For teams making one last push to make the Super Bowl, the NFL trade deadline is often the final opportunity to add talent to get a roster over the top. At times it can be costly, but no one will mind
if it helps bring home a championship.
In 2024, the Lions were in desperate need of pass rush and traded a 2025 fifth and sixth-round pick for Za’Darius Smith and a 2026 seventh-round pick. The move certainly helped the Lions’ pass rush down the stretch without Aidan Hutchinson, but ultimately the move busted when Detroit failed to win a playoff game.
This year, the Lions were somewhat criticized for staying put. Despite similar questions at defensive end, injuries and issues on the offensive line, and maybe even some questions at safety, the Lions opted not to make a move this year.
Now that we’re into the second round of the 2025-26 NFL playoffs, let’s revisit the big trades made in November to see how the active teams fared in their trade deadline moves—and if the Lions missed out on any golden opportunities.
Philadelphia Eagles
Trade #1
- Eagles got: EDGE Jaelan Phillips
- Dolphins got: 2026 third-round pick
How the team did:
The Eagles got bounced in the first round of the playoffs after losing the San Francisco 49ers
How the player did:
Phillips did bring a lot of extra pass rush juice to the Eagles. Though he only finished with 2.0 sacks in eight games, he did post 41 pressures in those games while also being a plus in the run game (69.2 PFF grade).
Will he be sticking around?
Hard to say, but this feels like a one-year rental. Phillips was on his fifth-year option with the Dolphins, making his acquisition not very costly for the Eagles in terms of cap space. Phillips will be looking for a big payday this offseason, and the Eagles are working within a tight budget.
Trade #2
- Eagles got: CB Jaire Alexander, 2027 seventh-round pick
- Ravens got: 2026 sixth-round pick
How the team did:
Still bounced in the first round.
How the player did:
He lasted less than two weeks with the Eagles before he announced he’s stepping away from football to focus on his physical and mental health.
Will he be sticking around?
Probably not.
Overall
The Eagles were active at the trade deadline, but not at the right place. Their offense was terrible and cost them the season. The one-year rental on Phillips certainly made their defense better, but it certainly wasn’t worth it when the other side of the ball was so poor that they were never going to make a championship run.
Los Angeles Chargers
Trade
- Chargers got: OT Trevor Penning
- Saints got: 2027 sixth-round pick
How the team did:
Bounced in the first round of the playoffs in an uncompetitive game vs. the Patriots.
How the player did:
Not great. In five games with the Chargers, he allowed 11 pressures, two sacks, and produced a 52.5 pass blocking grade. He was eventually benched and was used mostly as a jumbo package sixth offensive lineman.
Will he be sticking around?
I doubt it.
Overall
The Chargers were in desperate times, having lost both starting offensive tackles. So this was a low-risk, low-cost move. Still, it was a complete waste, as the Chargers’ pass protection remained a huge liability and Justin Herbert taking six sacks in the Wild Card round is further proof of that.
Seattle Seahawks
Trade:
- Seahawks got: WR Rashid Shaheed
- Saints got: 2026 fourth-round pick, 2026 fifth-round pick
How the team did:
Earned the NFC’s top seed and a first-round bye. Obviously, still alive in the playoffs.
How the player did:
Unsurprisingly, it took a few weeks to get Shaheed going. He caught just four passes for 37 yards in his first four games with Seattle—playing around 50% of the snaps. In the next two games, he caught nine passes for 141 yards. But in the final three games, he’s just contributed two catches for 10 yards.
Overall, he has just 15 catches for 188 yards and zero touchdowns with the Seahawks.
That said, it certainly could be argued that he’s taken some heat off of wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba. But the splits in his stats pre and post-trade aren’t all that different:
Smith-Njigba pre-trade (eight games): 58 catches, 948 yards, 4 TDs
Smith-Njigba post-trade (nine games): 61 catches, 845 yards, 6 TDs
Will he be sticking around?
Hard to know. His contract voids this upcoming offseason, so it will be up to the Seahawks.
Overall
I think it’s safe to say they haven’t gotten what they wanted out of Shaheed, but if he can have a strong postseason, it will have still been worth it.
Dallas Cowboys
Trade #1
- Cowboys got: DT Quinnen Williams
- Jets got: 2026 second-round pick, 2027 first-round pick, DT Mazi Smith
How the team did:
Dallas missed the playoffs, largely because of their terrible defense. Even after Williams’ addition, the Cowboys allowed an average of 29.25 points per game.
How the player did:
Pretty good, honestly. He produced an 88.8 PFF run defense grade with the Cowboys, and tallied a whopping 32 pressures in seven games, despite only tallying 1.5 sacks. Initially, he was a big help in the team’s run defense, helping hold the Raiders to 27 rushing yards and the Eagles to 63. But for the remainder of the season, Dallas still allowed 126.0 rushing yards per game.
Will he be sticking around?
Yes. He is under contract for two more seasons with the Cowboys with only $5 million in guarantees left. So despite big salaries over the next two seasons ($20.75M, $25.5M), Dallas has complete control over the 28-year-old’s future.
Overall
This was a more long-term move made for the Cowboys in the hopes they can turn around a porous defense following the trade of Micah Parsons to begin the season. Williams is an absolute beast, but whether he can carry a terrible Dallas defense into even mediocrity is very much still a big question.
Trade #2
- Cowboys got: LB Logan Wilson
- Bengals got: 2026 seventh-round pick
How the team did:
lol
How the player did:
As a subpackage player, Wilson logged 224 defensive snaps over seven games and managed 24 tackles, a pass deflection, and a forced fumble. But as mentioned before, the Cowboys defense still stunk. Wilson logged PFF grades below 60 in run defense (54.7), coverage (52.3), and pass rush (59.3).
Will he stick around?
Maybe, but he’s a bit costly. Wilson is still under contract for two more seasons, but he has salaries of $6 million and $6.66 million with zero guaranteed money. Wilson didn’t even play in Week 17, so he clearly wasn’t making a great impression. Plus, with a defensive coordinator change coming in Dallas, it remains to be seen whether Wilson will stick.
Overall
Because this wasn’t a costly move, I won’t kill the Cowboys for it, but it clearly didn’t add much to the team.
Indianapolis Colts
Trade
- Colts got: CB Sauce Gardner
- Jets got: 2026 first-round pick, 2027 first-round pick, WR Adonai Mitchell
How the team did:
After an injury to QB Daniel Jones, the Colts’ season torpedoed, finishing on a seven-game losing streak and missing the playoffs at 8-9.
How the player did:
Unfortunately, Gardner only played four games with the Colts after suffering a calf injury that cause him to miss a month of the season. He returned late in Week 17, but sat in a meaningless Week 18 game.
When he was on the field, Gardner provided the type of play you’d expect. He allowed just seven catches for 51 yards on 13 targets, including three pass breakups.
Will he stick around?
Definitely. Gardner signed a four-year extension with the Jets earlier in 2025, so he remains under contract through the 2030 season. He’ll cost just $9.5 million against the cap next year before his cap hit jumps to around $21 million and a lot more in the subsequent seasons.
Overall
Obviously, the Colts got hit with some bad luck in the back half of the season, but such is the risk of trade deadline moves. That said, whether this trade was smart or not is still very much to be determined, because this was just as much of a long-term move as it was a short-term one.
Chicago Bears
Trade
- Bears got: EDGE Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, 2026 seventh-round pick
- Browns got: 2026 sixth-round pick
How the team did:
The Bears won the NFC North and advanced past the Wild Card round after beating the Packers.
How the player did:
Tryon-Shoyinka hasn’t provided much of a spark. Though he’s playing around 20 snaps a game, he’s produced just five pressures, zero sacks and 13 tackles (one for loss). That said, he has produced an adequate 67.2 run defense grade and 69.7 overall grade. He did not play in the team’s Wild Card game nor in Week 18 as he continues to recover from a concussion.
His addition has not produced any noticeable change with their defense. They are still a pretty leaky unit with a slow pass rush, poor run defense, but high on turnovers.
Will he stick around?
Maybe. He is not under contract, but he should come relatively cheap.
Overall
It was a low-risk move at a position the Bears were shorthanded at due to injury. I think they got about as much value as you could have realistically expected out of a small-priced trade.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Trade:
- Jaguars got: WR Jakobi Meyers
- Raiders got: 2025 fourth-round pick, 2025 sixth-round pick
How the team did:
The Jaguars finished the regular season with an eight-game winning streak, winning their third AFC South division title in the past 25 years. They did get bounced in the first round of the playoffs, though, after a nailbiter against the Bills.
How the player did:
Meyers was a very strong contributor for the Jaguars down the stretch. In nine games (seven starts), Meyers caught 42 passes for 483 yards and three touchdowns. Over those nine weeks, he ranked 20th among all NFL receivers in yardage.
However, Meyers only had a single catch for 12 yards in the team’s playoff game.
Will he stick around?
Yes! The Jaguars already gave him a three-year, $60 million contract extension with $40 million guaranteed.
Overall
Without a doubt, this was the best trade deadline move made this year. Meyers gave the Jaguars an offensive bump, helped the team finish on an absolute tear, and he’ll be part of the team’s long-term future. With this just being Year 1 of the offensive system under head coach Liam Coen, the future could be bright for Jacksonville and Meyers.
Concluding thoughts
Outside of the Meyers trade, I don’t think you can point to another trade deadline move where the move was an undeniable success. There were a lot of underwhelming moves, some low-cost, low-reward moves, and a few one-year rentals that didn’t pay off. The Gardner trade is a reminder of the risk of trying to go all-in for a single year—injuries happen—but that could still be a positive trade if the Colts bounce back in 2026.
The most interesting of the trades, to me, was the Eagles move for Jaelan Phillips. Without a doubt, they got a talented player who helped elevate their defense. But with such a struggling offense, it still seems like a wasted move for a team that had little chance of winning their second Super Bowl in a row. If Phillips re-signs with the team and the Eagles figure things out this offseason on offense, it could still be a move that pays off, but like the rest of these trades, it seems like an overall fail.
Now, if the Lions had made that move? Well, yeah, maybe it would’ve worked out better. They certainly had a better offense than the Eagles this year. However, they really needed more help on the offensive line, and the only move made at that position was an ineffective trade made by the Chargers.
