Meet me at The Quarterback - Impact of the Trade Deadline
By Lee Wakefield
We are in week 10 of the NFL season and are now a few days past the NFL trade deadline, and with there being a considerable amount of movement for players on the defensive line, I wanted to take a look at the impact of those moves for the week’s edition of Meet me at the Quarterback.
As we should all know by now, pass rushers are some of the most impactful players on the football field, and thus, they are always in demand when teams are looking for a boost to the second halves of their season. Whether that is a team looking to boost their championship credentials, push for a playoff spot after a good start, sometimes surprisingly so, or… just being Jerry Jones, these sorts of players are always in demand at the deadline.
I’m going to look at the six deals done in the past month or so and look at their impact on each side of the deal. The order in which they are listed is from most recent to the deal that was done longest ago, so please, don’t read anything into the order beyond chronology. That said, let’s start with the big one…
Quinnen Williams to the Dallas Cowboys
The Price: 2027 1st round pick (the highest Dallas pick), 2026 2nd round pick, Mazi Smith
For each deal, I’ve listed the price of the deal that was done, which, for Quinnen Williams’ move to Dallas, is as listed above. A couple of high-value picks with Mazi Smith heading in the opposite direction.
Which, as a small sidenote, appeared to be a wrinkle that the Jets were using in all of their recent trades to freshen up their roster and have a look at some new talent. The Jets acquired Adonai Mitchell, Mazi Smith, John Metchie III, and Ja’Sir Taylor in the past couple of weeks, and Jarvis Brownlee Jr., in September, in in-season trades.
However, the true overall trade picture for the Cowboys’ defensive line must also include the Micah Parsons trade that took place in September, too.
Overall, the Cowboys sent away Mazi Smith and Micah Parsons, gained Kenny Clark and Quinnen Williams, and now own two first-round picks in the 2026 draft (although they now have no second-round pick and don’t pick again until the fourth round next spring). In addition to that, Dallas has a full complement of 2027 picks, although their first-round pick is not their own; it’s the pick they received from Green Bay.
Outside of picks, the Cowboys also saved around $17m in cap space compared to where they’d be if they’d have given Micah Parsons the contract that he signed with Green Bay.
Was it worth it? Let’s break it down.
Quinnen Williams is a fantastic player. When he’s on his game, he’s one of the most disruptive interior players in the NFL. However, so far this season, he’s having a down year by his standards. Yes, the Jets’ defence has been a shambles, but he is one of the stars of the unit; he’s the sort of player that Aaron Glenn would have been looking at to build his defence around. He, and also-now-traded, Sauce Gardner were the crown jewels of the defence, now they are gone, and I wonder if Glenn will follow suit on Black Monday (or sooner).
As a pass rusher is where Williams has been lacking. Williams only has a single sack through eight games, his pressure numbers are down too, with only 19 so far this year. Williams’ lowest sack total for a season outside of his rookie year was 6 in 2023, where he had 70 pressures on the year.
The Cowboys will be hoping that this is a blip and their shiny new toy will be back to his dominant self next season.
Although the use of next season in my analysis already speaks to a couple of aspects of this trade that strike me as alarming. Firstly, Dallas is 3-5 and has a schedule that is tough enough the rest of the way that makes me fairly certain that they will not make the postseason.
So do what end are they acquiring Williams? He’s not playing in such a dominant fashion that he’s likely to elevate what has been a very poor defence to a level where the team are going to go on a winning streak that will make them red hot going into a playoff run.
Secondly, wouldn’t we just rather have Micah Parsons?!
Parsons is a player who is a true game-changer. One of the best ten defenders in the league in terms of impact. No doubt.
If the Cowboys (well, Jerry Jones) just didn’t need media attention like they need air, they’d have sorted Parsons out with a market-setting contract as soon as he was extension eligible and saved themselves more than the aforementioned $17m.
But either way, $17m extra is good… right?
Well, it’s not like the Cowboys actually spend any money! So, they probably should have just kept and paid Parsons. But I guess doing the obvious doesn’t get you airtime or fill column inches.
So, where does Dallas stand on their defensive line now?
The interior with Williams, Kenny Clark and Osa Odighizuwa is well stocked. However, they lack on the edges, with their current starters listed as rookie, Donovan Ezeiruaku, and serial mercenary, Jadeveon Clowney. After that, there’s… well, not much else. Williams will certainly add to the Dallas defence as a run defender – He’s having a good season in that regard – but will he add the necessary pass rush juice to get the Cowboys faithful excited about the future?
And, as I mentioned above, overall, the defence is still bad. Like, bad, bad. The Cowboys are 31st in defence-adjusted value above average (DVOA). DVOA measures the efficiency of the unit on a play-by-play basis using the context of the play, such as opponent, down and distance, etc., and it expresses itself in a percentage. 0% is league average, the higher the percentage, the better. Negative percentages are bad. Dallas has a -19.7% defensive DVOA. Not great, Bob.
Lastly, on the Jets, they get a big contract off their books, as they also did with Sauce Gardner and load up on picks for the next round of their perpetual rebuild.
Fun!
Joe Tryon-Shoyinka to the Chicago Bears
The Price: 2026 6th round pick (Chicago received a 2026 7th round pick in return)
I won’t write around 700 words for each of the remaining five deals, that’d be incredibly long-winded, and to be honest, for some of these deals, it’d be quite tough on your writer. The deal to take Joe Tryon-Shoyinka is such a deal.
Full disclosure, I wasn’t a fan of Joe Tryon-Shoyinka as a player coming out of Washington in 2021. I had a third-round grade on him, and was astounded when he snuck into the first round with the Bucs taking him with the 32nd overall pick.
Since arriving in the league, Tryon-Shoyinka has proven my assessments correct as he hasn’t played up to that draft status. The former Washington Husky has 17 career sacks across four and a half seasons (four with the Bucs and half a season with Cleveland). Tryon-Shoyinka played a good amount of snaps each season throughout his Bucs tenure, he was part of a rotation for the Bucs, and was an average to above-average back up edge player. Not a superstar, but a solid enough player to play in a team’s rotation, but ultimately not worth the 32nd overall pick either. Tampa had four years of service and did not opt to activate his fifth-year option and after that, they opted not to renew Tryon-Shoyinka’s contract, so he was a free agent and signed with Cleveland.
Since then, he’s played 31 snaps on defence. Thirty one. The Browns gave him away to move up a round in he draft.
So, why have the Bears done this?
Bears’ pass rusher, Dayo Odeyingbo, suffered a season-ending Achilles injury against the Bengals last weekend, so, along with Dominique Robinson, Tryon-Shoyinka will back up Austin Booker and Montez Sweat as the Bears push for the playoffs after a slightly surprising 5-3 first half to the season.
A worthwhile dice roll without reducing the amount of draft picks they have in April.
Dre’Mont Jones to the Baltimore Ravens
The Price: 2026 5th round pick (can conditionally convert to a 2026 4th round pick)
Despite sitting at second place in the division with a current record of 3-5 and two games back from the Steelers, the Baltimore Ravens are the bookies’ favourites to take the AFC North title.
Lamar Jackson is back, and they are looking to put a run together to at least make the postseason, and yes, despite the poor start to the season and some ill-health of their star QB, they could win the AFC North.
The Ravens were active at the deadline, involved in deals with the Chargers (below) and the Eagles. They created a hole in their edge rusher rotation by trading away Odafe Oweh to the Chargers, so they have then filled that void by acquiring Dre’Mont Jones from the firesale that was being held in Nashville, as Titans’ GM, Mike Borgonzi, cleans house.
Jones is one of the hottest pass rushers in the NFL right now, at least outside of the elite players around the league.
In his final outing for the Titans, Jones had two sacks against the Chargers’ banged-up offensive line. These two sacks made up part of five sacks that Jones has had in his past four games.
Jones arrives in a better situation and on a better, more talented roster, with every chance of being a key acquisition towards that potential AFC North title, and a second half of the season that the Ravens will want to blossom into a deep playoff run.
In return, the Titans receive a pick that could become a fourth-rounder, in return for a player who was on a one-year contract, who they signed during the early phases of a rebuild. Not a bad piece of business if you can leverage it.
Jaelen Phillips to the Philadelphia Eagles
The Price: 2026 3rd round pick
Speaking of poor teams having a fire sale and another team looking to make a deep playoff run…
The Eagles are in a much stronger position to win their division compared to the Ravens. Philadelphia are 6-2 and in first place, but that doesn’t stop Howie Roseman from looking to strengthen their hand and roster, and if there’s a guy who loves defensive linemen, it’s Howie Roseman.
Jaelen Phillips comes in for a fairly high price – A good price for Miami, who are entering another rebuild, way too close to their most recent one – and will boost the Eagles. For the Eagles, who have three pass rushers currently in injured reserve, including Nolan Smith, Phillips might just be the most talented edge rusher on their active roster right away.
So why isn’t this a bigger deal?
Phillips has been plagued by injuries throughout his football career. He medically retired from football in 2018 while a part of the UCLA Bruins. He returned to football, transferred to the University of Miami, and was drafted in the first round by the Dolphins, keeping him in Miami. Happy days!
Even happier days, Phillips began his NFL career with back-to-back 10 sack seasons to begin his career. In his rookie year, this was as a back up, as the Dolphins went from a 1-7 start to a 9-8 final record under Brian Flores as they transitioned to the current era that became the Mike McDaniel tenure.
That era is coming to an end, and Phillips’ time in Miami has ended already as the Dolphins prepare for the offseason. Unfortunately for him, the past season and a half haven’t been as successful as his time in Miami began. 2024 was injury-ridden, and his season has been disappointing in terms of his play. Just three sacks in nine games so far this season, although a 24.4% pass rush win percentage does give hope. Hope that’ll benefit the Eagles as they look to rehabilitate the image and prestige of a very talented, and still young, pass rusher.
It’s a win-win for Philly. If Phillips plays well, he boosts the Eagles’ chances, and they can let him get paid by another team, and they’ll (potentially but probably) reap the benefits of the compensatory pick formula, once more.
Typical Howie, Typical Eagles.
Keion White to the San Francisco 49ers
The Price: 2026 7th round pick (San Francisco received 2026 6th round pick in return)
At the beginning of the season, White looked poised to take the leap for the Patriots after a six-sack season on a poor Patriots team in 2024.
It has not played out as expected, and just a couple of months after the start of the season, White has been traded, for basically nothing, after a season where he’s had essentially zero impact on a much-improved New England team under Mike Vrabel.
White has always been a better run defender than a pass rusher, so perhaps six sacks is just about as much as you can expect from him. Is that what you want from a former second-round pick, though? Probably not, so this is just a case of New England cutting ties with a player that they no longer see as a part of the future.
San Francisco gains a depth piece who they still have a year of contract control after this season. So, it’s another reclamation project for the 49ers, and much like the Eagles, they have a history of cycling through defensive linemen in recent times in order to potentially strike gold once in a while.
The 49ers, at 6-3, are in a fist fight, not only for an NFC playoff spot, but despite all of their injuries, they are still well within reach of an NFC West title.
White hasn’t been brought in for a high price, he’s going to be in a supporting role where he needs to go in when Bryce Huff needs a breather and to provide some mentorship to Mykel Williams.
And do you know what, if it doesn’t work out, who cares? He was basically free.
Odafe Oweh to the Los Angeles Chargers
The Price: 2026 5th round pick, Alohi Gilman (Los Angeles received a 2027 7th round pick in return)
Finally, and thank you if you’ve gotten to this point of an article which has extended beyond where I originally planned, we’ll hit Odafe Oweh’s move to Los Angeles, which actually happened around a month ago. Oweh has played four games for L.A. already, so we have a decent enough idea of how this might work out the rest of the season.
It’s been a largely positive move for both the player and team as Oweh has provided the Chargers’ front a boost from the bench, as he at first covered for Khalil Mack as he recovered from an elbow injury, and then, over the past couple of games, provided depth and impact off the bench.
Oweh has four sacks in his four games for the Bolts, and is has combined with Mack and the impressive Tuli Tuipulotu when defensive coordinator, Jesse Minter, wants to crank up the pressure on opposing QBs.
Oweh has a 20.2% pass rush win percentage, which is only second to Mack, and 24 pressures this season, which is second only to Tuipulotu on the team. He’s become a vital third pass rusher, giving them a massive upgrade on veteran Bud Dupree, who, for comparison, has 12 pressures and zero sacks this year.
Before his arrival, the Chargers’ pass rush was a little limp, and after Mack’s elbow injury, which was sustained in the win over the Raiders, and was very much a one-man band.
Oweh’s arrival was a calculated dice roll by GM, Joe Hortiz, who was in Baltimore when the Ravens drafted the Penn State product in 2021, and it’s worked out nicely so far.
Depending on what Mack decides to do after the season, in terms of retiring or continuing on with his NFL career, could the Chargers look to extend Oweh in the offseason and pair him with Tuipulotu long term? Or will it be a case of allowing Oweh, who is playing out his fifth-year option this season, gets paid by another team and, like Roseman, Hortiz gains a compensatory pick after a player gets a payday and putting himself in the shop window.
Either way, it’s a good problem to have for the Chargers whilst their pass-rushing trio is giving them high-quality play.
Lee Wakefield
NFL Content Lead
Lee Wakefield IS A defensive line enthusiast, Chargers Sufferer, and LONG-TIME writer and podcaster with a number of publications. @Wakefield90 on twitter/X.