The Trade That Shook the NFL What Really Happened When Aaron Rodgers Left the Green Bay Packers

(Photo courtesy of NFL.com) “Linebacker Bradley Chubb is on the left, wide receiver Calvin Ridley is in the middle, and tight end T.J. Hockenson is on the right.”

The 2022 NFL Trade Deadline has come and gone, and for the first time, there was chaos on this glorious day for football fans. So, who can be laughed at, and who can be known as legitimate?

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The Bears were clearly tanking and they needed to move some of their key pieces out to build for the future. This time, it was Roquan Smith to go. He joins a Ravens squad in desperate need of a key defensive piece to help their playoff hopes, and they did just that. Sure, the return may have seemed a little steep, but this was necessary for them.

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(Lions trade tight end T.J. Hockenson, 2023 4th-round pick, conditional 2024 4th-round pick to Vikings for 2023 2nd-round pick, 2024 3rd-round pick)

After tight end Irv Smith Jr. got injured, the Vikings were in desperate need of a replacement. It just so happens that Detroit was about to begin yet another rebuild and was gladly willing to give up T.J. Hockenson. Detroit, were picks for someone like him worth it? That is not how tanking works. The condition on the 2024 4th going to Minnesota will turn into a 5th if the Vikings win a playoff game. Sounds easy enough, doesn’t it?

The fact that Chase Claypool became a distraction in Pittsburgh for both his on-field production (or lack thereof) and off-field antics leads to this trade needing to happen for Pittsburgh. Sure, they needed weapons of their own, but they can finally breathe a breath of fresh air. As for Chicago, good luck.

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A low-risk pick-up for Pittsburgh who really didn’t need any help at cornerback, but Jackson could fit nicely if utilized properly. Washington really didn’t gain or lose anything with this deal other than a chance to start a new chapter.

Miami is pushing for the playoffs, and what better way to solidify their defense than by adding a huge name in Bradley Chubb. On top of that, for joining the team, Bradley Chubb got paid. He got a 5-year contract extension worth $110 million with $63.2 million guaranteed. Denver got a premium haul, adding a runner they needed to hopefully give the offense a jolt. Likewise, that 1st-round pick will help them for the future.

Wait a minute, the Jaguars really traded for a receiver that is suspended for the entire season? This makes zero sense. But what’s funny about this is Ridley bet against the Jaguars last season, and now he is a Jaguar. The conditions could not be found for the 5th rounder, but as for the 4th, oh boy. It stays a 4th round pick if he is still on the roster, it becomes a 3rd round pick if Ridley himself reaches certain incentives, and it will turn into a 2nd if he is given a contract extension. Smooth, Jacksonville. Smooth.

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After trading running back Chase Edmonds earlier in the day, the Dolphins go out and get a replacement for him, and one that needs the chance to break out. Jeff Wilson will get that chance in Miami.

The Bills really didn’t need a running back since they already have Devin Singletary, but Nyheim Hines isn’t a bad fit for the team. He did get overtaken by running back Jonathan Taylor in Indianapolis so he needed a new start. The Colts just took Moss as a bonus.

Tags atlanta falcons, bradley chubb, calvin ridley, denver broncos, detroit lions, jacksonville jaguars, Miami Dolphins, minnesota vikings, nfl, nfl trade deadline, t.j. hockenson, tanner humeThe NFL trade deadline was Tuesday afternoon, and fans were imagining a deal that would make their team better. For years those were pipe dreams that never happened.

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A year ago, Joe Thomas, Sheldon Richardson, Alshon Jeffery, Joe Haden and others were rumored to be possible pieces in trades before the 2016 deadline. But no blockbuster happened, and the biggest moves were the Browns acquiring Jamie Collins and the Patriots getting Kyle Van Noy.

We got a taste when the Jaguars traded for two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Marcell Dareus on Friday, and the Seahawks traded for three-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle Duane Brown on Monday.

Seeing those dominoes fall gave hope to fans wishing their teams would go after Martavis Bryant, T.Y. Hilton or one of the other big names that has been tossed into the rumor mill. Dream big, NFL fans.

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And while Bryant and Hilton stayed put, the deadline still brought more drama than usual. On Tuesday, the Dolphins traded No. 1 running back Jay Ajayi to the Eagles, and the Panthers sent leading receiver Kelvin Benjamin to the Bills.

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For years, the NFL trade deadline paled in comparison to the excitement that comes when the trade deadline approaches for the NBA in February or the MLB deadline in the summer.

Hell, two of the starting pitchers in the World Series right now are Yu Darvish of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros, who were with the Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers, respectively, just a few months ago.

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The NFL equivalent of that has never really happened, but that day may actually be here now. Here are three reasons why the trade deadline is suddenly more exciting than it’s ever been:

Adding an important player from another team who can actually contribute typically raises the question ‘Why didn’t the other team just keep him?’ There’s usually a long answer for that, but a huge salary is typically the crux of the situation.

The gigantic contract Dareus has is the biggest reason why the Bills sent him to Jacksonville. Brown’s discontent with his contract with the Texans is a huge part of what sent him to Seattle.

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Garoppolo is cheap but due to become a free agent, and that was about to become a giant pain in the Patriots’ ass.

But unlike baseball, which doesn’t limit spending outside of a luxury tax, not every NFL team has enough room under the salary cap to acquire a player who recently received, or is on the hunt for, a gigantic contract.

Shook

The salary cap is rising faster than franchises are spending, and that means more room than ever for moves. Fifteen teams currently have at least $10 million in space and only two have less than $1 million.

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There’s much more room to work with now and a handful of teams with gobs of money to throw at players like Dareus and Garoppolo.

Adjustments have to be made after trades in other sports too, but ultimately Verlander and Darvish were pitchers for the Tigers and Rangers, and are still pitchers with new teams tasked with doing the same exact thing: get batters out.

But communication is crucial on every single play in the NFL, and it’s a liability to have a player on the field who isn’t exactly aware of where he should be, or what he should be doing.

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That level of sophistication may even be exaggerated a bit in the minds of NFL coaches who aren’t so sure if someone new will be able to soak in their genius designs.

Thankfully, that rigidity seems to be waning a bit. There’s a rise in “positionless football, ” with teams more willing to tailor schemes to the talent on the roster.

The best blockbuster deals typically happen because one team wants to acquire a piece that pushes it over the top, and another wants to dump a contract and get a shiny new draft pick in return.

NFL

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But why send away a contributor to get a pick for next year when there’s still a chance that player can help you get to the playoffs?

By the time February rolls around in the NBA or July and August come in the MLB, it’s already apparent for many teams whether they still have championship hopes or if their year is sunk.

For years, the trade deadline was after Week 6 of the NFL season. That’s way too early for teams to be giving up on their chances, with the exception of the few teams that really stink it up in September.

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But in 2012, the NFL pushed the deadline back to the Tuesday after Week 8. Those two extra weeks do a little bit more to sort out the contenders from the pretenders and give teams a better idea of what kind of postseason chances they have.

Pro Football Talk has suggested doing away with the deadline altogether, although that runs the risk of a team ditching an impending free agent in Week 17 and sending him to a Super Bowl contender. The reward of a compensatory draft pick nullifies that risk some, but the value of a trade deadline in the interest of fairness is understandable.

But how about pushing it back to Week 10 or so? Week 12 even? Because this week has been a lot of fun.The NFL Trade Rumors are starting to swirl, and players could be dealt before the 2023 NFL Draft. There could be some pretty big names moved in the coming days. Ian Rapoport from

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