NFL Teams That Have Made the Most Midseason Trades in the Past 5 Years

Although the NFL's in-season trade market is generally not as chaotic as the NBA's, there's been a noticeable increase in activity lately.

Star players have changed teams at recent deadlines, including edge-rusher Von Miller to the Los Angeles Rams in 2021 and running back Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers in 2022.

Additionally, dozens of hopeful contributors have been swapped for a late-round selection or two in an upcoming draft.

Since the beginning of the 2019 campaign, five teams—the Cincinnati Bengals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Indianapolis Colts, Washington Commanders and Green Bay Packers—have executed a single trade once the regular season began in September. (Boring!)

On the other hand, nine franchises have agreed to seven or more in-season trades. As the 2023 trade deadline draws near, we're examining how these recent wheelers and dealers have done business.

Trade data is from Spotrac.

Atlanta Falcons

AP Photo/Danny Karnik

Van Jefferson

Trades: 7

For every buyer on the market, there must be a seller. The Atlanta Falcons have largely filled the latter spot.

Back in 2019, the Falcons dealt wide receiver Mohamed Sanu to the New England Patriots. Then in 2022, Atlanta sent linebacker Deion Jones to the Cleveland Browns, wideout Calvin Ridley to the Jacksonville Jaguars and safety Dean Marlowe to the Buffalo Bills.

Atlanta's most notable midseason addition since 2019 just happened; the team added wide receiver Van Jefferson.

So, yeah, a bit more selling than buying.

Philadelphia Eagles

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Robert Quinn

Trades: 7

In one of 2023's most recent deals, the Philadelphia Eagles added veteran safety Kevin Byard from the Tennessee Titans.

That's simply the latest example of the Eagles tinkering with the roster in October. They've made a trade during this pivotal month in each season since 2016, save for an understandable outlier in 2020.

Among the most notable moves, Philly added edge-rushers Genard Avery in 2019 and Robert Quinn in 2022.

Philadelphia also dealt quarterback Joe Flacco and tight end Zach Ertz to the New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals, respectively, in 2021.

San Francisco 49ers

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Christian McCaffrey

Trades: 7

We have to start with Christian McCaffrey, of course.

Near the 2022 deadline, the 49ers packaged four picks in a blockbuster trade with the Carolina Panthers. McCaffrey quickly became the featured piece of the Niners' offense.

The organization has a habit of making interesting midseason deals. Along with McCaffrey, San Francisco has also added wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders in 2019, edge-rusher Charles Omenihu in 2021 and Randy Gregory in 2023 to aid a hopeful postseason run.

An aggressive mentality doesn't always work out, but the Niners clearly haven't been afraid to take a chance.

New England Patriots

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J.C. Jackson

Trades: 7

Every single trade Bill Belichick has made in this half-decade span has involved one player and one draft pick.

That, my friends, is the real Patriot Way.

In seriousness, New England has done a little buying and selling in small and big trades. Most recently, the Patriots reunited with cornerback J.C. Jackson. They shipped defensive lineman Michael Bennett to the Dallas Cowboys in 2019 and cornerback Stephon Gilmore to Carolina in 2022.

Beyond a second-round swing for Mohamed Sanu in 2019, the Pats' other trades have involved late-round selections.

Pittsburgh Steelers

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Minkah Fitzpatrick

Trades: 7

As if the group of midseason trades isn't small enough, few deals include a first-round selection.

Minkah Fitzpatrick is the exception.

When the Miami Dolphins began a teardown in 2019, the Pittsburgh Steelers offered their top pick for the standout safety. He's since earned first-team AP All-Pro status three times (and counting, perhaps).

Pittsburgh also agreed to a couple of notable moves last season, trading wideout Chase Claypool to the Chicago Bears and taking a flier on Washington cornerback William Jackson III. Neither one worked out for the receiving team, incidentally.

Denver Broncos

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Kenny Young

Trades: 8

Although the Denver Broncos have engineered plenty of trades, they've typically been a seller.

In 2019, the team dealt Emmanuel Sanders to San Francisco. Denver has also become the largest exporter of edge-rushers, shipping Von Miller to the Rams in 2021, Bradley Chubb to the Dolphins in 2022 and Randy Gregory to the 49ers in 2023.

Also of note, the Broncos completed four moves in 2021 alone. In addition to the Miller swap, they completed three player-for-pick deals.

Given that linebacker Kenny Young is the most notable addition, however, midseason trades have reflected Denver's reality of annually not being much of a playoff threat by the deadline.

Los Angeles Rams

AP Photo/Kyusung Gong

Von Miller and Jalen Ramsey

Trades: 8

Los Angeles achieved the best-case scenario in 2021.

Von Miller cost a second- and third-round selection, but he played a crucial part of the Rams' championship run. Miller totaled nine sacks from Week 14 through the Super Bowl, including two takedowns of Joe Burrow in that victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Another key player on that title-winning roster? Star cornerback Jalen Ramsey, who Los Angeles acquired from Jacksonville for a pair of first-round picks in a monster 2019 trade.

The price of any trade can be scrutinized both in the moment and in hindsight. For the Rams, those two were completely worth it.

Miami Dolphins

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Bradley Chubb

Trades: 9

For better or worse, the Dolphins make moves.

They embraced a rebuild when Minkah Fitzpatrick went to Pittsburgh in 2019. They attempted to make a splash with Bradley Chubb in 2022. And they've made at least one midseason trade each year since 2019.

Unsurprisingly, Miami has largely just tinkered with the fringes of the roster. Beyond those headline deals, the other seven trades are the classic pick-for-player variety. The most recent one brought wide receiver and Chicago castoff Chase Claypool to the Dolphins.

But it seems clear we can always expect Miami to do something.

New York Jets

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Joe Flacco

Trades: 10

Forget fluoride, there must be trades in the AFC East water.

Between the Patriots, Dolphins and Jets, they've combined for 26 midseason deals. New York, obviously, leads the pack.

During the 2019 season, the Jets picked up Demaryius Thomas for the veteran wide receiver's final year. They also moved Leonard Williams to a different home locker room at MetLife Stadium, trading him to the New York Giants for a pair of draft picks.

The other transactions—three in 2020, two in 2021 and two in 2022 and one in 2023—haven't been as dramatic. But the Jets have routinely found their way onto the trade radar.