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The Jets embrace the tank
It’s rare to see a franchise accept what everyone else already knows – that what they’ve built isn’t working. The Jets didn’t just tweak their roster at the deadline; they detonated it. In a dizzying few hours, they dealt cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Colts and defensive lineman Quinnen Williams to the Cowboys.
Moving two All-Pros at the deadline is unprecedented. No team has ever so clearly embraced tanking at the deadline. The Jets, for once, looked in the mirror and were honest. They decided they were not good enough, and shipped out as many stars as they could for a mountain of future draft picks. They are now loaded with picks in 2026 and 2027, the latter of which has a much stronger draft class.
You can’t fault the logic. Even with Gardner blanketing half the field and Williams crushing pockets, the Jets were 1–7 this season. The defense wasn’t the main problem, but it’s fallen off a cliff under Aaron Glenn’s leadership. So they tore it down. Gardner and Williams net three future first-rounders and a second-rounder over the next two seasons, giving the Jets five first-round picks in 2026 and 2027 combined. It’s a war chest that could recalibrate the entire organization around the offense. They already have a talented, young offensive line, and they kept Garrett Wilson, a blue-chip wide receiver. With that kind of draft ammunition over multiple draft classes, they can identify whoever they believe is the next elite quarterback prospect and build out a stable group around them.
It’s easy to scoff at teams giving up All-Pro talent for draft picks, particularly a 25-year-old like Gardner. Draft picks are great! Who knows, you could even select a player as talented as Sauce Gardner!
But it’s different for the Jets. They’re not operating on a playoff or championship timeline. They tried a quick-fix with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, and it didn’t work. Now, they’re finally taking a long-term view. If that puts them two years away from playoff contention, then picking up three first-round picks for a volatile cornerback and a defensive lineman who will be 29 by 2027 is wise. The question, of course, is whether “wise” and “Jets” can coexist when Woody Johnson, who makes a strong case for the worst owner in US sports, is still in charge. The moves should at least confirm that Johnson will stick with head coach Glenn, who will now be able to mould the roster in his own image.
Teams don’t typically throw seasons away, and the Jets haven’t made the playoffs since the 2010 season, the longest drought in the NFL. The record of tanking in the NFL is poor. This isn’t the NBA, where one player can transform the trajectory of a franchise, and the No 1 overall pick is the most valuable commodity in the sport. There are too many moving pieces in football for one player to be an NBA-like difference-maker. The Browns, Dolphins and Texans have all tried some variation of multi-year tanking, and all three have failed to different degrees (Houston being the most successful). Still, the Jets deserve credit for extracting maximum value out of two players while resetting their own timeline. They may lack a pair of playmakers for the final eight games of this season, but they’re set up to build a strong foundation over the next two seasons. If anything, they should have pushed further and traded Jermaine Johnson and Breece Hall before the deadline closed. Sorry, Breece.
The Colts go all-in
On the flip side of one of the Jets’ mega-deals are the Colts. Indy gave up two first-round picks and absorbed Gardner’s $30m per-year deal to fix their one glaring hole: cornerback. After trying to patchwork the group together, GM Chris Ballard decided to go all-in, chasing the biggest name available at the deadline. At 25 years old, Gardner is the youngest ever multiple All-Pro to be traded midseason. Players of his caliber rarely, if ever, become available during their prime.
The Colts paid a higher price because they believe they acquired a player who could help them win a Super Bowl this year, just as the Rams did in the past with Von Miller and Jalen Ramsey.
But there are reasons why Gardner was available in the first place, despite signing a contract extension with the Jets in the offseason. He’s taken a step back since his otherworldly rookie season. Cornerback is a notoriously volatile position, but even by those standards, Gardner’s last couple of seasons have been worrying. In press coverage, where he can plaster himself to a receiver one-on-one, he remains one of the best in the game. Everything else has been a mystery. Gardner has shown little interest in tackling in a league that is increasingly built around the run game. He has also been responsible for plenty of coverage breakdowns while the splash plays have dried up (he has one interception in the last two and a half seasons).
The Colts are betting that in a stronger environment, the Gardner of his rookie season will return. That player can lock down one-half of the field and help raise their entire defense, even if he doesn’t offer top-tier playmaking on his own. Maybe they’re right. But betting two first-round picks on an idea of who a player could be rather than who he has shown to be over 18 months is one heck of a gamble.
Trading two first-rounders also confirms that the Colts believe Daniel Jones is the long-term answer, too. Without the means to draft a quarterback in the first round, they’ll likely sign Jones to a long-term extension, somewhere in the vicinity of three years for $120m. Jones has been lights out over the first half of the season, but that’s a small sample size to bank the future of the franchise on.
It may work out. But it feels like a classic move from a GM under pressure. Ballard has built good, not great, teams for half a decade. He is working with new owners this year. Gardner could be the piece that turns good into great, or the overreach that ends Ballard’s tenure.
Trades often work. It’s another path to upgrading a roster. Too many teams fetishize draft picks, the Colts chief among them. Trading one first-rounder is all-in; it’s effectively getting a player now that you’d have drafted next spring. And when that player is a 25-year-old All-Pro, it’s a no-brainer. But moving two first-round picks when you don’t have a settled quarterback is a reach. And doing so when you have a GM fighting for his future based on a hot start against an easy-ish schedule is a questionable process.
Jerry keeps his word
Jerry Jones promised a deadline day splash. He delivered. The Cowboys traded real assets – a first- and second-round pick over the next two drafts – to get Williams, a high-level interior disruptor. Adding Williams gives the Cowboys one of the most gifted interior defensive lines in the league. It’s a desperate attempt to fix their historically lousy run defense. Add linebacker Logan Wilson, who was acquired from Cincinnati for a seventh-round pick, and Dallas suddenly have upgrades at two key positions. Wilson looked cooked with the Bengals, but he at least knows where to be, and that’s a luxury Dallas hasn’t had at linebacker this season.
On paper, it’s coherent. In practice, it’s expensive. They have already invested the majority of the return they received for trading away Micah Parsons. With all the moves in the books, they essentially dealt Parsons to:
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Acquire Williams
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Acquire defensive tackle Kenny Clark from the Packers
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Move up from the second to the first round in the 2026 draft, roughly 20 spots
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Save $70m in salary cap space
Is that a deal you would make? Parsons is a unique, dominant force at a premium position, still in his prime. Williams is excellent, but not on Parsons’ level. Clark may not even be on the roster next season. The Cowboys can gain an additional $20m in cap room if they release him this offseason.
The Cowboys’ defense may be better this season, sure. But this is less about long-term planning than the emotional volatility of Jones. It still feels like Jones – and by default the Cowboys – are making it up as they go along. Each move makes sense on its own. But step back and bundle them together, and Dallas traded away one of the best players in the league for an excellent player nearing the end of his prime and some cap flexibility.
The defending champs load up
Yes, Howie Roseman did it again. It’s become a ritual for the Eagles GM to move cheap, future draft picks to load up on talent for a potential title run. This year, he shopped in the luxury aisle, acquiring edge-rusher Jaelan Phillips from the Dolphins for a third-round pick.
Phillips was always a logical target for the Eagles. They need more edge-rushing juice, with Nolan Smith dealing with an injury and Za’Darius Smith abruptly retiring. They were able to lure Brandon Graham out of retirement, but even with his return, they still lack serious sizzle off the edge. Phillips will give them some needed oomph. The move reunites Phillips with his former defensive coordinator, Vic Fangio, who extracted the most out of Phillips during their season working together before the player tore his achilles.
Phillips is one of the most technically astute edge-defenders in the league. But he’s lost a step after a torrent of injuries, including an ACL injury last year. There have been flashes of the old player in Miami this season. His pressure rate has rebounded to his career high, but he lacks the explosiveness he once had to finish plays. He’s also winced when taking on blockers in the run game.
In Philly, that shouldn’t matter as much. He will be a pass-rush specialist who should thrive on a pitch count.
A third-rounder may have been an overpay for a player with such an extensive injury record who is a six-month rental. But the Eagles are operating on a different timeline. They have a chance to win back-to-back Super Bowls and had a spare third-round pick to play with. Among the edge-rushers on the market, Phillips was the best available for a reasonable price. If he makes a handful of plays in the playoffs, overpaying will be irrelevant. Phillips is only 26, and the Eagles could also extend him in the offseason.
Phillips was not the only upgrade Roseman made before the deadline. The Eagles also added cornerbacks Michael Carter II and Jaire Alexander for a pair of late-round picks. Alexander, a two-time All-Pro, is a shadow of his former self, but Carter could prove to be a valuable pick-up down the stretch. He offers inside-outside flexibility and will allow Fangio to move Cooper DeJean around the defense based on the matchup. Snagging Phillips and Carter should help plug leaky parts of the defense – and Alexander is a worthwhile, low-risk flier.
Seattle lands deal of the day
The Cowboys and Colts may have made more seismic deals, but none could prove to be as impactful as the Seahawks’ picking up Rashid Shaheed. Seattle landed the receiver from the Saints for a fourth- and fifth-round pick.
Shaheed is one of the league’s most dynamic deep threats, averaging over 17 yards a catch during his career. The Seahawks already lead the league in every deep passing metric, but Shaheed adds another jolt of electricity. The threat of Shaheed rolling deep will help the Seahawks complete their offensive jigsaw, opening up the intermediate part of the field and aiding a faltering run game. If defenses are fearful of deep bombs, they’ll back and give more space for the run game to hum underneath.
The Seahawks have a Super Bowl-caliber roster. Their defense is the most flexible in the league, and is packed with playmakers at every level. Sam Darnold is playing at an MVP level. With another deep threat, Darnold and the passing game can maintain their explosiveness while improving their down-to-down consistency.
The NFC is so deep that it’s tough to pick a favorite. Seattle are still scrapping to win the NFC West. But with Shaheed on board, the Seahawks roster is rounding into being the most complete in the conference.
