NFL Trade Deadline 2015: Twitter Reacts to Trades, Fails, Surprises, Non-Deals

The 2015 NFL trade deadline featured a lot of big names flying around, but as is customary at this time of year, a minimal number of actual transactions took place prior to Tuesday's 4 p.m. ET deadline.

Monday fostered the biggest trade when the San Francisco 49ers sent tight end Vernon Davis to the Denver Broncos in an exchange involving late-round draft picks, as reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Before delving deep into that deal, it's worth discussing what Denver did Tuesday in a last-minute push to acquire Cleveland Browns All-Pro left tackle Joe Thomas. ESPN's Dianna Marie Russini had the details of the trade's framework, but Schefter followed up and stated the swap wasn't executed in time:

Russini added the squabble that prevented the trade from coming to fruition was the Browns wanting a third-round pick rather than the fifth-round choice the Broncos offered as part of the package. Mike Klis of 9News corroborated that to a degree in his account of what happened:

Thomas would have been a huge upgrade to protect Peyton Manning's blind side and suddenly have a chance to win the Super Bowl after not playing a single playoff game in Cleveland. Such a trade would have painted Browns general manager Ray Farmer in an even more negative light.

Although Denver was unable to land a second key piece to help its aging quarterback in 39-year-old Manning, it did bring aboard a potential game-changing weapon in Davis.

Broncos GM John Elway took to Twitter after the Davis deal and explained why Denver made the move to acquire him:

The perception may be that Davis is washed up since he's scored only two touchdowns in his past 20 games. NFL.com's Chris Wesseling highlighted how that isn't necessarily true—and may be more of a product of 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick's sharp decline:

Newsday's Bob Glauber applauded the Super Bowl-contending Broncos for pulling off the trade:

Speaking of Kaepernick, NFL Network's Rand Getlin reported he could be out of San Francisco as well—just not right now:

As for the other trade failures and deals that didn't quite materialize, well, there were a fair number of them.

The most notable name reportedly on the block was Thomas. A rare bright spot for the Browns since their return to the NFL in 1999, Thomas was being shopped despite his fervent loyalty to Cleveland.

Brent Sobleski of Bleacher Report suggested the Browns may still consider dealing Thomas in the years to come:

The Broncos offered a first-round pick earlier this year for Thomas but refused to throw in linebacker Shaq Barrett as part of the trade, per ESPN Cleveland's Tony Grossi. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network added another player Cleveland was more than willing to ship away:

Schefter then said approximately two hours before the deadline that the Browns weren't going to pull the trigger on any moves:

Pro Bowl center Alex Mack was rumored to be on the block, along with Paul Kruger and Barkevious Mingo. Farmer was simply asking too much for most of them, per Rapoport:

Injuries played a part in why there was little trade activity overall. CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora reported there was interest in San Diego Chargers safety Eric Weddle, but his recovery from a groin injury didn't help his prospects of changing teams.

La Canfora also reported Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte was on the block—but that was before Forte suffered a right knee injury in Week 8. Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing was also mentioned in La Canfora's report but wasn't moved.

Andrew Brandt of Sports Illustrated said what had to be on many minds not long before the deadline expired:

Despite the NFL's decision to push the trade deadline back two weeks in August 2012, this time of year has still largely failed to generate a lot of buzz. Rosters are fluctuating often enough with injured players, and changing the chemistry of a team regardless of its current circumstances is tricky.

Davis may prove to make a big impact as a supremely athletic tight end who can emulate the impact Julius Thomas had before leaving Denver for the Jacksonville Jaguars in free agency this past offseason. The Broncos are 7-0, though, and in a rare position where they don't need a lot out of Davis to continue thriving.

Those on the fringe of playoff contention could add a big-name player, but changing systems and schemes in the middle of the year is hard for both parties. That's why the NFL trade deadline will likely continue to be rather uneventful—but at least pro football provides plenty of entertainment in other areas to appease its massive fanbases.