NFL Trade Deadline 2012: Date, Time, Rule Changes and More

In order to accommodate for teams dealing with Hurricane Sandy, the NFL has decided to push back the trade deadline to Thursday, November 1, at 4 p.m. ET.

The news was first reported on the NFL.com Twitter account:

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League announces the trade deadline moves to Thursday at 4 p.m. ET.

— NFL: AroundTheLeague (@NFL_ATL) October 29, 2012"

Originally, the deadline was set for Tuesday, October 30, but the decision was made to make it easier for all parties.

Not only did a number of east coast teams tell their players and personnel to stay home on Monday as a precaution, but according to Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com, the league also shut down its offices as well.

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Multiple teams shut down operations on Monday. The NFL office is also closed and its possible they could remain closed on Tuesday. That could make it tricky to complete the required paperwork if any potential deals are made.

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The office should be functioning normally later in the week once the hazardous weather begins to die down.

In past years, the deadline was usually set on the Tuesday following Week 6. The league decided to push that date back two weeks for this season in an effort to increase trade efforts.

Although the NFL trade deadline has historically been known as the quietest trade period among the major sports, things have changed in recent years. It still does not have the same level of activity as MLB or the NBA, but in recent years, big-name players like Randy Moss, Carson Palmer and Roy Williams have all changed teams during the season.

This year, a couple of extra days might be all that is needed for negotiations to advance a potential blockbuster that affects the entire league.

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