NFL trades are rare, but they’re paying off in 2016

Trades in the NFL aren’t common and midseason trades before the deadline are even more rare.

That’s why it was so shocking when the New England Patriots traded one of their best players, linebacker Jamie Collins, to the Cleveland Browns the day before the trade deadline. The week before, the Patriots also acquired linebacker Kyle Van Noy from the Detroit Lions, meaning it was a busy month for at least one team in the trade market.

However, history suggests there won’t be many more deals done.

In 2015, many names were floated as possible trade pieces, including Eric Weddle, Joe Thomas, Paul Kruger and Alex Mack, but ultimately Vernon Davis was the only one who actually swapped rosters. Davis ended up getting a Super Bowl ring with the Denver Broncos, but the team didn’t actually get much help by adding the tight end.

Similar inactivity is the most likely scenario on deadline day this year, but there were enough mutually beneficial trades (mostly including the Philadelphia Eagles) in 2016 to justify teams taking more chances on trades:

The blockbuster addition of Murray to the Eagles on a five-year, $42 million deal after he led the NFL in rushing in 2014 turned into a complete bust for Philadelphia. He struggled to get going and finished the year with 702 rushing yards, crossing 100 yards in just one game.

After firing Chip Kelly, the Eagles got to work undoing most of the coach’s roster moves as de facto general manager, but getting rid of Murray’s large contract was a tall task.

So swapping fourth-round picks with the Titans just to get rid of Murray’s contract after he averaged 3.6 yards per carry was actually a huge coup for the Eagles.

The Philadelphia offense hasn’t seemed to miss Murray, with the trio of Ryan Mathews, Darren Sproles and Wendell Smallwood making for an improved Eagles rushing attack. And Murray has thrived in Tennessee where he has already eclipsed his 2015 rushing total in half the time, racking up 756 rushing yards in eight games.

When Teddy Bridgewater suffered a serious knee injury in practice, a promising season for the Minnesota Vikings seemed to circle the drain. And a rushed trade to get Sam Bradford in exchange for a 2017 first-round pick and 2018 fourth-round pick didn’t inspire much hope that the Vikings were handling things properly.

It wasn’t that Bradford was a bad fit for a team that at the time just needed a quarterback to avoid mistakes and allow defense and Adrian Peterson to lead the way to victory, it was just that a first-round pick was a lot for a player with a 25-37-1 record and an average of fewer than 16 touchdowns per season.

A 5-0 start to the season silenced a lot of criticism, and even though the Vikings have dropped two games in a row, most of the blame has fallen on the offensive line.

Through the first eight weeks Bradford has eight touchdowns, one interception and he’s been exactly what the Vikings need to stay out in front of the NFC North.

The Eagles haven’t missed him either. Carson Wentz is already a star in Philadelphia after leading the team to a 3-0 start. Even if the Eagles have slowed down a bit, you’d be hard pressed to find a Philadelphia fan who misses Bradford.

From a bird’s eye view, the obvious winner of this trade was the Patriots. Rob Gronkowski dealt with injury early in the season and Martellus Bennett looked like a bonafide star in his absence, catching three touchdowns in Tom Brady’s first game back from suspension.

Bennett caught just 53 passes for 439 yards and three touchdowns with the Chicago Bears in 2015, and should have no problem smashing those marks with the Patriots.

But the deal made sense for the Bears, too — a team that needs much more than a 29-year-old disgruntled tight end to make it a winner. The team is going to require patience and it’s hard to imagine Bennett helping turn the team’s 1-6 record into anything close to a mark that could keep Chicago in contention.

So getting a fourth-round pick that was used to select cornerback Deiondre’ Hall looks like a good play for the future for the Bears.

Hall has dealt with injuries recently, but the Bears have seen a lot of promise in the cornerback who models his game after Charles Tillman.

“Deiondre’, man, he’s always been that competitor,” Bears cornerback Tracy Porter told the Chicago Tribune in August. “Now it’s just trying to clean up little technique issues.”

In Week 4, Hall helped the Bears to their only win of the season at that point, intercepting Matthew Stafford in the final minutes of the game to end the Detroit Lions’ attempt to rally. Having the raw and talented 22-year-old cornerback during Chicago’s rebuild is more valuable than keeping Bennett.

Fresh off a 12.5-sack season with the Patriots, trading Chandler Jones was an odd move for New England. Still just 26 years old, Jones has looked just as good in Arizona’s defense, starting the year with a sack in each of the Cardinals’ first four games.

But Jones is set to hit free agency in March and it’s going to cost a lot for the Cardinals to keep a pass rusher in his prime. The Patriots cashed in on the defensive end/linebacker before he got expensive (as they did with Collins), trading him for Jonathan Cooper and a second-round pick.

Cooper never panned out for the Patriots, but the second-round pick was parlayed into a trade that landed New England guard Joe Thuney and wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell.

Thuney has been a starter for the Patriots, Mitchell looks like a bright piece for the future, and the New England defense hasn’t missed a beat with Jones gone.

One of the strengths of the Patriots has been buying low and selling high, and while not every move has paid off, the trade of Jones seems to follow the philosophy and helped add more young talent at positions of need for the team.

And the Cardinals certainly aren’t complaining about the production of Jones, who has joined Markus Golden to make for a good pass rushing duo on one of the NFL’s best defenses.

The majority of the trades made during the 2016 calendar year have benefited both teams, without a clear winner or loser of the deals.

That likely won’t inspire teams to make trades before the deadline on Tuesday, but maybe it should. In 2016, trades have been a good idea and the Patriots and Eagles have been the biggest beneficiaries.

Being more like the Patriots is almost never a bad idea.