Biggest NFL Trades of Last 10 Years Ahead of 2023 Deadline
We're just a week out from the 2023 NFL trade deadline, which means most teams have one game remaining to decide whether they want to buy, sell or stand pat ahead of the heart of this season.
With that in mind, let's take a trip down memory lane to establish just how critical a well-executed trade can be in the grand scheme.
Here are nine trades from the last decade that stand out for making a difference when it mattered.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Acquire Edge Jason Pierre-Paul in 2018
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At the time the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made this deal with the New York Giants, they were coming off a five-win season and on the brink of another five-win year.
General manager Jason Licht had a long road ahead of him, but this was a key step toward building a team that would make progress under new head coach Bruce Arians in 2019 and then win it all in 2020.
Tom Brady and plenty of other stars were needed to make that happen, but it's entirely possible the Bucs don't win Super Bowl LV without the presence of Jason Pierre-Paul.
That year, he was a Pro Bowler with 9.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and two interceptions. He also notably sacked Aaron Rodgers twice in Tampa's tight NFC Championship Game victory over the Green Bay Packers that season.
It's fair to conclude he was worth the third-round draft pick Licht sacrificed in that peak free-agency trade with New York two years earlier.
Los Angeles Rams Acquire Edge Von Miller in 2021
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En route to their Super Bowl victory in 2021, the Los Angeles Rams left little margin for error with three consecutive three-point playoff wins.
Frankly, there's a tremendous chance that doesn't happen without the team's deadline acquisition of veteran edge defender Von Miller.
The Rams sent the Denver Broncos two Day 2 draft picks in exchange for the eight-time Pro Bowler, and he went on to post five sacks in the final eight weeks of the regular season before recording four more sacks and six quarterback hits on that unforgettable playoff run.
In that Super Bowl LVI victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, Miller had two game-altering sacks in the second half.
He was essentially a half-season rental in L.A. as he landed with the Buffalo Bills the following offseason, but that move was huge for Rams general manager Les Snead and Co.
Kansas City Chiefs Acquire OT Orlando Brown Jr. in 2021
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Following a tough Super Bowl loss to the Buccaneers in 2020, it became apparent the Kansas City Chiefs could no longer rely heavily on aging, banged-up veteran left tackle Eric Fisher.
That's when general manager Brett Veach pulled the trigger on a pre-draft trade for the younger Orlando Brown Jr., who was a two-time Pro Bowler with the Ravens and fetched Baltimore first-, third-, fourth- and fifth-round draft picks (with the Ravens sending a 2021 second-round and 2022 sixth-round selection back to Kansas City).
Over the course of the next two seasons, Brown played practically every snap on Patrick Mahomes' blind side while earning two more Pro Bowl honors. Most importantly, he was a key reason why the Philadelphia Eagles failed to sack the Chiefs QB even once in a close Super Bowl LVII victory this past February.
He's now moved on to the Bengals, but those two seasons with Brown were worth all of the draft capital surrendered by the Chiefs in April 2021.
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Kansas City Chiefs Acquire Edge Frank Clark in 2019
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In one sign the Kansas City Chiefs were all-in on the 2019 season, they handed the Seattle Seahawks a first-round pick and a second-rounder in that year's draft in exchange for Frank Clark, and then handed the veteran pass-rusher a five-year, $105.5 million contract.
It's a move Veach will never regret.
Clark played a key role in helping the Chiefs win the Super Bowl that year (he was a Pro Bowler with 13 total sacks, including five in the playoffs and a monumental takedown of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LIV), and he was again a major factor when the team went on Super Bowl runs in 2020 and 2022.
He had 10.5 postseason sacks during his four-year tenure with the Chiefs, earning three Pro Bowl nods as a consistent veteran starter along the way. He was one of the final pieces of the puzzle for what appears to be a potential dynasty in Kansas City.
Philadelphia Eagles Trade Up to Draft QB Carson Wentz in 2016
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We tried to avoid going too deep on draft trades with this project because nobody really knows for certain what they're getting.
We're not including deals in which teams moved up or down and happened to end up with a player who made a Super Bowl-sized difference, but two particular moves in which picks were specifically acquired for the sake of drafting specific quarterbacks with top-10 selections deserve to be included.
One is Philadelphia's 2016 decision to send first-, second-, third- and fourth-round picks to the Cleveland Browns in order to move up from the eighth spot to No. 2 for the opportunity to draft quarterback Carson Wentz (Philly also received a fourth-rounder from Cleveland).
Of course, less than two years later, Wentz was a second-team All-Pro and a prime MVP candidate for an Eagles team that won 13 games and eventually took down the mighty New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.
Sure, he was injured for that playoff run and Nick Foles deserves much credit for leading Philadelphia with great success during that memorable stretch, but there's no way the Eagles would have been positioned to make that run without an incredible sophomore season from Wentz.
He cost the team a ton of draft capital and was never quite the same again in Philly or elsewhere, but it's fair to say the deal was worth it.
Kansas City Chiefs Trade Up to Draft QB Patrick Mahomes in 2017
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Patrick Mahomes is the gift that keeps on giving in Kansas City.
The highest-rated qualified passer in NFL history is already a two-time Super Bowl MVP and three-time AFC champion.
It's also fair to call the Chiefs a prime Super Bowl favorite again in 2023, primarily because Mahomes is one of the most magical professional athletes in the world.
And to think, he might have become a member of the Bills if Veach hadn't sent a first-round pick and a third-round selection to Buffalo in 2017 in order to move up 17 spots in the first round and take the Texas Tech product at No. 10 overall.
Knowing what we know now about Mahomes, it's safe to say the Chiefs (or anyone else) would have gladly handed over a decade's worth of first-rounders to make that happen.
Los Angeles Rams Acquire CB Jalen Ramsey in 2019
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Four years ago, the Rams made a midseason trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars for one of the best defensive players in the game.
Since then, Jalen Ramsey has made four Pro Bowls and earned two first-team All-Pro nods for a Rams team that won seven playoff games in his first three years in L.A.
The seventh of those victories came over the Bengals in Super Bowl LVI.
As a consistently elite shutdown corner, he intercepted eight passes the last two seasons while surrendering an opposing passer rating below 85.0 in each of his three full campaigns with the team.
Ramsey is now in Miami, but all of the success he helped achieve in the seasons surrounding that Super Bowl win indicate the Rams were right to give up two first-round picks and a fourth-rounder in order to land him.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Acquire TE Rob Gronkowski in 2020
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A year after retiring as a member of the Patriots, legendary tight end Rob Gronkowski made a comeback in order to reunite with Tom Brady in Tampa—a move which required the Bucs to send a fourth-round pick to New England (the Bucs also got a seventh-rounder back from the Pats).
Obviously, it was a no-brainer. And possibly a season-changer for the eventual Super Bowl champs.
In his return to the field, Gronk scored seven touchdowns. He added two more while compiling 67 yards on six catches as the Bucs beat the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV.
The following season, he put up 802 yards and six touchdowns in his swan song, and he was again a huge factor in January for Tampa Bay. The Bucs ultimately fell short that year, but the damage had been done.
Los Angeles Rams Acquire QB Matthew Stafford in 2021
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This one must take the cake in terms of all-in deals for a Super Bowl's sake.
Following a disappointing 2020 campaign, the Rams decided Jared Goff wasn't getting the job done. It was championship or bust in L.A., and the front office responded by shipping the quarterback, two first-round picks and a third-round selection to the Detroit Lions in exchange for Matthew Stafford.
A year later, the Rams were Super Bowl champions thanks in large part to Stafford, who threw a 50 total regular-season and playoff touchdown passes and was the league's sixth-highest-rated passer that season.
It was a huge gamble from Snead, Sean McVay and Co., but it paid off handsomely.
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