The 2025 NFL trade deadline is less than 24 hours away.
For contenders, the trade deadline is an opportunity to acquire players that could potentially help them go on a playoff run. For struggling teams, it offers the chance to acquire draft picks or clear some of their salary cap.
Compared to the NBA and MLB trade deadlines though, the NFL trade deadline is a rather underwhelming annual affair. While a number of trades take place, the NFL trade deadline rarely lives up to the hype. There have, however, been a number of monumental midseason trades that have shaken up the NFL.
Before the trade deadline takes place on Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET, here’s a look back at some of the biggest midseason trades in NFL history.
Honorable Mentions:
Fred Dean: During the middle of the 1981 season, a contract dispute led to Hall of Fame defensive end Fred Dean getting traded from the Chargers to the 49ers. Dean went on to become a first team All-Pro for the second year in a row in 1981, and helped the 49ers win their first two Super Bowls in 1981 and 1985.
Mike Haynes: Two years after the Chargers traded Dean to the 49ers, the Patriots traded Mike Haynes to the Raiders in another move that helped a team win a Super Bowl the same season of the trade. The Hall of Fame cornerback recorded an interception in the Raiders’ Super Bowl victory over Washington. He intercepted 18 total passes over his six-and-a-half seasons with the Silver and Black, and was named first team All-Pro twice.
Bobby Layne: The year after winning his third NFL championship in six years, the Lions traded Hall of Fame quarterback Bobby Layne to the Steelers in the middle of the 1958 season. For Lions fans that are superstitious, this is perhaps the most impactful trade of all time as legend has it that Layne said after the trade, "The Lions won't win for the next 50 years." Indeed, they didn’t. The Lions only won one playoff game over the next 50 years and remain one of four teams that have never reached the Super Bowl.
5. Jalen Ramsey jumps from the Jags to the Rams (2019)
The Rams cemented their motto of “F— them picks” by trading for All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey in the middle of the 2019 season. Los Angeles sent two first-round picks and a fourth-round pick to the Jaguars to bring in Ramsey, who made two first team All-Pros and helped the Rams win Super Bowl LVI during his time with the franchise.
Two years later, the Rams made another impactful midseason move by acquiring Von Miller from the Broncos for a second and third-round pick. Miller recorded four sacks during that Super Bowl run.
4. Rams send Eric Dickerson to Colts in three-team blockbuster (1987)
While fanfare surrounding the trade deadline has increased in recent years, some of the biggest midseason acquisitions in NFL history actually took place decades ago.
The Rams trading Eric Dickerson to the Colts on Halloween in 1987 proved to be one of the biggest trades in NFL history. The three-team trade with the Bills involved 10 total players between draft picks and players sent to another team in the trade. Dickerson had a couple more 1,000-yard seasons in Indianapolis and helped them reach the postseason in 1987, but the Colts would not make the playoffs again during his tenure there.
The underrated winner of the trade might be the Bills, who acquired three-time All-Pro linebacker Cornelius Bennett as part of the deal, a player that helped Buffalo reach four straight Super Bowls in the early 1990s.
3. 49ers nab Christian McCaffrey from Panthers (2022)
The biggest trade of the past five years, the 49ers became a juggernaut when they acquired Christian McCaffrey from the Panthers for a second, third, fourth and fifth-round pick on Oct. 20, 2022. The 49ers were already a Super Bowl contender when they acquired McCaffrey, but the addition of the NFL’s best rushing and receiving running back took their offensive to another level.
While the 49ers have yet to win the big one since bringing in McCaffrey, he helped the 49ers reach NFC championship games in 2022 and 2023, and a Super Bowl appearance in 2023. That year McCaffrey also led the NFL in rushing and won Offensive Player of the Year. McCaffrey is on pace again in 2025 to finish with 1,000 rushing and 1,000 receiving yards, which would mark another historic season for the All-Pro back.
2. Seahawks acquire Marshawn Lynch from Bills (2010)
A couple years before the Seahawks became a Super Bowl contender, they set up their offense to succeed by acquiring running back Marshawn Lynch from the Bills in exchange for a fourth and fifth-round pick on Oct. 5, 2010.
With the Seahawks, Lynch went on to rush for over 1,000 yards in four consecutive seasons from 2011-15 and also led the league in rushing twice 2013 and 2014. He helped Seattle reach the Super Bowl in both of those years, and lift the Lombardi Trophy after the 2013 season. Though the Seahawks had an incredible defense with the Legion of Boom, it’s hard to see them having such success without trading for Lynch.
1. Cowboys trade Herschel Walker to Vikings in franchise-altering move (1989)
The most significant trade in NFL history took place in the middle of the 1989 season, when on Oct. 12 of that year, the Cowboys sent Herschel Walker, two third-round picks and a 10th-round pick to the Vikings for cornerback Issiac Holt, defensive end Alex Stewart, linebackers Jesse Solomon and David Howard and a bevy of draft picks.
Through the trade, the Cowboys would end up drafting Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith, four-time All-Pro safety Darren Woodson, and key players in defensive tackle Russell Maryland and cornerbacks Clayton Holmes and Kevin Smith. These players were instrumental in the Cowboys’ dynasty of the 1990s, and a big reason why Jerry Jones still has a grip on the league to this day.
The trade also emphasized the value of draft picks, and made clear the pitfalls that can come with moving too many picks in a single trade.
