5 biggest deals made at the 2022 NFL Trade Deadline

The NFL Trade Deadline is almost always more talk than anything else. Very little substance, usually. Fans put together all of their best ideas for how their respective teams can make roster upgrades, only to be completely let down when deals don’t get made.

This year’s deadline was not that way. On Tuesday alone, there were 10 trades completed by NFL teams and there were big ones completed in the days leading up to the deadline as well. We’re going to take a look at the five biggest (and best) moves made at the 2022 NFL trade deadline with Week 9 of the season on the horizon.

5 biggest (and best) moves made at the 2022 NFL Trade Deadline

1. Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers

Getting to see Christian McCaffrey work with Kyle Shanahan is cathartic for a lot of the NFL community. McCaffrey’s father Ed was once idolized by Shanahan when Ed played wide receiver for the Denver Broncos and Kyle was just a young buck growing up watching his dad coach one of the best offenses to ever do it. Kyle even wore the no. 87 when he was with the Texas Longhorns.

Now, Kyle gets to coach McCaffrey’s kid in the NFL and we’re already seeing some of the fruit from that trade. The 49ers emphasized McCaffrey heavily in their win on Sunday over the Los Angeles Rams, and McCaffrey not only ran for a touchdown, but he threw one and caught one as well.

McCaffrey’s inclusion in the offense has put some additional life into the San Francisco 49ers after the disappointing and season-ending injury to Trey Lance. This team is loaded:

• Christian McCaffrey
• Deebo Samuel
• Brandon Aiyuk
• George Kittle

There are weapons galore in San Francisco.

2. Roquan Smith to the Baltimore Ravens

This is one trade deadline deal I just don’t really understand. The Baltimore Ravens certainly got a really good player in Roquan Smith, and they got him for a really solid price at just a 2nd and 5th-round pick. On the surface, this looks like a really good value for Baltimore.

But this is a weird trade.

The Ravens have obviously some ongoing and very obvious issues regarding the long-term contract status of Lamar Jackson. If you assume that deal is going to get done, where does that leave the NFL’s leading tackler Roquan Smith, who wants north of $20 million per year on a long-term deal himself?

The Ravens are pushing their chips into the center of the table this year when I’m not so sure that’s the right move. It’s not necessarily the wrong move, either, it’s just odd considering Lamar Jackson’s contract situation and the fact that this Ravens team has no wide receiver room to speak of.

Rashod Bateman can’t stay healthy. Hollywood Brown is gone. How many games will the Ravens win with Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely as the top two targets in the passing game? Maybe more than I seem to think.

From the Bears’ perspective, why did you sell low on Roquan? Were there not better offers in the offseason? Who is general manager Ryan Poles planning on spending his near-$120 million in cap space on next offseason if not Roquan Smith?

This trade just struck me as odd in so many ways, but it was one of the biggest deals at the deadline, to be sure.

3. TJ Hockenson to the Minnesota Vikings

This year has been extremely bizarre with the teams in the NFC North. The Vikings have now made three trades within their own division, and no one can really make heads or tails of it.

During the 2022 NFL Draft, the Vikings traded down in the first round with the Detroit Lions so Detroit could select former Alabama star receiver Jameson Williams. On day two of the 2022 Draft, the Vikings traded with the Packers so they could select Christian Watson.

Now, the Vikings have swung a deal to acquire Detroit Lions tight end TJ Hockenson, a legitimate top-10 tight end in the NFL right now who is only 25. Hockenson was acquired by the Vikings for the price of 2nd and 3rd-round picks.

General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is obviously not afraid to ask his own division rival GMs the price on players and/or picks, and they’re obviously not afraid to make deals. The Lions sending Hockenson to a division rival is a very odd move, though, especially considering the 2022 season is not the final year on his contract.

The Vikings only moved down a round in 2023 and 2024 to get this deal done beyond the second-round pick, a pretty great value for someone who has proven to be as big of a threat in the passing game as TJ Hockenson. Hockenson is under contract in 2023 and as of right now, the franchise tag for tight ends is rather palatable as well.

Hockenson is averaging over 15 yards per reception so far this season.

4. Chase Claypool to the Chicago Bears

Yet another reason to raise your eyebrow at the Roquan Smith trade.

The Chicago Bears were obviously quite active at the 2022 NFL Trade Deadline, but let’s look at their net gains and losses after all was said and done.

Bears gained:

• WR Chase Claypool
• Baltimore 2nd-round pick
• Baltimore 5th-round pick

Bears lost:

• LB Roquan Smith
• Own 2nd-round pick

The Bears still have a 2nd-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, but it’s not their own pick. It’s the Ravens’ pick. They sent the Pittsburgh Steelers their own second-rounder and the Steelers are obviously thinking that could end up being a potential top-50 pick overall. With the 2nd-round picks washing out, the Bears essentially settled on trading Roquan Smith for Chase Claypool and a fifth-round pick.

It’s not the best value, but what message does this particular deal send? The Bears are all-in on Justin Fields and are even willing to add someone like Chase Claypool to the fold, who was causing some potential disruptions in the locker room in Pittsburgh. Claypool is a big-bodied receiver who, in theory, should give Justin Fields a rather difficult-to-miss target on the outside.

5. Bradley Chubb to the Miami Dolphins

One of the biggest trades of the day, a day in which a record 10 trades came in before the Tuesday NFL Trade Deadline, involved former fifth-overall pick Bradley Chubb of the Denver Broncos. Chubb was the subject of a ton of trade rumors heading into the weekend of NFL action in Week 8, and even though the Denver Broncos flew home from London with a win, they still decided they couldn’t pass up the offer the Dolphins put on the table for the star pass rusher.

Chubb and his 5.5 sacks this season are going to the Dolphins along with a 2025 fifth-round pick for a 2023 first-round pick, running back Chase Edmonds, and a 2024 fourth-round pick. The Denver Broncos, as you’ll recall, did not have a first-round pick in the 2022 or 2023 NFL Draft thanks to the Russell Wilson trade.

The Dolphins, on the other hand, had a plethora of picks to work with in recent years. They made a blockbuster trade with the San Francisco 49ers before the 2021 NFL Draft so the 49ers could take Trey Lance with the third overall pick. The Dolphins used the picks they got from the 49ers to get:

• WR Jaylen Waddle
• WR Tyreek Hill
• EDGE Bradley Chubb

Not a bad use of high draft selections for general manager Chris Grier, who is fully all-in on Tua Tagovailoa and also fully all-in on the 2022 NFL season. He’s now paired Chubb with second-year stud Jaelan Phillips, but the Dolphins needed a presence on the other side of the line. Chubb has been productive this year and perhaps more importantly — healthy.

He’s struggled with injuries since 2019 which may have been a reason the Broncos were willing to part ways with him amidst an extension-worthy season.