Nfl Trade Deadline Live Grades For Every Deal On Tuesday

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Nov 16, 2025, 9:44 AM

nfl trade deadline live grades for every deal on tuesday

It's finally here: The 2025 NFL trade deadline, with contenders potentially upgrading on Tuesday and the pretenders hoping to accelerate rebuilds by accruing future draft picks and talent. And while this isn't like other trade deadlines where a flurry of deals happen and our heads are left spinning, there are sometimes big surprises and lots of buzz. And as usual, we're handing out grades for the major deals. We've already done some of those -- see below -- but we'll be using this live blog to grade every one of the deals we see, from minor to major and everything in between. Let's dive in, and keep refreshing for updates: MORE NFL: Our power rankings ahead of Week 10

Just kidding, it's Saints offensive lineman Trevor Penning, who'll get a fresh start with a Los Angeles Chargers team in dire need of blocking help with Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater out for the... We began NFL trade deadline day thinking that the likes of Jaylen Waddle, Breece Hall, Trey Hendrickson, Kirk Cousins, Calvin Ridley and more stars would discover their fate. As it turned out, literally none of the above players had changed teams by 4 p.m. ET — and yet this will still go down as one of the most momentous deadlines in recent league history. The action got started a few days ago, as contenders like the Steelers and Eagles both made moves to add talent to their defenses. But that was mere prelude to the madness of Tuesday morning and afternoon, in which a whopping seven different deals went down (the third-most since 1990, behind only 2024 and 2022).

The New York Jets shocked the entire football world not once but twice, shipping out All-Pro defenders in Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams, and they were hardly alone. Here's everything you need to know about a frantic few hours across the NFL, from trade grades to fan reactions. It's a fire! sale. The New York Jets traded Sauce Gardner to the Colts just minutes before dealing three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Quinnen Williams to the Dallas Cowboys. As talented as Williams is, this is an underwhelming fit for several reasons.

First and foremost, the trade comes just months after Dallas sent its All-World pass rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers. It should come as no surprise that the Cowboys have one of the worst defenses in football as a result. Dallas received a first-round pick and Packers defensive tackle Kenny Clark for Parsons. While Clark has been fine, he's no Parsons, and adding Williams to the defensive front won't save the Cowboys defense, either. Per Ian Rapoport, the Cowboys are sending a first-round pick and more to the Jets for Williams. Dallas is 3-5-1 on the season.

Frankly, they need all the draft capital they can get to build around Dak Prescott next April. That's what makes this move all the more confounding. It's not that Williams won't thrive in Dallas – he very well might – but this team is going nowhere fast. Welcome to The Athletic's 2025 coverage of the 2025 NFL trade deadline. With the trade deadline passed, below you will find the most recent trades and analysis of the biggest deals. Follow the latest updates on our NFL Playoff Simulator after all these changes to your favorite teams.

New York is receiving two first-round picks in exchange, league sources tell The Athletic. New York is receiving a 2026 second-round pick and a 2027 first-round pick, league sources tell The Athletic. Las Vegas is receiving fourth and sixth-round picks in exchange, league sources tell The Athletic. Sorting through the fallout from the NFL trade deadline in real time can be as complicated as orchestrating the deals themselves. The annual cutoff for swaps arrives 4 p.m. ET Nov.

4, and an event that's taken on added significance in recent years could once again prove plenty meaningful for contenders and rebuilding teams alike. So far, the action leading up to the deadline itself has been relatively muted. But that could change in the final stretch as teams mull whether to sell off – or buy – major contributors ahead of the stretch run. With that said, here are our initial grades from all the deals completed during the week of the NFL trade deadline: There's probably no way to cobble together a viable protection plan for Justin Herbert after losing both Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater for the season. It was a good idea for the Bolts to try something, though.

Penning was moved to left guard by the Saints, but he should get another shot at sticking at his more natural position of offensive tackle. He can be a bit penalty-prone and wild as a pass protector, but he fits the Chargers' style of play and has shown promising play in the run game. Given the shortage of other moves at the Chargers' disposal, it was worth it to at least take a shot. Now that the 2025 NFL trade deadline has come and gone, every deal will shape the playoff chase or accelerate a rebuild. Movement really began in early October, nearly a month before the deadline, when the Cleveland Browns sent Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals in a rare in-division trade as part of Cincinnati's effort to... Deadline day didn't disappoint as the rebuilding Jets were part of two blockbuster deals, trading away star defenders Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams.

To help you track all the NFL trade deals that were consummated on Tuesday, we've logged every move in one place with concise analysis highlighting who got better, who got future assets, and what... Whether it was a blockbuster involving a former Pro Bowler or a depth move that filled a key injury gap, this page will be your running guide. A sixth-round pick in 2022, Taylor was a rotational piece and occasional plug-in starter for the Chargers for his first three seasons, but he has played only special teams on all but one game... The Jets are extremely thin at cornerback after trading away Sauce Gardner (see below), and Taylor provides another body as New York plays out the string on a lost season. He's also a special teams contributor who could see plenty of run there. The Chargers needed to create space for the Trevor Penning trade (see below), and they do so by moving on from a player who has not been in the defensive rotation all season.

A conditional seventh-round pick in three drafts from now is at least something, and Los Angeles will hope to make a playoff push without Taylor, who will need to be replaced for special teams... The Chargers offensive line has been decimated after losing offensive tackle Joe Alt this past week. When you add that they were already without Rashawn Slater, it only adds to the need for healthy bodies along the line. Penning, a first-rounder in 2022, didn't live up to expectations with the Saints but does give Los Angeles some versatility at both tackle and guard. He'll need to improve, however, as he ranks 22nd among 28 eligible left guards (min. 200 pass-blocking snaps) in pressure rate allowed (6.3%) this season.

What impact did all the midseason deals before the 2025 NFL trade deadline actually have on the teams that acquired players? With teams set to enter Week 10 of the 2025 NFL season, contenders are aiming to bolster their depth charts for a run at the Super Bowl, while those out of the playoff hunt... What trades stand out among the rest? Here's breaking down every move that's happened in Oct. 1 through Nov. 4, the final day to make trades:

The Colts needed to think about going all in with a team capable of winning the AFC with a conference-best 7-2 record after Week 9. Cornerback was a glaring weakness with the Chiefs, Bills, Steelers and other top teams in mind for the playoffs. Gardner is a game changer and ideal fit for Lou Anarumo's aggressive defense. The Cowboys solved two problems with their defensive line by getting stronger vs. the run and more versatile with their pass rush while giving up on disappointing Mazi Smith. The cost in draft picks wasn't bad to lock up a linchpin up front.

The NFL's 2025 trade deadline is approaching, with deals across the league needing to be completed by this coming Tuesday, Nov. 4 While transactions at the NFL's deadline don't run nearly as rampant as some other professional sports (see: MLB, NBA), teams will still make—and have already made—moves to either bolster their squad for a playoff... Orr: Twelve NFL Trade Deadline Deals We’d Love to See | Manzano: Top 15 Players Available at the Deadline | Manzano: Six NFL Teams That Should Be Sellers | Verderame: Biggest Need for 17... Here's a look at some of the biggest trades that have happened thus far around the league: The Chargers finalized two deals at Tuesday’s deadline buzzer, acquiring offensive tackle Trevor Penning from the Saints, and sending defensive back Ja’Sir Taylor to the Jets.

Nfl Trade Deadline Live Grades For Every Deal On Tuesday

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