NFL week 8: The trade deadline hits with some shock

The NFL trade deadline went down on Oct. 31. While most football deadlines come and go with little fanfare, the rush of this season’s deadline was one for the ages, giving plenty to talk about.

Here I will be breaking down what happened and if the team came out on top, or lost out come deadline time.

Jimmy Garoppolo sent to 49ers for 2nd round pick

The San Francisco 49ers finally look to have found a viable quarterback to lead the team beyond 2017, as head coach Kyle Shanahan said the quarterback may not see playing time in 2017. The New England Patriots received a 2nd round draft pick for next year’s draft. The 49ers look to have won this trade, getting a much needed passer without having to give up anyone in their front seven (something the Patriots desperately need) while the Patriots receive no immediate help.

Kelvin Benjamin sent to Bills for 3rd and 7th round pick

This was a real bad trade, leaving me wondering what the real plan is for the Carolina Panthers. They have had offensive trouble, so they give away their big, red-zone receiver to help continue force-feeding Christian McCaffrey. Not sure how that will work, but the Buffalo Bills have received a great deal. They now can pair play-action passing with a big, jump ball receiver like Benjamin who can box out defenders. Their thin receiving corps is bolstered and it will help open up their running game for LeSean McCoy.

Jay Ajayi sent to the Eagles for 4th round pick

Did you ever have a friend who would have a parent that sent your friend to his room as punishment without really supervising him? What happened? He would go and play with his toys and forget it was a punishment, while his stupid parent thought they sent a message to the other kids, but everyone really knows the parent just is not a great parent. This is exactly what happened with the Miami Dolphins.

Dolphins head coach Adam Gase reportedly sent off Ajayi to send a message to the team. What? Not only did he send Ajayi to a playoff team, (while getting next-to-nothing back) he also has no replacement for the runner. Not to mention sending his Pro-Bowl running back does not exactly fix his problems of quarterbacks who keep turning the ball over or offensive line that does not block anyone. Every team in the NFC East should send hate mail to the Dolphins because they just gave a team in the Philadelphia Eagles, a great back to pair with their star quarterback and stout defense… oh yeah, and they asked for basically nothing in return.

Duane Brown and 5th round pick sent to Seahawks for 2018 3rd round pick along with 2019 2nd round pick

The Seattle Seahawks finally get some help with their offensive line by adding Brown to the roster. Now maybe quarterback Russell Wilson can stop running for his life. While cornerback Jeremy Lane was supposed to be part of the deal, he failed his physical and headed back to Seattle while the Houston Texans received another draft pick.

While the Texans were struggling to come to terms with the contract for Brown, they still need the elite tackle, but lost him for only draft picks. The problems that the Texans had on the offensive line before Brown came back are right back in the lineup because they have not helped the line.

Rashard Robinson sent to Jets for 5th round pick

Solid pick-ups for the New York Jets to help out their secondary, while the 49ers add a draft pick to grabs some young talent. This is not a very impactful move, but it was a trade and it makes the list.

Overall Takeaways

The Panthers’ strategy is really confusing, not getting better and missing on opportunities to either help the line or the running game. The Eagles look great now and have a lot of firepower that makes them look intimidating, especially if you are a Cowboys or Redskins fan. The Bills should be a wild card look now with the offensive weapons to pair with a defense that has let up 20 points once all season. The Patriots now have one quarterback on the roster who is 40. Granted, he is a Hall of Fame quarterback, but still a 40-year-old with a shaky offensive line.

Bonus: The Cleveland Browns tried to trade for Cincinnati Bengals backup quarterback A.J. McCarron. They pushed the deal through and started to celebrate. But since they forgot to phone it into the league office, the trade never went through before the deadline. Talk about a Browns thing to do.