NFL insiders and analysts warned that Tuesday’s trade deadline could rank among the busiest in recent memory. It lived up to the hype. The midseason frenzy saw the Minnesota Vikings reunite with quarterback Kirk Cousins as the Kansas City Chiefs traded for wide receiver Josh Downs.
Rumors had spread about the Vikings’ need for a new quarterback for weeks. Cousins, the former Minnesota and Washington quarterback who started the first nine games of the season for the Las Vegas Raiders, is the latest temporary fix for the 6-2 Vikings.
The Raiders added a 2027 third-round pick in the exchange. Las Vegas is now expected to start rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the No. 1 pick in the 2026 draft.
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Cousins returns to Minnesota, where he orchestrated a high-powered, highly productive Vikings offense from 2018 to 2023, throwing for more than 23,000 yards and 171 touchdowns.
But a 1-2 playoff record and an Achilles injury ended the Cousins era. Since then, Minnesota’s attempts to lock down a consistent signal-caller have fallen flat.
The team traded 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy to the New York Giants in September after he lost the starting job to free-agent acquisition Kyler Murray.
But Murray struggled in his six starts, missing a Week 2 game with a concussion and Monday night’s loss to the Bills with a hamstring strain. Backup Carson Wentz has failed to impress.
The Vikings rank 31st in the NFL in passing yards per game through Week 8. Only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — who failed to complete a pass during a Week 7 win over the Atlanta Falcons — have featured a more inert aerial attack.
In Monday night’s 23-6 defeat to the Bills, the Vikings were held without a touchdown and the hometown fans booed Minnesota’s offense. The Wentz-led squad was held under 200 yards, turned the ball over three times, and did not convert a third down all game.
Cousins led the Raiders to a 4-5 start, though Las Vegas has lost five of its last six games. The 38-year-old has thrown for 2,340 yards on the season with 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
The Vikings weren’t the only offense looking to boost their passing attack. The Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers were in the market for pass-catchers. The 2-7 Indianapolis Colts obliged, dealing Josh Downs to Kansas City and veteran Keenan Allen to San Francisco.
Indianapolis signaled the start of its rebuild last month when it fired general manager Chris Ballard after a 2-4 start. The team then dealt guard Quenton Nelson to the Seattle Seahawks on Oct. 27 as rumors circled Downs, running back Jonathan Taylor and quarterback Daniel Jones.
Downs, who had previously requested a trade, will join forces with star quarterback Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City. The Chiefs sent fourth- and fifth-round picks in the upcoming draft to the Colts in exchange for the 25-year-old receiver. Downs is in the final year of his rookie contract. He’s slated to become a free agent this offseason.
Allen fetched a less impressive return. The 49ers parted ways with a 2027 sixth-round pick for the 34-year-old who has recorded 12,402 receiving yards — including 351 this year — across 14 NFL seasons.
In Baltimore, the 4-5 Ravens added another offensive lineman in center Ryan Neuzil. The Atlanta Falcons acquired a sixth-round pick and guard Andrew Vorhees in the trade.
On defense, the Bills made the biggest splash of the day. The AFC-leading squad acquired Hooker and a seventh-round pick in exchange for a second-round draft selection.
The ball-hawking safety has tallied a league-high five interceptions on the season. Across eight seasons in Tennessee, the 28-year-old recorded 17 interceptions, 45 pass deflections, five forced fumbles and a sack.
Buffalo’s secondary struggled through the first six games of the year. Strong performances against Wentz in Week 8 and Baltimore Ravens’ backups Tyler Huntley and Joe Fagnano in Week 8 inflated their season-long numbers.
Safety, in particular, had been a problem area. First-year defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard started the year with Cole Bishop and C.J. Gardner-Johnson at the position. But Gardner-Johnson was suspended and subsequently released after he spat at Raiders players in Week 6. Fellow safety Damar Hamlin hasn’t shined in his spot.
Elsewhere in the AFC, the division-leading Broncos struck a deal with the rival Los Angeles Chargers. The winless Chargers agreed to send linebacker Daiyan Henley to the Broncos in a rare intra-division deal. Los Angeles acquired a fourth-round pick in 2027 and a 2028 fifth-rounder.
Henley, a 2023 third-round selection, led the Chargers in tackles each of the last two years. His 51 tackles through eight games were a team high. The 26-year-old is scheduled to become a free agent this offseason.
The deals that failed to materialize on Tuesday were as compelling as the deals that snuck in before the deadline. The Cincinnati Bengals reportedly axed a previously agreed-upon trade with the Philadelphia Eagles for defensive lineman Arnold Ebiketie.
Cincinnati agreed to lose a sixth-round pick in the deal, but backed out after learning they would lose a 2027 compensatory third-round selection in the deal as well. Compensatory selections are divvied out based on the free agency movements in the offseason. When a franchise loses multiple players to high-value free agency deals, that squad is more likely to land a compensatory pick, based on the NFL’s calculations.
Ebiketie wasn’t the only player waiting to see if he’d be dealt. Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. had been the subject of countless trade rumors in recent weeks. The former first-round pick has fallen out of favor in Jacksonville’s offense, recording just 10 receptions for 117 yards through 8 games.
But the Jaguars opted to keep the LSU product. Jacksonville instead focused on additions this week, trading for a trio of defenders on Monday: safety Jessie Bates and defensive tackles Davon Godchaux and Jordan Davis.
Indianapolis, despite listening to several offers, held onto star running back Taylor through the deadline.
The Washington Commanders were one of the stagnant teams on Tuesday, opting against any trades despite a lackluster 2-5-1 record. Commanders coach Dan Quinn said he did not address the team about any potential moves ahead of Tuesday’s practice.
“Honestly, just the focus for us is all the things we gotta get done today from a game plan standpoint and get rolling,” he noted.
“We let the front office do what they do,” quarterback Jayden Daniels said. “We gotta go out there and play.”
The Commanders take the field on Thursday night against the NFC East-leading New York Giants.
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