NFL Trade Deadline 2023: Twitter Reacts to Trades, Fails, Surprises and Non-Deals
Entering Tuesday's NFL trade deadline, it was all but a given that either Montez Sweat or Chase Young would be dealt from the Washington Commanders.
The deadline has come and gone and both exceptionally talented defensive ends have new homes following blockbuster deals.
Sweat is a Chicago Bear and Young is a San Francisco 49er.
The latter deal was most shocking given the team's lack of need at the position but it further established the NFC West squad as one of the top teams to watch down the stretch and into the playoffs.
What other deal involving a quarterback could potentially have an impact on another NFC team's playoff hopes, how did X (formerly Twitter) users react, and who all shuffled from team to team ahead of the 4:00 p.m. deadline?
Find out now with this recap.
Tuesday's Deals and Misses
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Deals reported ahead of Tuesday's NFL trade deadline included:
- Washington Commanders traded DE Montez Sweat to the Chicago Bears for a second-round draft pick
- Arizona Cardinals traded QB Josh Dobbs and a seventh-round draft pick to the Minnesota Vikings for a sixth-round draft pick
- Minnesota Vikings traded OL Ezra Cleveland to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a sixth-round draft pick
- Washington Commanders traded DE Chase Young to the San Francisco 49ers for a third-round draft pick
- Cleveland Browns traded WR Donovan Peoples-Jones to the Detroit Lions for a sixth-round pick in 2025
- Green Bay Packers traded Rasul Douglas and a fifth-round draft pick to the Buffalo Bills for a third-round draft pick
Albert Breer reported that the New England Patriots listened more than they actually dealt, leading to zero action for a team that feels very much out of contention at this point in the season.
Rams fan and Turf Show Times writer Jake Ellenbogen was dismayed to see the team, at 3-5 but still in the hunt in a so-so NFC, not make any moves, particularly at quarterback given the lack of quality depth behind an injured Matthew Stafford.
Bears Deal for Montez Sweat
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Montez Sweat spent weeks at the forefront of trade talk and Tuesday, he was the first player dealt.
The Bears receive one of the best pass rushers in the league in Sweat, a player who instantly upgrades a defensive line that has underperformed in Chicago all season. So much so, in fact, that the incoming star brings with him as many sacks as the Bears' entire line.
For Washington, losing Sweat means losing sack production but the team has done a solid job of preparing for the eventual departure of one of its top linemen, as ESPN's Adam Schefter tweeted.
Not all Bears fans are overly enthusiastic about the impending arrival of Sweat, though, especially those hoping the team manages to stink it up enough to earn them the first overall pick and a shot at USC phenom, Caleb Williams.
The question now becomes whether Chicago plans to offer Sweat a new contract or the exact scenario predicted above plays out. The team has plenty of cap space at just over $89 million in 2024 and can certainly make a deal with the explosive defensive end and still have plenty of space available to sign other free agents or re-sign those they wish to keep around.
If Sweat keeps his current pace and continues to outperform the rest of the Bears' line, it will be a tough sell to the fan base for the front office to allow Sweat to walk away, regardless of whether the team secures the No. 1 draft pick.
49ers Trade for Chase Young
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On the same afternoon that the Commanders dealt his teammate to the Chicago Bears, Chase Young waived goodbye to the team that drafted him with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 draft as was traded to the San Francisco 49ers for what Glazer reported as a third-round pick.
It was the biggest surprise of the day, by far, particularly since no one figured the 49ers into the hunt for another defensive lineman.
It is not the first time Washington has made a deal with the 49ers for a piece that could ultimately win them the NFC. The two teams did business back in 2020, when Washington shipped Trent Williams to San Francisco, something one user pointed out.
Pat McAfee attributed the move to the 49ers' recent three-game skid, which included a ugly 31-17 loss to Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday in which the former AFC Champions picked last year's best defense apart.
Understandably, the piece looks like a championship-winning addition for the 49ers. Some reacted accordingly, inciting Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet.
Others, like Jarrett Bailey, recognize it for what it very well may be: the latest in a pattern from the reigning NFC West champions.
Young has had injury issues before, including a torn ACL in November of 2021 that forced him to miss the remainder of the season, and an injury that sidelined him for this year's season opener.
Luckily, the depth the Niners now have on that defensive line will allow the team to rotate him, Nick Bosa, and others in and out of the lineup in an attempt to keep them fresh and available late in the season as the team pursues the Super Bowl title that has eluded them since 1995.
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Minnesota Finds Kirk Cousins' Replacement
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The Minnesota Vikings appeared to be in crisis mode when Kirk Cousins tore his Achilles Sunday, putting him out of action for the rest of the season. Seeking a veteran presence for the quarterback room, the team made a move Tuesday, trading for Arizona's Josh Dobbs.
The conditions of the deal, per Schefter:
Dobbs started eight games for the Cardinals and while his win-loss record is anything but pretty, he played admirably in those games, accumulating 1569 yards through the air, eight touchdowns, and five interceptions.
His worst games came over the course of his last four and while that may be cause for concern for Vikings fans, the interceptions thrown during that stretch may have been reflective of a quarterback pushing to make something happen for a team that was very obviously going nowhere.
Even with those recent blemishes on his stat line he is, arguably, the second-best quarterback in the NFC North.
The Cardinals announced Monday that Dobbs would not be starting for them this weekend, instead turning to either Kyler Murray or Clayton Tune. As Jay Glazer pointed out, we now know there was more to it than merely a benching.
ESPN's Mina Kimes pointed to the trust that teams have in Dobbs to continue giving him the opportunities that he has enjoyed over the course of his "more than a backup but not quite a journeyman" career.
The Vikings instantly find themselves in a better position following this trade than they did Monday afternoon when it appeared as though rookie Jaren Hall would be the guy throwing passes to Jordan Addison and TJ Hockenson in Week 9.
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