The NFL trade deadline has passed and many teams, buyers or sellers, have made moves to benefit themselves and their current situation. Prior to Tuesday’s deadline, I said that the biggest sellers would be the Giants, and the biggest buyers would be the New England Patriots. But let’s take a look at the aftermath of the 2018 NFL trade deadline.
Biggest Winners
Chicago Bears
The Bears made no moves to upgrade their own team, but their rivals didn’t help themselves either. Minnesota has been surprisingly inconsistent to start the season. Their offense has been great with Cousins and Thielen’s chemistry, but their strongest aspect coming into the season was their defense. The defense was ranked as a top-5 defense coming into the year, but their defense currently ranks 14th in points allowed/gm and 29th in rush yards allowed/gm. This is surprising coming from a defense with such talent.
Detroit made a big trade, getting Damon Harrison in return for a fifth-round pick. They also ended up giving one of their more talented offensive players to the Eagles in Golden Tate. The biggest surprise was the Packers trading Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix from a pass defense that ranked top-five in the NFL. This leaves the Bears, who obviously have weak points in their lineup but have shown to be able to keep up with the high caliber teams, with their current roster. All teams around them got worse.
DeAndre Hopkins
Man, do I talk about Deandre Hopkins a lot? In this case, I have to. I could’ve put Deshaun Watson on this list, but Watson didn’t lose his number one receiver on the outside. He only lost the guy who got his number one target open. Yes, Watson loved Fuller, but teams were always much more concerned about DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins, no matter how many times he was double-covered, came up with big-time catches and gave Watson a receiver he could trust. He was a safety net.
When Fuller got injured, their second deep-threat and quicker receiver was gone, leaving just Hopkins to worry about. So, the Texans needed to find another pass-catcher quick. Houston went out and got superstar Demaryius Thomas to take the pressure off Hopkins and give Watson another big target in the 6’3″ receiver. He’s an upgrade from Fuller rather than just a replacement. This will take even more pressure off of Hopkins and give him more single-man coverage for the rest of the season.
BIGGEST LOSERS
NEW YORK GIANTS
As I said before, I expected the Giants to make more moves and improve their future in draft capital. Landon Collin has yet to start extension talks and will be a free agent at the end of the season. They failed to offload any cap casualties and didn’t trade any old veterans to make the team younger.
The Giants are not a team of the present but should be more focused on their future. With players like Olivier Vernon, Janoris Jenkins, and Eli Manning, the Giants won’t be getting any younger or clearing up any more cap space. Their lack of trades makes no sense to me, considering the capital they could’ve received in return to solidify their future.
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jags and their fanbase have shown how displeased they are with their offense. Their defense has a lot of talent, but the offense is inconsistent and lacks firepower. A lot of firepower was available at the trade deadline. Whether it be Eli Manning, Derek Carr, Odell Beckham Jr., Le’Veon Bell, Ty Montgomery, LeSean McCoy, or anyone else, guys were available.
Jacksonville needed to do something just to upgrade their offensive weaponry. They have an offense that has sometimes struggled to keep the ball on the field and keep their defense off. They ruined a great opportunity to upgrade their offense and give their quarterback more weapons or upgrade the quarterback position itself. This is disappointing from a team who would be a legit playoff contender with the right moves.