There’s a strong case to be made that the 2025 NFL trade deadline is the most exciting trade deadline the league has seen in the 21st century.
Seriously. Twenty-seven players have been traded in season in 2025, the most during a year in the past 25 seasons. Three first-round picks have been dealt to the New York Jets in their blockbuster deals that sent All-Pro cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts and All-Pro defensive tackle Quinnen Williams to the Dallas Cowboys, making them the only team with multiple in-season trades for first-round picks in the past 25 seasons. The 2025 Jets are also the only two in the last 45 years to trade two former first team All-Pros in the same day, per CBS Sports Research.
Now that the dust has settled around the league with the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, here’s a look at the 13 major deals that were made ranked in order by magnitude of how they could impact the 2025 season.
1. Colts acquire CB Sauce Gardner from Jets
Acquired: GardnerTraded: 2026 first-round pick, 2027 first-round pick, WR Adonai Mitchell
The Indianapolis Colts are all in on their 2025 squad that currently sits atop the AFC standings with a 7-2 record through the first nine weeks of the season. Running back Jonathan Taylor is the NFL’s top rusher, and quarterback Daniel Jones is playing at a Pro Bowl-caliber level, which no one could have foreseen before the season kicked off.
Defensively, Indianapolis needed help. They enter week 10 ranked 26th in pass defense (244.8 passing yards per game allowed), 29th in third down defense (45.7% third down conversion rate allowed) and dead last in passing yards per game allowed outside the numbers (152.2 passing yards per game allowed). Adding a 25-year-old All-Pro in Gardner should help shore up Indianapolis’ greatest weakness. He hasn’t allowed more than two catches to a single receiver in a game this season, and…
..
[ad_2]