The two biggest trade deadline deals last year were flops

A year ago, two teams gave up first-round picks at the trade deadline for players they thought would make a massive difference.

Since then, those teams are a combined 11-23.

Neither the Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys got what they REALLY wanted from their trades for cornerback Sauce Gardner and defensive lineman Quinnen Williams, respectively, over the last 12 months. They upgraded their respective position groups with each team, no doubt.

But both teams will be without a first-round pick in 2027, and the Colts didn’t have theirs in this past year’s draft. It’s the Cowboys and Colts who have allowed the Jets to have three Round 1 choices next spring, a prime opportunity to add a generational draft haul that could revive that team’s fortunes.

Meanwhile, the Colts and Cowboys’ dice rolls both came up snake eyes. They missed the postseason last year, with the Colts going 1-8 after acquiring Gardner, seeing their 7-2 record begin evaporating even before they lost quarterback Daniel Jones to a season-ending injury.

Such is the dreary state of the Colts today that they’ve already made a pair of deals to try and recoup some of their lost draft capital, trading DeForest Buckner to the San Francisco 49ers — his original team — and Quenton Nelson to the Seattle Seahawks. But neither was able to get them back into Round 1.

Running back Jonathan Taylor might — if the Colts can manage to deal him before Tuesday’s 2 p.m. MST trade deadline. But the examples of Dallas and Indianapolis serve as a stern reminder to teams like the Broncos that the big swing can end up being a whiff.

After all, the success or failure of these deals is determined by whether they optimize chances of a Super Bowl run. Neither deal involving a Round 1 selection last year at the deadline did that.

It was just two teams suffering from a raging case Shiny Object Syndrome, now poised to pay the price of trying to add cost-controlled talent without a first-round pick at their disposal next spring. One of their general managers, Indianapolis’ Chris Ballard, is no longer on the job. The other, Dallas owner-GM Jerry Jones, would have to fire himself, and despite failing to make a conference-title game in the last 30 seasons, he won’t be doing that.

Do you want your team running its operation like Ballard did, and like Jones is?

Meanwhile, it’s swaps lower on the radar that can often provide the final thrust to a championship push. That was learned last year, too.

THE TRADE DEADLINE SWAP THAT ACTUALLY MADE A DIFFERENCE IN 2025

Seattle didn’t even have to surrender a Day 1 or Day 2 pick to acquire Rasheed Shaheed from the New Orleans Saints, giving up fourth- and fifth-round choices in the deadline swap.

Granted, Shaheed’s offensive production has been disappointing; in 16 regular-season games with Seattle, he has 351 yards on 31 receptions and no receiving touchdowns.

But the Seahawks may not have earned the No. 1 seed in last year’s NFC playoffs without the 58-yard punt return he delivered early in the fourth quarter of the team’s Week 16 game against the Los Angeles Rams to ignite their rally from a 30-14 deficit.

Seattle ended up winning 38-37 in overtime; that triumph was the difference in ensuring they remained at home in the postseason while the Rams had to attempt to win three road games to make it to Super Bowl LX; they could win just two, falling short at Seattle in the NFC Championship Game rematch.

Shaheed also lit the fuse for the Seahawks’ 41-6 divisional-round rout of the San Francisco 49ers with a 95-yard return of the game’s opening kickoff for a touchdown.

That’s what an impactful trade-deadline pickup looks like — and the premium components of Seattle’s draft capital for this year were untouched.

That’s a meal’s worth of food for thought. It’s not about making the big deal. It’s about making the right one.

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