Analyzing the 2023 trade deadline moves: Washington defensive ends going different ways at the deadline
The NFL trade deadline for 2023 has come and gone. Unfortunately, we didn’t get as much action altogether as last year, nor did we have legit superstars being moved. Most frustrating among the names everybody wanted to see with a change of scenery was Davante Adams, whose frustration in Las Vegas has continued to grow and since then the names at the top of the operation have been let go.
However, we did see a few contenders make potentially crucial additions and also a couple of surprises on Halloween.
So now I want to take a look at those eight trades that went down this week, talk about the compensation and break down what those mean for both sides. I did not include Kevin Byard being shipped from Tennessee to Philadelphia for a bag of chips a week prior, because Eagles GM Howie Roseman yet again was able to acquire a veteran DB that should be a key pieces at a position of need for way under market value.
Let’s focus on the rest of the list now:
Seattle beefs up the D-line
Seahawks receive: Leonard Williams
Giants receive: 2024 second-round and 2025 fifth-round draft pick
Back on the 1st of September, I predicted that the Seahawks would win the NFC West with a 12-5 record and after somewhat shockingly losing in convincing fashion at home to the Rams on opening day – who we weren’t sure about what they were back then – their only loss since then came at Cincinnati in week six, when they had goal-to-go twice with a chance to win the game late.
So with Seattle having shown the ability to out-battle anybody in the NFC, with Philly as the only team somewhat separated from the rest of the pack, they make sense as “buyers” here. They’ve won games primarily fueled by their offense or defense, won close but also created separation to their opponents.
The two areas that have held them back a little at times have been the offensive and interior defensive line. Offensively, from guard to guard the film and grading would suggest they’ve been slightly below-average but not catastrophic, while both their starting tackles have missed most of the season. So while it may still take a couple of weeks, Abraham Lucas returning should salvage that right side eventually.
Defensively, I already had questions coming into the year and then the expected starter at nose-tackle in Bryan Mone has yet to return from the torn ACL he suffered late last season. Therefore, Jarran Reed has been forced to kind of play out of position and some of their young guys have been on the field more than anticipated.
Now adding Big Cat Williams, you bring in a stout presence, who they can line up anywhere from 2i- to 5-technique, in order to give them more flexibility with their fronts and take pressure off the guy at the nose to regularly get combo-blocked. His presence compensates to some degree for Dre’Mont Jones not being the strongest run-defender on early downs and you can put Williams at the nose and use him to free up fellow rushers on different games.
New Yorkers clearly didn’t expect the season to go the way they hoped for. The Jets have recovered from the shock of losing Aaron Rodgers on their opening series of week one, now sitting at 4-3 with hopes of their quarterback making a miraculous recovery from the torn Achilles for a potential playoff push, with him already tossing balls around pre-game.
The G-Men unfortunately have dealt with a massive amount of injuries themselves, but even considering that the product on the field has been highly discouraging. Sitting at 2-6, coming off one of the ugliest offensive games of the 21st century, where they lost in devastating fashion to their cross-city rivals despite being on third quarterback Tommy DeVito, who finished the day with negative passing yards, their brass has to see that this is a lost season.
Somewhat surprisingly, they didn’t move Saquon Barkley, who they were able to agree on an altered franchise-tag for one year basically during training camp, but instead they moved on from the guy with the highest cap hit on the entire team at 32.3 million dollars.
The nuance to this deal, so it made sense for Seattle, was the financial compensation. New York had already paid out the majority of the money prior to this move and they agreed on taking care of 10 million dollars on top of it, leaving the Seahawks with basically 650.000 to pay what is still an impactful defender up front.
So considering he is expected to net them a compensatory fourth-round pick in 2025, they Giants paid that extra cash for basically (just under) a second-round pick. Considering the long-term implications of Daniel Jones’ massive contract, having that additional shot at a fairly cheap talent is worth it from their perspective.