Eight deals went down before Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline hit at 4 p.m. ET. All told NFL teams orchestrated 18 trades after Oct. 1, the second-most in NFL history (2022: 21 trades) and three more than last season.
Let’s look at which teams made the most of trade season and which clubs made mistakes. Several big names highlight the winners and losers of the 2024 NFL trade deadline.
Winner | Kansas City Chiefs
- Additions: WR DeAndre Hopkins, EDGE Josh Uche
The rich get richer. The two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs are never afraid to add talent, and they bolstered both sides of the ball at the 2024 trade deadline.
Hopkins, whom the Chiefs acquired from the Titans for a conditional fifth-round pick, will help KC account for the losses of fellow WRs Rashee Rice and Hollywood Brown. The 32-year-old went over 1,000 receiving yards for the seventh time in his career in 2023 and ranked 18th among wide receivers with 2.09 yards per route run.
Hopkins again 🔥
📺: #TBvsKC on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus and ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/KWQ2pYZpm8— NFL (@NFL) November 5, 2024
There’s still something left in the tank, as evidenced by his 8 catch, 86 yard, 2 touchdown performance in the Chiefs’ Week 9 win over the Buccaneers. It doesn’t hurt that Kansas City got Tennessee to pick up half of Hopkins’ remaining $5 million salary, which was critical for the cap-stapped Chiefs.
And don’t forget about Uche, who can instantly contribute as a designated pass-rushing specialist.
Uche finished first in PFF’s pass-rushing productivity in 2022 while posting 11.5 sacks. While the sack production hasn’t been there since then, his underlying metrics have remained strong. Among players with at least 500 pass-rushing snaps since 2022, Uche ranks third in pressure rate at 18.1%. Uche trails only Cowboys All-Pro Micah Parsons and Eagles’ edge Bryce Huff.
Winner | Buffalo Bills
- Addition: WR Amari Cooper
The Buffalo Bills needed more consistency out of their wide receivers. None of Allen’s pass catchers ranked among the NFL’s top 50 in receiving yards through the first six weeks. In early October, head coach Sean McDermott admitted he was “concerned” about his club’s WR depth chart.
Moreover, Buffalo’s offensive output had been buoyed by explosive passing plays. Through six games, 15% of the Bills’ passing plays had gained 16+ yards, tied for the sixth-best clip in the league. However, they’d struggled down to down and ranked just 16th in passing success rate (44.1%).
Cooper should help replace the route-running acumen of Stefon Diggs, whom Buffalo traded to Houston during the offseason. While he averaged just 10.4 yards per catch with the Browns this season, most of Cooper’s poor results could be ascribed to Cleveland’s atrocious quarterback play.
The 30-year-old set a career-high with 17.4 yards per catch in 2023 and has topped 1,000 receiving yards in six of his eight pro campaigns. Cooper historically spends 80% of his time on the perimeter, which allows Buffalo to keep Khalil Shakir in the slot while rotating Keon Coleman, Curtis Samuel, and Mack Hollins at its other wide receiver spot.
The Bills gave up a 2025 third and a 2026 seventh for Cooper and a 2025 sixth. It’s a relatively steep price, but Cooper is both talented and affordable. Buffalo didn’t have much cap space coming into the deadline, but the Bills were able to acquire Cooper, as it will cost just $800,000 to finish the season.
Loser | Dallas Cowboys
- Addition: WR Jonathan Mingo
Mingo is affordable — we’ll give that much to the Dallas Cowboys. Jerry Jones and Co. will pay the 2023 second-round pick just over $4 million through the 2026 campaign.
Besides the fact that Mingo is inexpensive, it’s hard to justify Dallas trading a fourth-round pick — a real asset! — for the 23-year-old and a 2025 seventh. Mingo hasn’t done anything over a year-plus with the Carolina Panthers that suggests he’s an NFL-caliber wideout.
Among 59 wide receivers with at least 100 targets since 2023, Mingo ranks dead last in yards per route run (0.75). He’s the only WR with fewer than one yard per route run during that span.
Mingo also ranks last in Pro Football Network’s WR+ metric in 2024. In 2023, his WR+ score was ranked 530th out of 536 qualifying wide receivers seasons since 2019.
Mingo did not get playing time in the lowly Panthers’ passing offense, which ranked 31st in EPA per dropback after Week 9. Carolina cut Terrace Marshall, Jr. before the start of the season, traded Diontae Johnson in October, and Adam Thielen has been on injured reserve since Week 4. Mingo still couldn’t surpass 60% playing time over the last month while losing snaps to undrafted rookie Jalen Coker and journeyman David Moore.
Loser | Carolina Panthers
- Traded: WR Diontae Johnson, WR Jonathan Mingo
The Panthers were on the opposite of the Cowboys’ poor Mingo assessment, so that’s a feather in Carolina’s cap.
But the club’s trade of Johnson is puzzling do to the compensation acquired. The Panthers and Baltimore Ravens swapped 2025 fifth and sixth-round picks. Assuming Carolina continues to struggle and Baltimore makes the playoffs, the Panthers are looking at a 10-15 slot jump at best. Carolina also picked up all but $625,000 of Johnson’s salary.
Johnson has had his issues both on and off the field; still, it’s hard to believe that this was all the Panthers could get in return for a receiver who managed 1.98 yards per route run in 2023 (28th among WRs) despite catching passes from lackluster Steelers QBs like Kenny Pickett and Mason Rudolph.
Winner | New Orleans Saints
- Traded: CB Marshon Lattimore
This is progress!
The New Orleans Saints, already projected to be a whopping $61 million over the 2025 salary cap, absorbed more than $31 million in 2025 dead money by trading Lattimore to the Washington Commanders on Tuesday.
The old Saints — the club that thinks it can compete every season — wouldn’t have made this type of move. However, after firing head coach Dennis Allen on Monday, New Orleans may finally realize it needs a multi-year reset.
The Saints raised eyebrows last season when they restructured Lattimore's contract on Dec. 29, earlier than their normal restructures. It was an unusual restructure and Mickey Loomis said a few weeks later "Yeah there was a purpose, but I'm not gonna tell you what the purpose is"
— Katherine Terrell (@Kat_Terrell) November 5, 2024
Lattimore is still a solid cornerback, but he’s 28 years old, expensive, and has battled many injury issues. He doesn’t have a spot on a rebuilding Saints roster.
If you cancel out all the draft picks in today’s deal, Over the Cap’s draft value chart pegs Lattimore’s value as a mid-second-rounder. New Orleans couldn’t turn down that sort of package for a player who missed 50% of the club’s games from 2022 to 2023.
Loser | New York Jets
- Addition: WR Davante Adams
- Traded: WR Mike Williams
The New York Jets (3-6) kept their playoff hopes alive with a Thursday night win over the Houston Texans in Week 9, but it’s hard to call their trade for Adams anything other than a mistake.
PFN’s Playoff Predictor gives New York roughly a one-in-three chance of making the postseason. It’s hard to reconcile those odds with trading a Day 2 pick for an aging receiver like Adams.
Of course, Gang Green is in a unique position. GM Joe Douglas and interim HC Jeff Ulbrich will be out if the Jets don’t make the dance. In a win-now season, you can see how the Jets’ decision-makers could justify reuniting Adams with Aaron Rodgers. But from a pure value perspective, it was a poor deal.
New York unexpectedly convinced the Steelers to give up a 2025 fifth-round pick for Williams, a wide receiver who has battled injuries throughout his career and failed to produce in his new home in the Meadowlands. But the Jets also paid $6+ million for 12 catches and 166 scoreless yards.
Winner | Minnesota Vikings
- Additions: OT Cam Robinson, RB Cam Akers
With all due respect to Akers, the Minnesota Vikings are a winner because of their Robinson acquisition. The former Jacksonville Jaguars left tackle is hardly a world-beater, but he’s a suitable replacement for Christian Darrisaw, who went down with a season-ending knee injury in Week 8.
Had Darrisaw gotten hurt a week or two later, the Vikings might not have had time to work out a trade. Acquiring an offensive lineman at the deadline is hard enough as is.
In a league starved for competent blockers, teams are rarely willing to give up viable O-linemen. Only two offensive linemen had been traded over the past three deadlines, and one — Laurent Duvernay-Tardif to the Jets in 2021 — was a pure salary dump.
Agreeing to a swap of 2026 Day 3 picks in exchange for Robinson was a no-brainer for the Vikings, who kept their division title and playoff chances alive.
Loser | Seattle Seahawks
- Additions: DT Roy Robertson-Harris, LB Ernest Jones IV
The Seattle Seahawks added talent to compete for the NFC playoffs, but after losing five of its last six games, first-year head coach Mike Macdonald’s club might have slightly overextended itself.
Robertson-Harris was supposed to help fix Seattle’s run defense, but he hasn’t been able to plug the needed holes. Over the past three weeks, the Seahawks have ranked 29th in defensive rushing success rate.
On the flip side, Jones is a talented linebacker who fits McDonald’s scheme. But the Titans acquired him from the Rams in August for a swap of 2026 Day 3 picks. Seattle gave up a 2025 fourth-rounder and LB Jerome Baker to get Jones. Jones is also a free agent. If the Seahawks cannot get him to agree to a contract, this move will look even worse.