In 2013, the NFL moved its trade deadline from the Tuesday after Week 6 of a season to the Tuesday after Week 8. That has generated a flurry of last-minute deals, both for teams trying to get their rosters right for playoff pushes, and for teams in obvious fire-sale mode. It has also aligned with the league’s move to more of an in-season player-acquisition mindset, though it’s hard to tell whether the tail is wagging the dog in that case.
We may find out in 2023 and beyond. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, multiple teams have asked the NFL office to consider moving the deadline back to either Week 10 or Week 12. This after the busiest trade deadline in history, with multiple high-profile players getting moved to new locations.
From Schefter’s report:
In recent years, the league has expanded practice squads, made veteran players eligible for those practice squads, changed the rules governing injured reserve and players designated to return from IR, and demonstrated flexibility to adapt to teams’ requests.
This should especially be on the NFL’s mind given the move in 2021 to an 18-game season. Week 8 in this case isn’t enough time to really know where a team is regarding its entire campaign in any given year, and those 2-4 extra weeks could make a major difference.
Schefter reports that the issue will be discussed at the league’s general manager meetings later in November, and again at the owner’s meetings in the spring of 2023.
