Winners and Losers of NFL Trades
Winners: New England Patriots
Knowing that they were going to place Josh Gordon on IR the Patriots made a trade for WR help. While many believed that Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green would be traded the Patriots ended up picking up Mohamed Sanu. Sanu brings in a new element to the Patriots passing with the loss of Gordon. Sanu can stretch the field and open up the short to intermediate passing even more for New England.
Winners: Los Angeles Rams
The Rams traded a Pro Bowler in Marcus Peters for an upgrade to an All-Pro player and possibly the best cornerback in the game Jalen Ramsey. Now the Rams have possibly one of the best defenses in the league. On top of acquiring Ramsey, the Rams traded away Aqib Talib saving close to 5 million in cap room. With explosive offenses in the NFC, the Rams made the gutsy call to go for it all now.
Winners: San Francisco 49ers
Another team in need of a wide receiver was the 49ers. The 49ers traded a 3rd round and a 4th round pick for Emannuel Sanders. While Sanders has talent his numbers have been suppressed by the lack of quality QB play by the Broncos. Sanders has 30 catches for 367 yards and two touchdowns in seven games.
Losers: New York Jets
The New York Jets dangled Le'veon Bell and Jamal Adams for trade bate. Now that those players remain on team friction may exist between the two. Adams has already displayed frustration when he made it clear that he wanted to be a Jet. While the Jets are clearly in rebuilding mode a player like Adams is hard to come by.
Losers: Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals have a roster of talented players but haven’t won a game. The team will go with Ryan Finley at quarterback after benching long time starter Andy Dalton. With teams like the Bears who seem to be a quarterback away from a playoff run, it was a head-scratcher that the Bengals didn’t flip him for an asset for their rebuild. Other players such as A.J. Green and Carlos Dunlap were also on the trade block.