10 NFL trades that shocked the world

One of the reasons that makes the NFL nothing less than a roller-coaster ride is the existence of uncertainty. Throughout the season, there is no clarity on which team will be left standing last and it is not uncommon to see the most talented teams get caught lacking and lose to a lesser-equipped opponent. The off-season presents an entirely different scenario.

Filled with thrillers and dramatic trades, one thing has been made clear. No matter how good a player is, nobody is safe. The best players have been traded for far less than what they are truly worth. In recent history, the NBA has been in the news ever since the unbelievable Luka Doncic trade went down.

However, the NFL has had its fair share of blockbuster trades. Deals are so shocking and ridiculous, that even the most blessed of astrologers would not have been able to foresee them happening. Here is a list of 10 blockbuster deals in NFL history that left fans speechless.

10. Tony Gonzalez traded to the Falcons

The evolution of the tight-end position into what it has become today was pioneered by the likes of Shannon Sharpe, Kellen Winslow, Antonio Gates, and Tony Gonzalez. The tight end spent most of his career with the Kansas City Chiefs where he cemented his legacy as a franchise legend. Tony was the pride of KC and it was hard to fathom the possibility of him being traded. The hope amongst Chiefs’ fans was to see him retire wearing the bright red jersey.

However, the team made the drastic decision of trading Tony Gonzalez to the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. To give away such a coveted player, at the time a 5x First-Team All-Pro, 4x Second-Team All-Pro, 10x Pro Bowler for a second-round pick? That was unheard of.

The Chiefs were protecting their future by trading Gonzalez to the Falcons where he spent five seasons and made three Pro Bowls before retiring.

9. Drew Bledsoe trade

Fate put Drew Bledsoe through a rollercoaster ride between 2001 and 2003. The quarterback for the New England Patriots changed the market for the position after he signed a record 10-year, $103 million deal to stay on with the New England Patriots. In the second week of that season, he sustained a scary injury which kept him out for 51 days.

In the interim, Tom Brady who was serving as the backup quarterback took over and led the Patriots to a Super Bowl win. From that point forward, New England began to explore ways to get out of the 10-year deal. In 2003, Drew Bledsoe was traded to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for a first-round pick. While his departure after the Super Bowl win was imminent, the sequence of events that gave Tom Brady the reigns seems fictional to this day.

8. San Francisco 49ers trade up for Trey Lance

In 2021, the 49ers knew they needed to start planning the team’s future. They were not going to be able to do that with their 12th overall pick because to draft a good quarterback, anything lower than a top 3 pick would have been futile.

The team gave up four of their picks to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for the third overall pick. They drafted Trey Lance and expected him to lead the team in the future. At the time, it seemed to be a good decision, a young quarterback with a bright future and immense potential. However, in hindsight, it did not turn out well for the 49ers. Trey Lance played in just two games for San Francisco and a season-ending injury resulted in him ultimately being traded for a fourth-round pick in 2023.

Meanwhile, the Dolphins used the 12th overall pick in the 2021 draft to pick star wideout Jaylen Waddle, and then the 29th overall pick in the 2022 draft was leveraged to bring Tyreek Hill over from the Chiefs, and selected linebacker Channing Tindall with the 3rd round pick in 2022. Ultimately, Miami came out on top of this trade.

7. Brett Favre traded to the Jets

The Green Bay Packers are known as a franchise that has struck gold when it comes to drafting quarterbacks. The luck began with Brett Favre. The man had taken the team to the playoffs 10 times and the Super Bowl twice. In 2008, his decision to retire was accelerated by the team’s decision to bring Aaron Rodgers aboard.

However, the retirement lasted for just two months as Favre announced that he was coming back and wanted to stay in Green Bay. However, the team no longer wanted him. They chose to trade him for a conditional fourth-round pick which would turn into a third-rounder if he played 50% of snaps, a second-rounder if he played 70% of snaps, and a first-rounder if he played 80% of snaps and the Jets made the Super Bowl.

An unbelievable trade, it was hard to believe this was happening because Favre had a proven resume after all. The quarterback went on to suffer an injury after an 8-3 start to the season that kept him out for the rest of the year. Subsequently, the quarterback went back into retirement before coming back and signing with the Vikings where he played for two years before retiring.

6. Jimmy Garoppolo trade

In 2014, Bill Belichick pulled off a surprising move, to say the least. He drafted Jimmy Garoppolo with the Patriots’ second-round pick in 2014 sending a clear signal to Tom Brady that his time as New England’s starter was going to end very soon. He was no scrub either because when he got the opportunity, Jimmy G stepped up to the plate and played well. He went on to secure a 14-3 record with the team in the four seasons he played in New England.

However, his arrival motivated Tom Brady and he led the Patriots to two Super Bowl wins after Jimmy G was drafted. This added to owner Robert Kraft’s affection and adamant stance against trading Brady forced Bill Belichick to forego his plans of parting ways with his longtime franchise quarterback. Ultimately Jimmy Garoppolo was traded in 2017 in exchange for a second-round pick. The man who was expected to succeed Tom Brady was ousted and his career trajectory changed forever.

5. Khalil Mack trade

Prime Khalil Mack was unstoppable. In 2018, teams would have laughed at the thought of picking up the phone to call the Raiders and ask what they wanted in exchange for Mack. He was the franchise, he was one of the key reasons Jon Gruden had agreed to take the team’s head coaching job, there was no way the team would put him on the trading block.

Well, the Chicago Bears entertained that thought and so did the Raiders. In a shocking turn of events, Khalil Mack found himself headed to Chicago in exchange for two first-round picks, a third-round pick, and a sixth-round pick.

Fortunately, the trade made Mack rich. Shortly after he arrived in Chicago, the team wasted no time in offering him a historic $141 million extension, the most for a defensive player at the time, and guaranteed him $90 million of it. The subsequent season, the Raiders dropped to a 4-10 record, from a 12-4 record two years earlier.

4. Saquon Barkley signing with the Eagles

A lot of things about this trade do not make sense. Firstly, how did John Mara allow this to happen? Secondly, how does Joe Schoen still have a job, and thirdly, When will Howie Roseman be inducted into the Hall of Fame for pulling this feat off?

Saquon Barkley has been the best player on the New York Giants since the day he got drafted. With three 1,000-yard rushing seasons, and sheer dominance whenever he stays healthy, the running back is what should be considered as a franchise player. However, the New York Giants were reluctant to pay him and chose to let him test the waters of free agency as his contract came to an end after the 2023-24 season.

Joe Schoen was confident that no team would match his ask of $12.5 million per year with $25 million guaranteed. This is the same team that signed Daniel Jones to a four-year, $160 million contract, hesitating to offer a man with a proven track record a reasonable amount. The gamble failed as Howie Roseman swooped in and offered Saquon Barkley a three-year contract worth $37.75 million guaranteed.

The result? In his first year playing for Philadelphia, Barkley has rushed for over 2,000 yards and is now a Super Bowl champion.

3. Randy Moss trade

In seven of his nine seasons playing in the NFL up until 2007, Randy Moss had 1,000+ receiving yards. After just two years with the Raiders, Randy Moss was served to Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots on a silver platter.

A trade that shook the NFL, Moss was traded in exchange for a fourth-round pick. Nothing more. It was an absolute steal for Belichick and Brady as they were getting a Hall of Fame receiver for virtually nothing.

The result? New England went on to go undefeated in the subsequent season and Moss had 1,493 yards and 23 touchdowns. If not for a motivated Eli Manning and the Giants, the receiver would have won his first Super Bowl.

2. Christian McCaffrey trade

A trade that is widely revered as being a blockbuster and arguably one of the more controversial ones in recent history. The Carolina Panthers’ decision to part ways with the only reliable player on the team, running back Christian McCaffrey raised eyebrows over the team’s management.

Christian McCaffrey is a bonafide stud, a future Hall of Famer, and when healthy, an unstoppable running back. The Carolina Panthers traded the running back in exchange for a second, third, fourth, and fifth-round pick.

None of the picks that Carolina made using the capital yielded ideal results. Christian McCaffrey on the other hand, transformed the 49ers’ offense and led them to a Super Bowl in 2023 having had a 1,459 rushing yard season.

1. Herschel Walker trade

No trade in NFL history will ever be comparable to how shocking, ridiculous, and jaw-dropping the 1989 trade that sent Herschel Walker to the Minnesota Vikings was. A star running back, Walker had a profound impact on the Cowboys offense. He was viewed as the centerpiece of their offense and that is why Minnesota chose to give up their house in exchange for one running back.

A trade so shocking that it has its own dedicated Wikipedia page, the Herschel Walker deal remains the largest player trade in the history of the NFL. It involved three teams, the Dallas Cowboys, the Minnesota Vikings, and the San Diego Chargers trading 18 players and multiple draft picks.

For the Cowboys, it gave them a valuable opportunity to draft their future Super Bowl-winning roster. Dallas received four players, three first-round picks, three second-round picks, and a sixth-round pick apart from a conditional third-round pick.

The Vikings received Herschel Walker, two third-round picks from Dallas, a fifth-round pick from San Diego, and a tenth-round pick. The Chargers received running back Darrin Nelson.

Dubbed ‘The Great Train Robbery,’ this trade was bound to be a failure unless Walker won the Vikings a Super Bowl, which he was unable to. The Cowboys drafted all the pieces they needed to win three Super Bowls down the road in the 90s through this trade. The Herschel Walker deal is the most blockbuster deal the NFL has witnessed.

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