Trade activity in the NFL has surged to levels unseen in recent history. There have been 60 trades this calendar year through October — the fourth-most since at least 1990 and almost double the annual average from 2007-16, according to ESPN Research. The league’s trade deadline is set for 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 10, and executives expect double-digit moves in the days before the deadline, according to ESPN.
In-season trading has already accelerated: there have been seven in-season deals so far, and recent moves such as the Bears’ acquisition of defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons illustrate that fewer players are considered untouchable. “People have been more creative. Pick swaps have allowed more opportunity,” Bills general manager Brandon Beane said, describing a new generation of general managers more willing to engage in trades.
The deadline era looks very different than it did a decade ago. In 2015, there were no deadline-day trades and only one deadline-week deal; from 2010-16 the yearly average was one player trade per deadline day and fewer than three trades during deadline week, ESPN Research found. By 2025 the league recorded eight deadline-day trades and 14 deadline-week deals. The past four seasons have seen at least six deadline-day trades each year, a level not reached before that stretch.
No single transaction was pinpointed as the turning point, though several high-profile moves were cited by executives as influential. The 2018 Khalil Mack trade and the 2019 Jalen Ramsey deal — which included two first-round picks — were mentioned, as were Halloween 2017 deals that sent Jay Ajayi to the Eagles and Jimmy Garoppolo to the 49ers. Los Angeles’ subsequent Super Bowl run and the public messaging around trading draft capital helped change attitudes toward deadline acquisitions, according to the reporting.
The reporting included interviews with a dozen high-ranking front-office executives and three player agents, who identified multiple drivers of the shift. One immediate factor is less organizational patience: there were 10 head-coaching changes in the 2026 offseason, nearly a third of the league, reinforcing a win-now mentality. From 2017-25 there averaged 3.6 trades per season involving first- or second-team All-Pro players, per ESPN Research, and teams have demonstrated a greater willingness to trade significant draft capital for established talent — exemplified by moves for Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams, according to ESPN.
