Re-Grading the 10 Biggest NFL Trades of Last 10 Years

There was a time when trades were not especially common in the NFL. Playing Let’s Make a Deal was reserved for Major League Baseball, the NBA and Monty Hall. Trades happened in the NFL, but they were relatively infrequent and rarely involved star players.

However, over the past 15 years or so, NFL general managers
have become more aggressive. They are more willing to trade up in the draft to
acquire a player they covet. More willing to push their chips to the center of
the table to land the veteran they think can put their squad over the top.

They may not have played Monty Hall much. But more and more
NFL teams are fine with a little Wayne Brady action.

As time has passed, some of the trades have been highly one-sided, pushing one team all the way to a Lombardi Trophy while the other’s gains were modest at best. Some have been unmitigated disasters for at least one club.

The jury is still out on some—there’s no denying that the New York Jets trade for four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers was a blockbuster, but given that the veteran quarterback made it one series into his first game in green and white before tearing his Achilles last year, it’s impossible to assess the deal’s impact for the Jets and Green Bay Packers yet.

One trade appears to have been that rarest of rarities—a big-time win for both sides. And one—well, one completely changed the face of the NFL and paved the way for the league’s newest dynasty.

They say that hindsight is 20/20. So, with the benefit of that clarity of vision, here’s a look back at the 10 biggest trades of the past decade—and how teams who were all smiles when the deals were struck actually fared once the dust settled.

This isn’t an easy trade to re-grade—because much remains unsettled regarding how both sides of the blockbuster deal that landed the Carolina Panthers the first pick in 2023 will work out in the long-term.

The Panthers used that first pick on Alabama quarterback Bryce Young—the player Carolina planned to build their franchise around for years to come. The cost was steep—first-rounders in 2023 and 2024, second-rounders in 2023 and 2025 and wide receiver D.J. Moore.

Young’s first season with the Panthers was—let’s be nice and go with uneven. Young won just two of 16 starts, completed less than 60 percent of his passes and managed just 11 touchdown passes against 10 interceptions. Young’s QBR of 33.4 ranked 30th in the NFL.

Per ESPN’s David Newton, new Panthers wide receiver Diontae Johnson believes that Young will be a much improved player in Year 2.

“He’s a great quarterback,” Johnson said. “Accurate. Smart. He knows how to get his guys in position. Whenever we’re out there, you can always count on him to get us in the right spot and make sure everybody knows what they’re doing.”

Even if he is, it’s hard to see this deal as anything but a win for Da Bears. Moore set career highs across the board last year in Chicago, topping 1,300 receiving yards. The Bears traded back yet again last year before selecting offensive tackle Darnell Wright at No. 10 and traded up in Round 2 to choose cornerback Tyrique Stevenson. Both are penciled in as starters in 2024.

Chicago also landed the first overall pick in 2024 and used that to draft USC quarterback Caleb Williams—a prospect most regard as superior to Young entering the NFL.

That’s four starters for one. The fact that the Houston Texans picked 2023 Offensive Rookie of the Year C.J. Stroud one pick after Carolina took Young is just salt in the wound.

And the Bears still have a second-rounder coming.

Bears: A

Panthers: D

This won’t be the last time you see the Rams mentioned here—Los Angeles general manager Les Snead was a very busy man in 2021.

This trade is also a rarity on this list, in that the player the Rams acquired in the deal wasn’t even with the team a full season.

But while Von Miller was in La-La Land, he made the kind of
impact that gets you included among the top 10 most impactful deals of the last
decade.

By this point in his career, Miller was considered one of the league’s best at rushing the passer. He made six straight Pro Bowls from 2014-2019 before missing the entire 2020 season with an injured ankle. But since being the MVP of Super Bowl 50, Miller and the Broncos had fallen on hard times as a team. And with a rebuild underway in the Mile High City, Miller was dealt to Los Angeles mid-season in 2021 for a pair of Day 2 picks.

Rams head coach Sean McVay was a very happy camper after the
deal was struck while talking
to reporters.

“If you had told me a couple weeks ago if I thought
there was a chance of acquiring Von Miller, I would’ve said, ‘Are you kidding
me? Hell no.’ And then when it becomes a reality, you say, ‘Well, let’s look
into it,'” McVay said. “Everything we do is what we think is in the
best interest of this football team, and there’s still a long-term vision in
mind as well.”

That smile didn’t fade. Miller logged five sacks over the final eight regular season games and then four more in the postseason, including two in the Rams win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI.

Miller was off to Buffalo the following offseason, and the players the Broncos acquired with the picks obtained in this deal (headlined by edge-rusher Nik Bonitto and linebacker Drew Sanders) haven’t been worldbeaters to this point in their professional careers.

But the deal helped the Rams win a championship. And it’s hard arguing against that.

Broncos: C

Rams: A-

Back in 2018, Jason Pierre-Paul was regarded as one of the better edge-rushers in the National Football League—in spite of a 2015 fireworks accident that cost him part of his right hand. But after eight seasons, 58.5 sacks, two Pro Bowls and a Super Bowl win, Pierre-Paul was traded from the New York Giants to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a third-round pick. Coming off a woeful 3-13 season, the G-Men were rebuilding, while the Bucs were looking to add pop to their pass rush.

Tampa Bay general manager Jason Licht lauded what Pierre-Paul brought to the Buccaneers while speaking to reporters.

“Jason is an elite-level edge rusher who will make an immediate impact on our defense,” Licht said. “We are adding a two-time Pro Bowler who is passionate about the game and has established himself as one of the league’s premier defensive ends. Jason is an incredibly hard-working playmaker on the defensive front with a unique skill set that allows him to stay on the field in both rushing and passing situations.”

It was a trade that paid off immediately for Tampa—Pierre-Paul’s 12.5 sacks in 2018 were the second-most of his career in a season. But it was 2020 when the Pierre-Paul trade truly became a home run. That season, Pierre-Paul logged 9.5 sacks and made his third Pro Bowl. In a close NFC Championship Game win over the Green Bay Packers, Pierre-Paul posted a pair of sacks. And in Super Bowl LV, Pierre-Paul contributed to a Buccaneers pass rush that constantly harassed Patrick Mahomes in a blowout win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Giants actually got a good player out of the pick obtained in the trade in defensive tackle B.J. Hill. But Hill was himself traded to the Cincinnati Bengals in 2021 for center Billy Price—a move that was ill-advised in retrospect.

Giants: C-

Buccaneers: A

In 2021, the Philadelphia Eagles rebounded from a