more.
Aaron asks:
What will it take for the Giants to finally get this turned around? Does it make sense for Joe Schoen to get another year after Brian Daboll's firing?
Health on offense would surely make a difference. The make-or-break campaign for Daboll (and perhaps Schoen) saw Malik Nabers suffer an ACL tear and Cam Skattebo sustain a season-ending ankle injury. Add in quarterback Jaxson Dart’s concussion, and the Giants are currently without three foundational young players on that side of the ball.
Each member of that trio reaching their potential when healthy would be critical; the Dart-Nabers connection could prove to be highly effective if things go according to plan. With that said, it’s hard to imagine Schoen being able to hang his continued employment entirely on the possibility of Dart becoming a franchise passer. Daboll was unable to maximize the talent available to him, but the roster Schoen constructed still has a number of question marks (although ownership’s stance on that front certainly suggests Schoen will be safe for 2026).
NFL Mailbag: Trades, Steelers, Fins, Shaheed
This week's edition of the PFR mailbag answers multiple questions related to the trade deadline while also looking into the Steelers' chances of a Super Bowl run.
Krystal asks:
Which contender do you think will be hurt most by not making a deadline trade? What was your favorite trade outcome at this deadline?
The Chiefs did make a midseason addition by reuniting with Mike Pennel, although that was a free agent signing following his Bengals release. Kansas City was short on cap space but swinging a deal for someone like Breece Hall would have helped a backfield facing questions (and, to be fair, the Chiefs did make an offer on that front).
The Bills were also in the market for at least one addition with nothing taking place. Again, only a low-cost trade (in terms of finances) would have been feasible, but I expected something in their case. The buzz about a receiver addition made tons of sense, and it’s not as if the rentals who were moved came at an exorbitant price with respect to draft capital.
Pro Football Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat: 11/6/25
Pro Football Rumors' Sam Robinson will be holding a live chat at 3:30pm Central today, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers!
Value Jets Obtained In Trades Soon To Bring Daunting Tasks
Twice this century, the Jets have made five first-round picks in a two-year span. Both instances brought degrees of success, with the first such two-fer -- 2000-01 -- setting the team up with a core responsible for producing playoff berths. The second instance (2021-22) supplied impact talent, but Tuesday's trades provide a significant amendment to that Joe Douglas-driven haul's legacy.
The Jets dealing Sauce Gardner -- the No. 4 overall pick in the 2022 draft -- to the Colts leaves only Garrett Wilson and Jermaine Johnson as players from the 2021-22 first-round contingent signed beyond this season. In sending Quinnen Williams to the Cowboys, the Jets set themselves up for a draft redux. They will exit this season with five picks between the 2026 and '27 first rounds.
While dealing away players like Gardner and Williams obviously injects risk into the equation for Aaron Glenn and GM Darren Mougey, this regime smartly cashed out when above-market offers came in. This will make for some hard(er)-to-watch Jets football to close out this season, but already being 1-7, not much will be lost here. And a mission statement now exists for the Glenn-Mougey regime, which now holds significant cap space and a draft war chest as yet another Jets rebuild is on tap.
What happened when the Jets previously enjoyed this rare opportunity?
Four other franchises have made five first-round picks in a two-draft span since 2000. It is largely not a good list to be on, as it includes the Browns (2017-18), Raiders (2019-20) and Dolphins (2020-21). The Vikings made seven first-round selections from 2012-14, with three coming in 2013, and that septet helped form the core for three Mike Zimmer-coached playoff teams. The 2000 Jets, however, are the best example of turning this rare opportunity into success in the modern NFL.
Pro Football Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat: 10/31/25
Pro Football Rumors' Sam Robinson will be holding a live chat at 2:30pm Central today, exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers!
NFL Mailbag: Bills, Falcons, Garrett, Crosby
This week's PFR mailbag covers a number of trade-related questions ahead of the upcoming deadline as well as an inquiry tied to a quirk in the NFL rulebook.
Jason asks:
Are the Bills going to land a receiver at the deadline this year? When compared with what the Chiefs now have there, they seem shorthanded in that area.
Talk about Buffalo adding at the deadline has increasingly pointed in this direction. That comes as no surprise, given the impact seen from the receiver spot so far. Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman and Josh Palmer have combined to average only 128 receiving yards per game in 2025. A strong running attack can offset much of that low-end production, but an upgrade would be a logical target in the coming days.
Rashid Shaheed’s name has been floated for quite some time and the Bills are among the teams which have been (at least loosely) connected to him. The Saints are treating the remainder of the season as an audition period for rookie quarterback Tyler Shough so a number of pending free agents could be on the move shortly.
Lessons From Recent NFL Trade Deadlines
While free agency has only existed in its current form since 1993, the trade deadline has been in place for ages. Blockbuster deals involving Herschel Walker and Eric Dickerson saw draft war chests opened, while the California arrivals of Hall of Fame-bound defenders Mike Haynes and Fred Dean swung Super Bowl races in the 1980s.
Deadline day in 1974, one of the more underdiscussed transaction frenzies, relocated Hall of Fame-bound D-lineman Curley Culp and two experienced starting quarterbacks (Craig Morton, John Hadl). Nearly two decades earlier, the Bobby Layne trade triggered generations of curse-based discussion. The first 15 years of this century included the Carson Palmer trade/unretirement and Marshawn Lynch going to Seattle for fourth- and fifth-round picks.
Trade deadlines have become more impactful in recent years. The NFL has seen many of its younger GMs become more receptive to dealing, and the league moved the deadline back a week in 2024. The cap spikes to occur since 2022 have also helped embolden contenders to acquire talent -- after the 2010s did not involve comparable year-to-year booms. A sizable contingent of would-be sellers is in place this year, with a clear bottom tier forming early. A handful of trades have already occurred. By next week, we should see several more players -- many from basement-dwelling clubs -- relocate to contenders.
It is then relevant to look at some of the key developments and long-term ramifications from recent trade deadlines. Since 2015, we have seen a number of second-round picks change hands. Fewer firsts have been swapped in-season, but impact players have changed addresses in deals involving Round 1 choices. As we head toward another trade window closing, here are some lessons and consequences from the past decade of deadline-driven deals.
Enduring Colts Foundation Makes Surprise Return To Relevance
In 2018, the Colts submitted one of the more memorable turnarounds in recent NFL history. After Andrew Luck missed all of the 2017 season with a troublesome shoulder injury, he soared to Comeback Player of the Year honors and piloted an Indianapolis divisional-round run. The Colts zoomed from 1-5 to 10-6, eliminating the Texans in Houston's traditional Saturday-afternoon wild-card slot.
Not unlike the Saints' 2017 draft class that catalyzed a late-career Drew Brees return to postseason bookings, the Colts' 2018 group positioned Luck for a reemergence after an injury-plagued period. The Colts hit on several core players in that draft, plugging five rookies into regular roles for a franchise that appeared poised to vault to a Super Bowl-contending perch alongside the quickly forming Patrick Mahomes-Lamar Jackson-Josh Allen troika that came to define the post-Tom Brady AFC years.
Luck's abrupt retirement obviously scuttled those plans, setting the Colts back years and bringing about a nonstop quarterback carousel that moved the franchise into mediocrity. As this space foreshadowed this summer, the Colts became just the second team since the 1970 merger to use eight different Week 1 starting quarterbacks in a nine-season span (Washington is the other, doing so from 2017-24). The player that moved Indy toward this solo tier, Daniel Jones, has, to the surprise of just about everyone, restored the Luck-era core to relevancy and has benefited from the foundation Chris Ballard stubbornly clung to in subsequent years.
The Colts have glided to 6-1, toppling two five-win squads (Broncos, Chargers). Jones following Geno Smith, Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold's resurgent path has required quality showings from much of Ballard's core, one essentially deemed inconsequential after the organization's QB carousel finally crashed during Anthony Richardson's historically inaccurate season.
NFL Mailbag: Trades, Giants, 49ers, Stroud
This week's edition of the PFR mailbag touches on the wide receiver angle as it pertains to the trade deadline, the Giants' offseason outlook and the 49ers' and Texans' quarterback situations.
Ian asks:
If the Dolphins and Saints aren't posturing about keeping [Jaylen] Waddle and [Chris] Olave, which WRs are truly available at the deadline? Will the Steelers land one?
First off, I would agree in thinking neither Waddle nor Olave will (or should) be dealt. Both teams require an influx of young talent to rebound from where they are now. Trading away players in their 20s who have term remaining on their deals is the opposite of what Miami and New Orleans need to be doing.
With that in mind, let’s focus on pending free agents who have been mentioned as trade candidates. Jakobi Meyers is the top name to watch; he asked to be dealt this summer, the Raiders are (all but) out of playoff contention and he topped 1,000 yards last year. Teams have called about Meyers, and he would no doubt welcome the chance to help his market value on a contender as opposed to riding out the season in Vegas – something the team would apparently be onboard with as well.