The 2025 NFL season has seen some of the most parity that the league has experienced in quite some time. Thanks to the rise of the New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs dynasties, years have felt like foregone conclusions at times. However, this year, a handful of teams look like a legitimate piece of the puzzle.
As a result, the trade deadline promised to be an exciting day, with teams trying to decide their course of action for the rest of the year. Somehow, reality was able to trump almost all expectations, as some truly shocking deals were made in the hours leading up to the moment. Here, we break down who came out as a winner and who stumbled and came out as a loser afterwards.
Winners At the 2025 NFL Trade Deadline
Jacksonville Jaguars
At 5-3, the Jacksonville Jaguars are firmly in the thick of the playoff race. But their success hasn’t come with what most were assuming would be the staple of a team led by Liam Coen. Instead, it’s the defense that has kept the team in most contests.
With Trevor Lawrence severely regressing after his injuries, Travis Hunter having an underwhelming start to his career, and Brian Thomas Jr. becoming the most drop-prone wide receiver in the NFL, a move to the pass-catching unit was a necessity.
In Jakobi Meyers, they got a proven threat coming off a 1,027 receiving yards season in 2024. Moreover, even after a slow start, he ranks ahead of every wide receiver in Jacksonville on PFSN’s WR Impact metric. As a result, as they try to get things back on track, his addition could go a long way in improving the offense, making it a huge victory for the Jaguars.
New York Jets
The writing was on the wall. But the complete roster teardown of the New York Jets has gone about as well as the team could have expected. After a 1-7 start, it was easy to write them off. And for this season, they are 100% done.
But the future for the franchise might be brighter than it has ever been. Beginning the roster fire sale with arguably the biggest move of the day, as they parted ways with superstar corner Sauce Gardner, who found his way to the conference leaders in the Indianapolis Colts.
Getting two first-round picks and AD Mitchell for the two-time All-Pro, their night wasn’t quite done yet. Instead, the next move came in the form of another defensive superstar, this time with edge rusher Quinnen Williams, who was traded to a desperate Dallas Cowboys team for a second-round pick in 2026 and a first-rounder in 2027.
For the time being, the trades are going to force New York to take another step back. But they have a verifiable war chest of draft capital at their disposal that should allow new head coach Aaron Glenn to build the team he wants.
Dallas Cowboys
Even though the haul they gave up for Williams was huge, the production from the superstar edge rusher is outright excellent. Adding the move to bring in Logan Wilson to shore up the defensive unit by adding a proven linebacker was a shrewd move from Jerry Jones.
Now, that isn’t a sentence most people expect to hear every day. For the second-worst team on PFSN’s Defense Impact, those moves might not be enough to swing the pendulum enough in the other direction.
But a franchise that looked directionless after trading away Micah Parsons finally has some structure, and it is becoming easier to see the overall returns of the trade with the Green Bay Packers in a new, positive light.
Seattle Seahawks
One of the biggest surprises of the first half of the season, the Seattle Seahawks have built an excellent roster from top to bottom. Adding Sam Darnold as the quarterback, following his renaissance with the Minnesota Vikings, has given them the franchise quarterback they needed to bring it all together.
As a result, they stand as the one-seed in a brutal NFC West, while Jaxon Smith-Njigba has turned into a superstar wide receiver, ranked first on PFSN’s WR Impact. But the team wasn’t content with just being a playoff threat.
Trying to climb the NFL hierarchy, they decided to add a long-range threat to the wide receiver room by trading for Rashid Shaheed. Now, a solid wide receiver core has turned into one of the deepest in the entire league and could become the perfect complement for an already excellent defense.
Sauce Gardner
One of the best defenders in the entire league, Sauce Gardner ranked in the top-10 of PFSN’s CB Impact in each of the last three seasons. However, a brutal showing from the New York Jets has pushed him all the way down to 23rd on the metric.
That might be a result of the franchise’s reliance on the defense, rather than a dip in his talent or production level. A confirmation will come now that he is joining the one-seed in the AFC. Thanks to a resurgence from Daniel Jones, alongside an MVP-caliber start from Jonathan Taylor, the Colts stand at 7-2.
BREAKING: Jets are trading CB Sauce Gardner to the Colts. (via @RapSheet) pic.twitter.com/MRT06JrHze
— NFL (@NFL) November 4, 2025
But the defense has been suspect all year. As they attempt to ascend the NFL hierarchy and potentially aim for a deep playoff run, Gardner will have a chance to prove his worth and play in meaningful games, realistically for the first time in his career.
Losers At the 2025 NFL Trade Deadline
Breece Hall
The dumpster fire sale of the New York Jets paved the way for two blockbuster deals to shake the organization. However, the player who felt like the most likely candidate to be moved, running back Breece Hall, somehow ended up standing pat.
Despite wanting to be shipped out, no team agreed to New York’s demand of a third-round pick for him. As a result, he continues to loiter around on a Jets team that is clearly looking towards the future.
Kansas City Chiefs
From the player to the team that most of the NFL assumed would make the hardest push for him, the Kansas City Chiefs stood pat at the trade deadline. Despite a 5-4 record that has them as the eighth seed and out of the playoffs looking in, the organization chose not to make any hasty decisions.
Whether that comes back to bite them or they can soldier forward will be an interesting wrinkle over the second half of the season. But with other contenders in the conference like the Colts and the Baltimore Ravens making major moves, it will be interesting to see how much their stagnancy ends up haunting them.
Pittsburgh Steelers
It’s clear that the team recognized their biggest need. Outside of DK Metcalf, the team lacks dependable playmakers, particularly for Aaron Rodgers to throw the ball to. After working out and signing Marquez Valdes-Scantling to the practice squad, the need for wide receivers was apparent.
annnd appears Mike Tomlin decided not to press check out on his shopping cart. https://t.co/9tj7rolh9I
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) November 4, 2025
But, rather than make an addition at the trade deadline, they chose not to make any moves. Despite head coach Mike Tomlin alluding to changes with his “I like shopping” quote, Pittsburgh ultimately made no moves.
As the one-seed in the AFC North coming off a victory over the mighty Indianapolis Colts, complacency might have set in for the franchise. Or, they are a little too high on their current roster. Either way, the second half of the season could turn into a bloodbath if they aren’t careful.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The one team that felt guaranteed to make some changes, given the state of the roster after injuries had devastated them all season long, was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But even with the receiving core in shambles, the running back injured, and the quarterback not fully 100%, they remained quiet.
On paper, the roster for Tampa Bay is elite. But it is hard to imagine a scenario where they have everyone available to them at their disposal. Their streak of close calls and games turning out in their favor, thanks to the brilliance of Baker Mayfield, has been a beautiful story this season.
But, as players continue to drop, it might become too much of an uphill climb for them as they try to remain firmly locked into a playoff spot.
New England Patriots
An electric start to the season has paved the way for Drake Maye to emerge as a true superstar and MVP candidate. Tied for the best record in the conference and leading over the Buffalo Bills in the division, the New England Patriots are clearly ahead of schedule.
But rather than capitalize on their surge, the team chose to remain unmoved at the trade deadline. With turnovers and a porous offensive line serving as their biggest drawbacks, there weren’t a ton of directions for the organization to turn to.
However, in a physically demanding sport where a season can change in the blink of an eye, the fan base at Foxborough has to hope that they don’t come to regret standing pat at the trade deadline and letting a miraculous turnaround go to waste.