The Jaguars and Dolphins won the NFL Trade Deadline in a major way

The most active NFL Trade Deadline is in the books with some huge surprises we didn’t see coming. After a flurry of activity in the week leading up to the deadline itself, it sure was feeling like that Tuesday, 4 p.m. ET deadline would pass without a lot of spice. In the end, we had anarchy in the early afternoon that established who is looking to compete right now, and who’s prepared to punt on the season.

A total of 10 deals were made prior to to the league’s cut-off point, so let’s dive in to see who made the most of their deals, and who is left making me wonder what the plans are.

The Jaguars only made two deals, one well ahead of the deadline and one on Tuesday — but came away as the big winners of the period, largely because of the coup they pulled off to get Calvin Ridley, and we’ll get to that in a moment.

Trading James Robinson was the first shoe to drop, being dealt just over a week before the deadline for a conditional sixth round pick. On the surface the Jets got Robinson for a song, but the reality is that there was a logjam at running back that Jacksonville needed to clear, and it made Robinson intently expendably. In the end I think it’s addition by subtraction, because it freed the way for Travis Etienne to become the full-time feature back for the Jaguars without needing to justify giving him the lion’s share of carries. It’s not entirely fair to a do a 1-to-1 comparison considering Robinson changed teams, but in one game since the deal Robinson rushed for 17 yards on five carries for the Jets — while Etienne shined in London, rushing for 156 yards against the Broncos. The trade ended up being good for both parties, and allows the Jaguars to move forward without issue.

Easily the biggest deal that Jacksonville made was the move that brought Calvin Ridley to North Florida. I am obsessed with this deal, and cannot believe it was so simple to get the Falcons to move on from their No. 1 receiver. Sure, yes, he’s suspended — for a stupid-ass, pedantic reason when players have done far worse for a fraction of the punishment. To me, gambling on games is a dumb mistake — but has absolutely no lasting mark on Ridley’s career. Ostensibly the Jaguars got a true, 1,000 yard receiver in a WR-heavy market for the equivalent of (at best) a 2nd round pick. That’s assuming he lives up to billing and is rewarded with a new contract extension.

In a league where top-flight receivers attract multiple first rounds picks, the Jaguars kept all the upside in the deal for Ridley and put the onus on him returning to his 1,400 yard form from 2020, rather than making the team take a real risk. As much as I hated Jacksonville throwing boatloads of money at Christian Kirk (who is on pace for 1,058 yards) getting Ridley for next-to-nothing more than makes up for it. Love this deal, and what it could mean for the future of the Jaguars’ offense.

Please, help me understand this T.J. Hockenson trade, because I’m totally lost.

I don’t know why Detroit felt the need to jettison one of their only reliable targets, let alone to a division rival. Sure, the Lions are struggling more than they should be (or were expected to) but this is not a team in a position of giving up one of its better offensive pieces.

Yes, there are grumblings Hockenson might have been free-agency bound after 2023, but that’s a full damn year to either convince him, or find a new home. Pulling the trigger now, and getting back a pick in the back-half of the second round is an incredibly low return for a former 1st round pick who proved his worth.

The Lions aren’t in a position to get rid of good players. This franchise needs to build on its meager base and become a winner, so dealing their start tight end for next-to-nothing feels like a terrible move that helped their competition get better at their own expense.

Okay, so this one is a little complex. On the one hand I actually really like the acquisition of Chase Claypool, and think he can bring a lot to the table on offense. I don’t love losing your two most important defensive players for a handful of magic beans.

When we tally up all three trades in totality here’s the trade the Bears ostensibly made:

Except it’s even a little worse that that, because the 2nd going back to the Steelers is from the struggling Bears, and not the Ravens. Don’t get me wrong, Chicago needed to find a way to get Justin Fields some more help, but in the end I think they made their team drastically worse overall to get better on offense right now. It all comes down to hitting on those picks, but where they’re located in the draft it’s going to take a lot of luck — and even then the Bears aren’t going to find players of Smith and Quinn’s caliber.

I don’t know where Miami’s draft picks are coming from moving forward, but that’s a problem for the future. For now, nobody got better from a pure player perspective than Miami.

Bradley Chubb is a fantastic player for the rangy, athletic defense the Dolphins want, but haven’t really achieved up until this point. The biggest stumbling block for Mike McDaniel’s team has been a lack of pressure, and Chubb more than makes up for that. Now Melvin Ingram can be used more traditionally where he’ll shine, and Chubb can play the Joker role which suits him far better. On the surface a 1st might seem like a lot, but that’s coming from San Francisco who won’t be picking until the 20s at earliest. Finding a player of Chubb’s caliber that late in the first round is a stretch, and this helps Miami win now.

Meanwhile the second trade for Jeff Wilson might end up feeling more impactful, at least immediately. The 49ers running back gives McDaniel with a player he’s intimately aware of, who can bolster the offense and take some of the pressure off Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle to be the only feature points of the Dolphins’ offense. Wilson was expendable for the 49ers after their acquisition of Christian McCaffrey, and a 5th round pick is really low compensation for a player on pace for a 995 yard rushing season.

This is so much more about the moves the Panthers didn’t make, than the ones they did. In the end this franchise didn’t freak out and deal DE Brian Burns or WR D.J. Moore when they didn’t need to.

Many predicted an all-out fire sale in the Carolinas after Christian McCaffrey was dealt to San Francisco, but as we saw the market on both pass rushers and wide receiver was pretty soft at the deadline. Both Burns and Moore are on absolutely manageable, cap-friendly deals that will keep them with the Panthers through 2023 (in Burns’ case) and beyond (with Moore). These are the Panthers two most important players, and critical for any potential rebuild with a new quarterback in next year’s draft.

The decision not to take TWO first round picks from the Rams for Burns will be scrutinized plenty over the next 12 months, but Los Angeles didn’t have a first rounder until 2024, and this team needs all the help it can right now. Trading away its top pass rusher just wasn’t in the cards, and keeping Burns and Moore ensures the Panthers are at their best for a rebuild.