Grading the 2026 NFL Trade Deadline Winners And Losers

The NFL completed 18 in-season trades, including six on deadline day, and the market did not produce many surprises. Instead, it drew a sharp line between contenders loading up for January and franchises already pivoting to 2027.

Six teams clearly improved their position at the deadline, leaving the other three with decisions they will have to defend.

NFL Trade Deadline Winner: Minnesota Vikings, A

The Minnesota Vikings started 6-0, then watched the offense begin costing the team games. The problem became impossible to ignore in Week 9, when Carson Wentz completed 8 of 25 passes for 81 yards and turned the ball over three times against San Francisco.

The Vikings did not have to look far for an answer. They sent a 2027 third-round pick to Las Vegas for Kirk Cousins, who had thrown for 2,340 yards with 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions in nine games.

Cousins completed 64.1% of his passes with the Raiders, but the more important detail is that he has already run Kevin O’Connell’s offense, so he does not need weeks to learn it. That made the Cousins-to-Minnesota fit the least complicated move of the deadline.

For a team that is not rebuilding, a third-round pick is a fair price. Minnesota is trying to save a season that still has a chance to be more than that.

NFL Trade Deadline Winner: Jacksonville Jaguars, A

The Jacksonville Jaguars took the bigger risk of the two because they were already in a position to protect a playoff run. They were 6-2 with a +108 point differential and a defense allowing 15.1 points per game, and they were already part of the Super Bowl conversation.

Even so, the front office added Jordan Davis, Jessie Bates III and Davon Godchaux.

Of the three deals, the Davis trade carried the largest price. Jacksonville sent Philadelphia a 2027 first-round pick and a 2029 second-round pick for the defensive tackle, then gave up a 2027 second-round pick for Bates and a conditional 2028 sixth-round pick for Godchaux.

That is heavy draft capital for a defense that was not broken, but the logic behind the price holds: Jacksonville is trying to make a good defense harder to attack in January, not repair a bad one.

NFL Trade Deadline Winner: Chicago Bears, A-

The Chicago Bears made its biggest move before deadline day, and the effect showed immediately. The Bears sent Tennessee two first-round picks and a fourth-round pick for Jeffery Simmons.

Simmons recorded a sack and six tackles in his debut, then added another sack against Tampa Bay, giving him two sacks in two games with Chicago.

Chicago was already 7-2 with one of the league’s better defenses, and Simmons gave them another interior player who can affect the quarterback without extra help, which is how he changes Chicago’s pass rush.

The cost will be felt later, but Chicago was buying for the current window, and the first two games supported the decision.

NFL Trade Deadline Winner: Kansas City Chiefs, A-

The Kansas City Chiefs’ problem was narrower. Patrick Mahomes needed another receiver he could trust, and the reason was easy to find: no Chiefs wide receiver had reached 300 receiving yards before the deadline, and Travis Kelce, at 37, remained the team’s leading pass catcher.

So the Chiefs sent Indianapolis a 2027 fourth-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick for Josh Downs, with the Colts returning a seventh-round pick. Downs had 33 catches for 354 yards and one touchdown in eight games.

He does not fix every problem in the passing game, but he gives Mahomes a reliable option underneath, which is what a 6-2 team should buy.

NFL Trade Deadline Winner: San Francisco 49ers, B+

The San Francisco 49ers addressed a specific need from a position of strength. The 49ers were 7-1 when they added Keenan Allen and DeForest Buckner from Indianapolis.

Allen had 351 receiving yards and one touchdown in eight games, and Buckner had four sacks in seven games.

Neither move required San Francisco to reshape its roster, and both followed the same logic: adding players who had already played important games made more sense than waiting on draft picks. The 49ers showed they intend to use their position now rather than assume another chance will arrive next season.

NFL Trade Deadline Loser: Indianapolis Colts, C

The Indianapolis Colts went in the other direction at the deadline, trading Quenton Nelson, Buckner, Allen, and Downs while sitting at 2-7.

The return fits a team that had lost five straight games. Future draft capital is the right currency for a roster that is not competing this season.

The problem is Jonathan Taylor and the decision to keep him. Indianapolis held the running back despite interest, leaving the Colts between two plans. The front office started selling without finishing the reset.

NFL Trade Deadline Loser: Los Angeles Chargers D

The Los Angeles Chargers had the clearest reason to sell. The Chargers were 0-8 with a -98 point differential, which made them one of the teams that should have been selling.

They did make one trade, sending linebacker Daiyan Henley to Denver for a 2027 fourth-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick on deadline day….until the deal fell through.

That trade made sense on its own terms. The rest of the day did not. Khalil Mack and Dalvin Tomlinson stayed on a winless team with no path to the postseason, and Los Angeles passed on the chance to add assets for a season it could not save. At 0-8, the inactivity is harder to defend than any single trade.

NFL Trade Deadline Loser: Los Angeles Rams, C-

The Los Angeles Rams were still alive at 5-4 after three straight wins, so the deadline still mattered.

Puka Nacua suffered MCL and PCL sprains and turf toe in the Week 9 win over Washington. He had 70 catches for 715 yards and four touchdowns before the injury. Davante Adams was already on injured reserve with a hamstring injury.

That left the Rams without their top two receivers, and they did not add another one.

They did not need a blockbuster trade to fix it. They needed a receiver who could absorb targets while the offense waited for Nacua, which put the focus on the players who had to step up without him. Standing pat left a playoff-caliber team thinner at the position that matters most to it.

NFL Trade Deadline Winner: Las Vegas Raiders, A

The Las Vegas Raiders understood where their season stood. At 4-5, the Raiders traded Cousins to Minnesota for a 2027 third-round pick.

Cousins had played well enough to keep the Raiders competitive, but the team was not close enough to treat a veteran quarterback as the long-term answer.

The trade gives Fernando Mendoza the starting job and adds another pick to a rebuild that now has a clear direction. Minnesota bought a chance to win now; Las Vegas turned a short-term quarterback into help for a young one.

The Last Word

The deadline rewarded teams that read their own records honestly. Jacksonville and Chicago paid heavily because their standings justified a big swing, while Minnesota spent less to fix the most obvious weakness on its roster. Meanwhile, Kansas City and San Francisco added pieces without tearing apart their long-term plans.

At the other end, the Colts made the right call on draft capital but a confusing one on Taylor. The Chargers had less reason than any team to stand still at 0-8, and the Rams let a 5-4 season grow even thinner.

Those decisions will ultimately be judged in January. A deadline grade is only a forecast.

Main Image: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images