10 Biggest Trade Deadline Moves in NFL History, Ranked

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The NFL trade deadline is here, and teams across the NFL have been surprisingly active this season in aggressively pursuing deals to improve on already competitive rosters.

This is particularly true, it seems, at the receiver position, where big names such as Amari Cooper, Davante Adams, DeAndre Hopkins and Diontae Johnson have all been dealt for future draft picks.

Trading has been a major part of the NFL experience, and often those trades made during the season end up having the most substantial impact. Moreover, the trade deadline generates the potential for the biggest names to move, as rebuilding teams want to maximize returns on their star players.

Here are the 10 biggest trades of all time to have been made on and around the NFL trade deadline:

10. Roquan Smith to the Baltimore Ravens (2022)

GettyRoquan Smith.

Roquan Smith was already an excellent off-the-ball linebacker in the NFL who had fulfilled his high billing as the 8th-overall pick in 2018. A two-time second-team All-Pro selection with the Bears, Smith was an established, high-level player at the position — but it always felt like he was slightly rotting away amidst the perennial dysfunction in Chicago. A move to the Ravens helped propel his stock to the highest of highs, becoming a first-team All-Pro in back-to-back years and helping turn the Baltimore defense into the most feared in the NFL. Now very much the leader on on an excellent unit, coming off an AFC Championship appearance this past winter, Smith has become the elite player he was meant to be, in Baltimore.

9. Von Miller to the Los Angeles Rams (2021)

GettyVon Miller.

Les Snead’s Rams are a continual deal-making machine, always looking for a way to acquire players in exchange for picks in the pursuit of staying continuously competitive. And the Von Miller trade best exemplifies the Rams’ work: coming off a season-ending ankle injury in September 2020, LA gave up second- and third-round picks in the 2022 draft to secure Miller’s services — despite his contract being up at the end of the season! A move that seemed borderline crazy at the time ended up paying dividends, as the eight-time Pro Bowler shone in the postseason, generating 4 sacks, 14 tackles and forced fumble in a Super Bowl — winning campaign.

8. Jimmy Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers (2017)

GettyJimmy Garoppolo.

Jimmy Garoppolo is no longer viewed as one of the league’s top quarterbacks. In fact, right now he is not even a starting quarterback in the NFL, currently residing as Matthew Stafford’s backup for the Los Angeles Rams. Yet, at one point “Jimmy G” was the wunderkind, set to be the heir to Tom Brady for the dynasty that would seemingly never end. Traded for just a second-round pick, the addition of Garoppolo ultimately paid dividends for the 49ers, as he eventually took them to two NFC Championship games, and one Super Bowl in 2020, where the team was essentially an overthrown ball to Emmanuel Sanders away from winning Super Bowl LIV.

7. Bradley Chubb to the Miami Dolphins (2022)

GettyBradley Chubb.

2021-2022 was a busy time for blockbuster trades, and another one comes in here with Bradley Chubb being shifted to the Dolphins for a first-round pick and more back in 2022. A consistently decent player, Chubb never turned into the game-wrecking force the Broncos would have hoped for from the fifth-overall pick and has not yet managed to reach those heights yet with Miami, despite reaching a Pro Bowl at the conclusion of his first season with them. At the time, many thought this was a game-changing trade for a Dolphins team that was set to terrorize AFC East offensive lines with the combination of Chubb and fellow first-rounder Jaelan Phillips. Yet injuries to both have threatened to compromise what could have been an epic pass rushing duo.

6. Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers (2022)

GettyChristian McCaffrey.

A trade that was criticized by some in the moment, but by none now, the reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year was the most dominant back in football for the 1.5 seasons since his trade to the NFC West, stumped only by an Achilles injury that has kept him out of the entirety of the 2024 season so far. A second-, third- and fourth-round pick got Christian McCaffrey into the building, and it is safe to say that the Panthers and the 49ers have had polar opposite fortunes since, with the Niners going to consecutive NFC Championship games and a Super Bowl, while the Panthers are easily the league’s worst team over the past two seasons.

5. Minkah Fitzpatrick to the Pittsburgh Steelers (2019)

GettyMinkah Fitzpatrick.

While it has not managed to translate to any semblance of postseason success, Fitzpatrick’s move from the Dolphins to the Steelers transformed both the Steelers’ defense and the entire trajectory of his career. Previously poorly utilized as a box safety in Miami, the Dolphins parted with their 11th overall pick in 2018 for a first-rounder in 2020 (used on right tackle Austin Jackson). And Fitzpatrick has turned into arguably the league’s best safety over the past five years, recording four Pro Bowl nods and three All-Pro nominations — including a 2022 season in which he led the league in interceptions.

4. Jalen Ramsey to the Los Angeles Rams (2019)

GettyJalen Ramsey.

One of the more consequential trades on this list, given that Ramsey ended his tenure in Los Angeles with a Super Bowl ring around his finger. Although he is past his best days, Ramsey was one of the league’s stickiest man-to-man corners ever in his hay day, and always a firm-handed pick threat. The Jaguars traded their star defensive back for multiple first-round draft picks, eventually used on (as of now) bust K’Lavon Chaisson and running back Travis Etienne. Ramsey ushered in the era of the elite-level, Lombardi Trophy-hoisting defense of the Rams under the stewardship of coaches Raheem Morris and Brandon Staley, and quickly cemented himself as one of the greatest CBs to ever do it.

3. Eric Dickerson to the Indianapolis Colts (1987)

GettyEric Dickerson.

A mid-season running back trade that actually panned out well! Dickerson was the best tailback in the league when he was traded to the Indianapolis Colts from the LA Rams in 1987, and managed to bring his extensive talent to the midwest, where he put up three straight 1000+ rushing seasons, including the first in just eight starts. Dickerson arguably still had his best years during his initial four seasons with the Rams, but his trade out East was no doubt a league-quaking move at the time that bought success to the previously struggling Colts organization.

2. Herschel Walker to the Minnesota Vikings (1989)

Wikimedia CommonsHerschel Walker.

Already widely viewed as one of the toughest breaks for the receiving team (Vikings), getting a player who was at-the-time considered a game-changing talent. Sadly, unable to recreate his Dallas form in Minneapolis, Walker was a distinct bust for the Vikings. Meanwhile, the Cowboys, in trading Walker, managed to collect numerous early round draft picks over the subsequent few years that laid the groundwork for their “dynasty” Super Bowl roster of the 1990s.

1. Marshawn Lynch to the Seattle Seahawks

GettyMarshawn Lynch.

A fourth- and fifth-round pick for “Beast Mode” — sign me up! Having had a hot start to his career in Buffalo, off-the-field issues contributed to a loss of form and eventual replacement as the starter by Fred Jackson, eventually leading to Bills cutting their losses and sending their former first-rounder back to Seattle for cheap. The result? Four straight 1000+ yard rushing seasons, four Pro Bowls, two All Pro appearances and a Super Bowl ring. Lynch put the run-driven Seahawks offense on his back during his peak years in the early 2010s, and changed the course of the Seattle Seahawks’ franchise history.

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