What makes this NFL trade deadline uniquely special is that so many teams have skirted the line of being bad enough to sell, with this weekend serving as a kind of tipping point for teams deciding whether they should punt on this season. And then came more chaos. Will Levis had a stunning NFL debut, vaulting the Titans closer to .500. The Vikings have gone on a tear without Justin Jefferson. And, all of a sudden, the pathway to a high pick is not as clearly paved as we once imagined.
It is easy for us to sensibly declare a team not good enough, or simply a vehicle of spare parts for sale. It is much harder to tell a group of coaches and players on tenuous contracts the same thing.
And so, we celebrate a more robust group of “buyers” at this time of year than we normally would. Similarly, the sellers list will look different than it might have a few weeks ago. That is ideal. Parity is good. Tanking, at least in the NFL, doesn’t really work. Unless you are in the very rare situation of having a good coach and head of player personnel but a bad roster, there are fewer reasons to sell.
