2025 NFL trades regraded: Gardner F for Colts, Jets A — SkimNews
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- NFL saw 27 players traded in-season at the 2025 deadline — the most in a single year in a quarter of a century — while this year's deadline is being pushed toward Nov. 10, with the source stressing that transaction quality matters more than volume.
- Sauce Gardner played the worst football of his career across 17 games with the Colts, and the trade's collapse was a primary reason general manager Chris Ballard was fired mid-season; the Jets countered with Adonai Mitchell, the 2026 first-rounder Kenyon Sadiq and a 2027 first-rounder, grading it F for Indianapolis and A for New York.
- Quinnen Williams logged six tackles for loss through the Cowboys' first six games — the most by a Dallas defensive tackle since 2013 and tied for the league lead among defensive tackles — and earned a three-year, $105.9 million extension, even as the source calls Dallas's defense "still a disaster" and grades the trade B for Dallas, C for the Jets.
- Joe Flacco went 1-5 as the Bengals' starter but delivered a 470-yard passing outburst and three consecutive games of at least 33 points while keeping the offense afloat until Joe Burrow returned from turf toe; Cincinnati also got a 2026 sixth-rounder traded up for Colbie Young, while Cleveland swapped him for a 2026 fifth-rounder (Justin Jefferson), graded B- and B.
- Kyle Dugger reached unrestricted free agency two years early after New England paid $5.4 million in cash plus roster bonuses to buy out his four-year extension, and in nine games with Pittsburgh he produced two interceptions — one a pick six — five passes defended, a sack, two tackles for loss and a safety, grading A for the Steelers and C for the Patriots.
- Jaelan Phillips helped Philadelphia reach the playoffs in eight games, and after the Eagles declined a four-year, $120 million extension that the Panthers gave him in free agency, his departure should net them a third-round compensatory pick in the 2027 draft, offsetting the 2026 third-rounder sent to Miami; the deal grades A and A-.
- Rashid Shaheed returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in 12 games for Seattle in 2025, including one in the playoffs en route to a Super Bowl ring, then earned a three-year, $51 million extension; after his knee injury in Sunday night's win over the Chiefs, coach Mike Macdonald said "early returns are positive," while New Orleans turned his expiring deal into a 2026 fourth- and fifth-rounder.
Why it matters: The Jets' A-grade return on Sauce Gardner came with Adonai Mitchell plus two first-rounders, while the Colts' F grade came with GM Chris Ballard's mid-season firing. With the 2026 deadline being pushed toward Nov. 10, the review's pattern is explicit: Pittsburgh's A-grade safety swap cost a 2026 seventh-rounder, Philadelphia's playoff-helpful Phillips rental cost a third.
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