NFLRT 11/8/2024

The questions and discussion…

The NFL traded deadline was November 5^th and these were arguably the highlights of the trade action that went down on that day…

1) The Detroit Lions acquired DE Za’Darius Smith and a 2026 seventh-round pick from the Cleveland Browns for a 2025 fifth-round pick and 2026 sixth-round pick.

What is your assessment of this deal? Why?

Lions didn’t need much to add to their roster to compete and go to the Super Bowl in the NFC. However, they did lose Aiden Hutchinson for the season, and they were able to grab Za’Darius Smith to add to their pass rushing and run stuffing ability on defense.

While he’s not going to perform at Hutchinson’s level, he can still provide some very reliable play. He also has a lot of experience in the NFC North as being an ex-Packer and ex-Viking. He had 26 quarterback pressures last season, which would’ve been number two on the Lions last season. Without Aiden Hutchinson, they’ve been very reliant on Alim McNeill, who had five quarterback pressures against Green Bay last week. Smith, who also is a big run stopper as well, and something the Lions value heavily, will see a lot of success in Detroit and this was a fantastic addition for Aaron Glenn’s defense.

Right now Detroit is a as close to a lock to making the playoffs as a team can be as well as being a for real Super Bowl contender. However, when DE Aidan Hutchinson went down it left a hole on the edge, and they must not have felt they had the resources in-house to fill that hole as they went out and snatched up DE Za’Darius Smith from Cleveland.

At 32 Smith might not be on the level that he displayed in his Pro Bowl years (2019, 2020, 2022) when he recorded double figures in sacks, was among the team leaders in tackles and had no less than 23 QB hits in any of those years including 37 in 2019 of his first Pro Bowl year but… he ain’t too far behind that level.

Dismissing 2021 when he only got in 1 game for Green Bay, last year with Cleveland was the first season in the last four seasons he has played at least 16 games and didn’t record at least ten sacks. In 9 games this season he has already equaled his sack total for 2023. He might not totally replace Hutchinson but at that rate Smith certainly won’t hurt the Lions’ defense either. Besides which Smith is a kinda, sorta a nifty plug and play sort of guy as he has essentially an equal amount of NFL experience at DE and ROLB.

All in all Smith is a great pick up by the Lions to bolster their defensive line during  Hutchinson’s absence. Lions fill a hole with a versatile player who still has something left in the tank.

The Browns? All they could get from the Lions is what amounts to a 5^th rounder in 2025? Meh.

2) The Washington Commanders acquired CB Marshon Lattimore and a 2025 fifth-round pick from the New Orleans Saints for a 2025 third-round pick, 2025 fourth-round pick and 2025 sixth-round pick.

What is your assessment of this deal? Why?

Washington needed some help with their secondary, and the Saints are dying to get rid of some cap to give them some relief after this season as they’re one of the highest over-the-cap teams in the league. With the way their season is headed, they won’t be competing for anything other than a top five draft selection. Washington is competing and currently leading the NFC East divisional race. They have had a lagging defense so far this season, which hasn’t been on par with how their offense has performing.

Lattimore fits the team perfectly and has been allowing 0.7 yards per coverage snap this season, which is fantastic. Washington really liked his toughness and competitive nature, and they have a plan to use him as a travel corner, which means he’ll play both sides of the field and cover the best receiver on the opposing offense.

Fantastic addition for Washington, who isn’t going to sit on the sidelines and wait until the offseason, but wants to compete now, when the time is right.  

The Saints have now lost seven straight games after starting the season 2-0, and at his point they appear to be circling the drain on the season.. a season where they have also fired their HC… so it’s no shock they were sellers at the deadline. The Saints are shedding salary and players in an effort to get cap space to begin their rebuild and probably very rightfully so.

The Commanders, however, with star Rookie QB Jayden Daniels leading the way have jumped out to 7-2 lead and lead the NFC East by a game over the Eagles.

However at the same time that Daniels is reviving the offense in Washington and making the team a regular season contender to be a division winner, their defense is not top shelf. And many times in the playoffs it’s those tough defenses… those elite defenses… that can turn the tide in those important games of win or go home.

 So…

Washington is more or less going all in to, if not fix that defense, at least significantly enhance it by acquiring Marshon Lattimore at CB.

The elephant in the room with the deal is Lattimore’s durability. In the last 3 years with New Orlans Lattimore played in just 24 games. Lattimore since he hasn’t played more than 10 games in a season since 2021 (24 total in 3 season); has already missed two games this season due to injury and reportedly won’t play this weekend for the Commanders.

Still this is a darn good deal for the Commanders, especially considering the price they paid to get the 4 time Pro Bowl player who was DROY in 2017.

Once Lattimore gets fully healthy and is inserted the Commanders defense and the reality strikes that he has gone from playing the season out to playing in games that matter that that the Pro Bowl player in Lattimore gets reinvigorated and he becomes a team leader on defense and helps the Commanders to the playoffs.  

Washington sees its chance is now and took their shot to improve their defense… the added kicker is that Lattimore is more than a rental as he is signed through 2026.

Great deal for Washington. 

3) The Pittsburgh Steelers acquired DE Preston Smith from the Green Bay Packers for a 2025 seventh-round pick.

And…

The Steelers also acquired WR Mike Williams from the New York Jets for a 2025 fifth-round pick.

What is your assessment of these deals? Why?

Pittsburgh did a fantastic job at the trade deadline.

They gave some more help to Russell Wilson and Justin Fields (although Wilson seems to be the locked-in starter for the rest of the season) in getting more offensive weapons at their disposal. Mike Williams hasn’t found his footing in New York, and after Aaron Rodgers made some comments regarding him not knowing the plays completely, the Steelers jumped on his availability. They were in on the Brandon Aiyuk talks in the off-season. They were in the Devante Adams talks before he got traded to New York. They wanted wide receiver help, and they finally got it.

They also didn’t stop on offense but bolstered their defensive depth as well. While they don’t need Preston Smith to play every down, he’s a great pass-rusher who will play opposite of TJ Watt and get a lot of opportunities to get to the quarterback. While he won’t be a starter, it’s going to help out their defensive front switch players in and out and keep everyone fresh. That’s going to play a huge role down the stretch when it comes to the playoff push, and with how the season has gone so far, the Steelers are going to be in that mix, behind Baltimore. 

Pittsburgh has been as active as any team could be trying to beef up their receivers room by being in just about every conversation there was to get one of the top wide outs that got traded this season.  

In getting Williams from the Jets they basically and finally got their guy.

No he’s not a DeAndre Hopkins clone or anything like that but he is a steady and capable receiver with a unique ability to stretch the field for QB Wilson to fling passes to all over the place.

Jets more or less dumped Williams for what they felt was the best deal they could get… simply put they got at least something for a player that was probably going to get cut due to the fact that there just was no longer room for him on the team. 

Preston Smith has started all 9 games played this season and recorded 19 combined tackles with 2.5 sacks. He’s set to turn 32 years old in less than two weeks and is under contract through 2026.

In short Smith is depth for the Steelers. They don’t as much “need’ him for their defense and in fact he isn’t expected to be a starter in Pittsburgh. But added to the likes of T,J, Watt, Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig he gives the Steelers an incredibly deep pass-rushing unit and is added protection in case of any unforeseen injuries.

And what’s going on with these teams making trades of some very decent players and getting back only a 5^th or worse round pick in return?

Packers could only wrangler a 7^th rounder from the Steelers?.

Pittsburgh got better.

The Packers… meh.

Green Bay best hope whoever they have to replace Smith on defense is that good or they could be hurting there when it comes time to really matter.

Overall… a 7^th round pick for a starter….a player of Smith’s ability… is not good value.

4) The San Francisco 49ers acquired DT Khalil Davis from the Houston Texans for a 2026 seventh-round pick.

What is your assessment of this deal? Why?

49ers acquired some needed depth on their front line with Javon Hargrave on injured reserve right now. They also needed some help in stopping the run, which Khalil Davis can help out with. While he’s not a game-changer, or going to play every down, he definitely adds some help.

It’s also a good move by the Texans, as they’re awaiting Mario Edwards Jr to come back soon, and Davis was a cut candidate to free up a roster spot. Getting a pick for him, instead of just straight cutting him, makes this a solid move for Houston. In the season, he has one sack, 11 quarterback pressures, and seven stops in 164 snaps so far this season. He hasn’t played much for Houston, recording 18 snaps or fewer in six of the nine games so far.

Solid move by both organizations. 

49ers defense is a tad beat up, especially in their interior players, and they needed replacements and/or reinforcements. They added Davis.

Not all that much to say here. Davis has just one career start and was a backup in Houston. He adds depth and is an emergency starter if he needs to be.

Texans got what they could for Davis rather than just cutting him and getting nothing at all.

This is fair compensation for a backup player who adds needed depth to a banged up 49ers defense.

5) While opinions and about player personnel and trades between teams can be  somewhat subjective topic it’s still possible in any given season to objectively analyze which teams were successful and which teams were not at the NFL trade deadline. With that in mind…

Which team had the most success at this year’s NFL trade deadline? Why?

And… 

Which team had the least success at this year’s NFL trade deadline? Why

Right now, there’s two teams that I think won the trade deadline: Kansas City and Detroit. Both of these teams are headed for a Super Bowl match-up.

Kansas City hasn’t had a reliable receiver all year, including Travis Kelce not being a game-changer yet. Mahomes hasn’t been playing his best ball, but they still haven’t lost a game. To give the offense some more weapons and options, they traded for DeAndre Hopkins who just had two touchdowns after his first full week of practice with the organization and was a huge difference maker against a banged up Buccaneers’ offense.

Speaking of opposing offenses, the Chiefs lost Jaylen Watson to a season-ending injury in their secondary. So they traded for Josh Uche to bolster up their front lines and take some of the strain off the secondary in getting quicker throws and more pressured throws from opposing quarterbacks. Playing opposite of Chris Jones is going to really bolster up Uche’s production, which is already very high and competitive in getting in the backfield and causing chaos for the quarterback.

As far as the Lions, they only had one glaring hole that needed to be fixed, and that was their pass rush and run stuffing after the loss of Aiden Hutchinson for the rest of the season. So they acquired a player who is very familiar to the division and can provide a lot of skill in getting to the quarterback, along with stopping the run. He still has some gas left in his tank, so the Lions fixed their only problem heading into the trade deadline. 

The Cowboys are the biggest losers. After losing Dak Prescott for at least, four games, and showing up with absolutely no running game after not entering the Derrick Henry free agent bidding, and letting Tony Pollard go to Tennessee, the only player the Cowboys tried to add is bringing back a familiar face in Ezekiel Elliott, who just missed last week’s game because he couldn’t show up to team meetings on time. The offense has been a big problem this season. The defense has lost what they had last season. Micah Parsons missing games hasn’t helped, and I wouldn’t expect to see him rush back to the field without a contract already in place. CeeDee Lamb is also banged up, and without Dak Prescott, it’ll be interesting to see how the Cowboys’ offense can perform with Cooper Rush at quarterback.

However, the Cowboys only made one move – acquiring Jonathan Mingo. While Mingo hasn’t really been very productive in his short NFL career, the Cowboys really didn’t do much besides that at the deadline. They didn’t make any improvements to this roster. They should’ve shopped the running back market. They should’ve bolstered up their overall offense. The Cowboys didn’t improve at all, but rather stay stagnant. This doesn’t look like it’s going to be a good year for the Dallas fanbase or their organization. Dak Prescott’s words of “we f***ing suck” is going to reign true in the coming weeks. 

KC was the most successful…

They got the wide receiver they desperately needed in acquiring Deandre Hopkins who in his first game in a Chiefs’ uniform proved his immediate worth  as he scored two TDs versus the Buccaneers.

Then they beefed up the defensive side of the ball by adding a very good OLB in Josh Uche.  

The Chiefs adding these two players improve their team immensely and will be a big help in their drive to threepeat.

The most unsuccessful? The Cowboys…

They have multiple injuries including at QB and WR. And their defense is a shadow of last year’s very good defensive team.

And they go out and make a great big deal for…

Jonathan Mingo?

He’s got size, 6’2”, 220 lbs., on his side but is lacking experience.

The Cowboys at 3-5 still have a shot to make the playoffs but getting just Mingo when they needed so much more?

Dallas failed the trade deadline.