Perhaps now more than ever, player trades are prevalent in today’s NFL. The trade deadline has gone from just another day in the league calendar to one of the biggest events of the season. When the offseason hits, it’s a safe bet that a few star players will get dealt.
Just this year, the likes of George Pickens, Joe Thuney, Laremy Tunsil, DK Metcalf, Jalen Ramsey, and Minkah Fitzpatrick got dealt in the offseason. Of course, you can’t forget the last-minute blockbuster deal of Micah Parsons getting sent to the Green Bay Packers right before the season started.
Then, you have the 2025 NFL trade deadline deals. Stars like Quinnen Williams, Sauce Gardner, Rashid Shaheed, and Jaelan Phillips all ended up on new teams before the midseason deadline. Needless to say, there’s been a lot of action around the NFL this year.
That got us thinking: what have been the biggest player trades in the NFL during the 21st century? There are so many to choose from, but we did our best to narrow that list down to the ten best.
10) Jalen Ramsey to the Rams, 2019
Going into his fourth season in the NFL, Jalen Ramsey had solidified himself as one of the best cornerbacks in the game. In his three full seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars, he was a two-time Pro Bowler, a first-team All-Pro in 2018, and finished second in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting in 2016.
Given how quickly the Jaguars regressed after making the AFC Championship in the 2017 season, it’s no surprise Ramsey wanted out. Jacksonville would go on to trade him to the Los Angeles Rams for two first-round picks and a fourth-round selection, and it’s a move that paid off in spades for the Rams.
In the four years he spent in Los Angeles, Ramsey made the Pro Bowl each season, tallying 10 interceptions and earning two first-team All-Pro selections. He played a considerable role in the Rams’ Super Bowl-winning campaign in 2021. Given how well he performed individually and the success the team had with him as their top cornerback, this trade is one Los Angeles would certainly do over again.
9) Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins, 2022
The Kansas City Chiefs have been the biggest dynasty in the NFL of the 2020s, and Tyreek Hill played a huge part in helping them ascend into that category. During his six seasons with the team, he made the Pro Bowl every single year, whether it be as a kick returner or as a wide receiver. He was also a three-time first-team All-Pro.
Though his value as Patrick Mahomes’ top wide receiver was strong, the Chiefs couldn’t afford to sign him to an extension when the time came. As a result, they dealt him to the Miami Dolphins for a 2022 first-round pick, a 2022 second-round pick, and two fourth-round selections. Miami then signed him to a four-year deal that made him the highest-paid receiver in NFL history at the time.
Hill has achieved plenty of individual success with the Dolphins, most notably leading the NFL with 1,799 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns in 2023. Miami made the playoffs in the first two years he spent there, but they have since regressed, and Hill missed most of the 2025 season due to injury.
8) Jay Cutler to the Bears, 2009
At the time the Denver Broncos dealt Jay Cutler, it was practically unheard of for an NFL team to trade its starting quarterback. Early tensions with their new head coach, Josh McDaniels, led Cutler to request a trade.
The Chicago Bears would be the team to answer the call. They sent two first-round picks, a 2009 third-round pick, and veteran quarterback Kyle Orton to Denver in exchange for Cutler and a 2009 fifth-round pick. At the time of the deal, it was seen as a massive acquisition for the Bears, who had historically struggled at quarterback.
Though Cutler never broke into that elite tier of QBs, he was still a solid starter during his eight seasons in Chicago. He led his team to the NFC Championship during the 2010 season, and he ended his time with the organization holding most of their all-time passing records.
7) Christian McCaffrey to the 49ers, 2022
When healthy, Christian McCaffrey has been one of the best running backs in the NFL for much of his career. That rang true throughout much of his six seasons with the Carolina Panthers. He only spent three full, healthy seasons with the team, but he was an All-Pro in two of those years and broke the single-season reception record for running backs with 116 in 2019.
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By Week 6 of the 2022 season, though, the Panthers were 1-5 and had just fired head coach Matt Rhule. To hit the reset button, they traded McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers for a package of four draft picks, headlined by a 2023 second-round pick. He would hit the ground running with his new team, finishing with 1,210 scrimmage yards in 11 games.
McCaffrey won Offensive Player of the Year in 2023, leading the NFL with 1,459 rushing yards and contributing 21 total touchdowns, 67 receptions, and 564 receiving yards to the mix. He missed most of 2024 due to injury, but he’s stayed healthy through 2025, and he ranks in the top 15 in the NFL in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and receptions.
6) Khalil Mack to the Bears, 2018
Khalil Mack will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer; the only question is which team he’ll be inducted as a primary member of. The signs were there during his time with the Oakland Raiders that he could be legendary. In his four years there, he recorded 40.5 sacks, three Pro Bowls, two first-team All-Pro selections, and the 2016 Defensive Player of the Year award.
Still, he and the Raiders couldn’t reach an agreement on a contract extension. That saw trade rumors pick up before the start of the 2018 season, and the Chicago Bears swooped in. They gave up two first-round picks, a 2019 sixth-rounder, and a 2020 third-rounder in exchange for Mack, a 2020 second-round pick, and a conditional 2020 fifth-rounder.
Mack signed an extension with the Bears soon after, and the trade paid immediate dividends. He finished second in DPOY voting in 2018, tallying 12.5 sacks and six forced fumbles and transforming Chicago’s defense in the process. Though the team wouldn’t match the success of winning the NFC North that year, Mack was productive in four seasons with the Bears, recording 36 sacks, three Pro Bowls, and two All-Pro selections.
5) Micah Parsons to the Packers, 2025
Similar to the Mack trade, Micah Parsons was a young star edge rusher at the top of his game when he got traded. He made the Pro Bowl each year he played for the Dallas Cowboys, and at 26, the best seemed to be ahead of him. Despite that, he and the team couldn’t agree on a contract extension.
The Packers this past offseason found themselves in a similar situation to the Bears in 2018, with many pieces in place but needing that one impact player to get them over the hump. When Parsons became available, they pounced. Green Bay gave up defensive tackle Kenny Clark and two first-round picks in the trade.
Though Parsons’ 2025 ended in him tearing his ACL with three games left in the season, he did more than enough to keep his Pro Bowl streak alive. In 14 games, he tallied 12.5 sacks and elevated the Packers’ defense to another level.
4) Randy Moss to the Patriots, 2007
In terms of the draft capital involved in this trade, the Raiders’ deal of Randy Moss to the New England Patriots for a fourth-round pick is the cheapest on this list. At the time of the deal, Moss had just turned 30 and was coming off a then-career low 553 receiving yards in 2006.
A new change of scenery proved to be just what the doctor ordered for Moss. He was a first-team All-Pro for the Patriots in 2007, catching 98 passes for 1,493 yards and an NFL-best 23 receiving touchdowns. He finished second in Offensive Player of the Year voting and put up the best numbers of his career since 2003.
Moss went on to have two more seasons above 1,000 receiving yards with the Patriots, but it’s that legendary 2007 campaign that really makes his trade to New England legendary. Few had as big of a role in that team going 16-0 in the regular season as Moss did, and being a cornerstone of one of the only two teams to go undefeated is a nice feather in his cap.
3) Deshaun Watson to the Browns, 2022
For a time, it looked like Deshaun Watson would be one of the faces of the NFL for years to come. In each of his three seasons as the full-time starting quarterback of the Houston Texans, he made the Pro Bowl and averaged over 4,000 passing yards per year. He led the league with 4,823 passing yards in 2020 and brought the Texans to the playoffs twice.
A contract impasse going into 2021 developed between Watson and Houston, and his sexual harassment allegations further complicated the situation. He sat out all of 2021, and the Texans traded him in the 2022 offseason to the Cleveland Browns for a massive package that included three first-round picks. The Browns also extended Watson to a fully guaranteed, five-year, $230 million deal.
The Browns’ trade for and extension of Watson have proven to be one of the worst trades in NFL history. He’s started in just 19 games over four seasons with the team, throwing 19 touchdowns to 12 interceptions with a passer rating of just 80.7, which is a far cry from the 104.5 rating he averaged in Houston. He’s missed the entire 2025 season due to injury, and his bloated contract remains a massive albatross around Cleveland’s neck.
2) Russell Wilson to the Broncos, 2022
As a likely Hall of Famer when his NFL career comes to an end, Russell Wilson is one of the best quarterbacks of the 21st century. The ten-time Pro Bowler led the Seattle Seahawks to two Super Bowls, winning one of them, and finished his ten seasons with the team with a starting record of 104-53-1.
After a successful stint in Seattle, it appeared the two sides were headed towards a divorce in 2022. They did exactly that in March of that year, as the Seahawks traded him to the Broncos for a package including two first-round picks, two second-round picks, and a few players. Denver signed him to a five-year, $245 million deal a few months after.
Though the Broncos bounced back in the long run, Wilson’s actual tenure with the team was a disaster. He went 11-19 as their starter over just two seasons, finishing with career lows in passing touchdowns, completion percentage, and passer rating in 2022. He was eventually released in the 2024 offseason.
1) Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff swap teams, 2021
Had the Rams not traded Jared Goff and several draft picks to the Detroit Lions for Matthew Stafford in 2021, there’s a good chance the Wilson and Watson trades never would have happened. Not only was it the first blockbuster quarterback swap in recent NFL history, but it was one of the first times in the 21st century that a franchise quarterback had been dealt in a trade.
After 12 seasons with the Lions, it was clear Stafford’s talents were being wasted on a team that went 5-11 in 2020. To jumpstart a necessary rebuild, they dealt him to the Rams for a package including Goff, two first-round picks, and a 2021 third-round pick. Los Angeles general manager Les Snead had made a career out of aggressive trades, and this one was his most aggressive yet.
To say it worked out for both teams would be an understatement. Stafford led the Rams to a Super Bowl victory in 2021 and is projected as an MVP front-runner in 2025. Meanwhile, Goff turned his career around in Detroit and became a franchise quarterback in his own right. The Lions used the draft picks acquired in the deal on such impact players as Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta, and Jameson Williams.
Honorable Mentions
- Davante Adams to the Raiders, 2022
- Marshawn Lynch to the Seahawks, 2010
- Sauce Gardner to the Colts, 2025
- Darrelle Revis to the Buccaneers, 2013
