With the trade deadline now being officially over as of Oct. 31, 2023, for the 23-24 NFL season, a lot of big trades were made throughout lots of teams this season. The question is, why did these teams make these trades, and how will it affect them and the other team? What trades could have been made, and which ones maybe should have been made? We also won’t be talking about just trades on the deadline day but trades that occurred throughout this entire season.

With the San Francisco 49ers being one of the most powerful teams in not just the NFC but also the NFL right now, they didn’t need to make many trades throughout this season; they had one of the most powerful teams when it comes to player rankings on their team. Their receiving core is amazing. They have notable receivers like Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and George Kittle. But this isn’t to discredit the other weapons on the team, such as Christian McCaffrey, who is easily the number-one running back as of right now. And even having the best offensive tackle in the league, Trent Williams. This team looks entirely offensive-dependent, but that isn’t the case. The defense also boasts amazing players in each part of the defense: defensive line, linebackers, and secondary. This team has strong spots everywhere on this team. But when it came down to Kyle Shanahan’s decision, he decided that making stronger trades is going to help this team after this recent 3-loss streak after their 5-0 win streak to start the season. The only announced trade that this team has is the trade the Washington Commanders offered to San Francisco to trade defensive end Chase Young for a 2024 third-round draft pick. This will not only reunite star defensive end Nick Bosa with his former Ohio State teammate, but it will also show the most unstoppable defense the 49ers have ever had.

So, to move our attention away from the 49ers, we move on to the Minnesota Vikings. The team that last year was known as the most fraudulent team after losing in the first round of the playoffs to the nine and eight New York Giants after going 13-4. Having picked up Jordan Addison in the 2023 draft, he has been a standout player and an amazing substitute for Justin Jefferson, which made Kirk Cousins look like an MVP candidate as of this year. Unfortunately, Kirk Cousins recently faced an Achilles tear against the Green Bay Packers, ruling him out for the rest of this season. Because of that, the Vikings decided to pick up Arizona Cardinal’s Joshua Dobbs. They were adding extra depth to the, unfortunately, weak-looking quarterback room. They gave the Cardinals a 2024 sixth-round pick. Another move that the Minnesota Vikings have made this season is trading their offensive guard, Ezra Cleveland, to the Jacksonville Jaguars. In return, the Vikings received a sixth-round pick for the player whose deal was soon to expire. 

Looking at another dominant NFC team this season, we have the Philadelphia Eagles, who, as of right now, are seven and one going into week nine. This team, like the 49ers, didn’t have much need to make trades this season. Having an amazing offensive line and an amazing defensive line as well, this team is stacked. Having a legendary receiving core and a quarterback who can work with it not well but fantastically is just showing this team might be seen yet again in the Superbowl back to back. Before this season, the Eagles traded away their safety, C.J. Gardener Johnson, to the Detroit Lions, making their secondary a bit weaker, although not bad. So the Eagles proposed a trade to the Tennesse Titans, wanting safety Kevin Byard, and in return, the Eagles sent safety Terrel Edmunds and a fourth and sixth-round 2024 draft pick. Upgrading their secondary for this year but will affect them slightly in the future.

Finally, the Detroit Lions, yet again another dominant NFC team, required a receiver after receiver Marvin Jones Jr. left the team due to personal reasons. With that being said, the team wanted to add a new receiver, which in this case is former Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones. A very physical and powerful receiver who the Lions received for giving up a 2025 sixth-round pick. 

If only I was able to talk about more of the significant trades that occurred this season, I would, but nobody wants to read something longer than the Declaration of Independence. These trades were quite big and will have a big impact on these teams. There are some big players, and also some more minor players traded this year. But it will be very interesting to see how they perform on their new teams.