2026 NFL trade deadline: Proposing 11 offers that make sense - ESPN

NFL trade season is about to heat up — the deadline is less than three weeks away (Nov. 10 at 4 p.m. ET). We've already seen receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. dealt to the Texans, quarterback J.J. McCarthy moved to the Giants, cornerback Joey Porter Jr. sent to the Cowboys and center Cam Jurgens traded to Baltimore. And in the weeks to come, more trades will follow. Let's project some of them with 11 proposals that make sense for both teams involved.

While deadline deals across all sports don't always have a dramatic impact on the games that play out afterward, 2025 was a clear case when moves in the NFL mattered. The Seahawks might not beat the Rams in the regular season without the addition of Rashid Shaheed, who kicked off their comeback victory with a punt return touchdown. That win pushed the Seahawks into position to land the top seed in the NFC, which gave them home-field advantage in the rubber match against the Rams — and that might have made the difference in the NFC title game. Not a bad return for a pair of Day 3 picks.

Teams with Super Bowl aspirations will be hoping to follow in Seattle's footsteps as the 2026 deadline approaches. If anything, I was a little concerned that there might not be many teams ready to trade away talent, given that 27 of the league's 32 teams still have at least a 9% chance of making it to the postseason after six weeks of football, per ESPN's Football Power Index.

Then two things happened this week to shake up the trade market. One was the firing of Colts general manager Chris Ballard, which came after the Colts blew a 13-0 halftime lead to the Titans at home Sunday and lost 26-20. Ballard endured some unfortunate luck given that his franchise quarterback (Andrew Luck) and one of his