The 2023 NFL trade deadline came and went at 4 p.m. ET on Halloween. With night falling on Oct. 31, there will be no more midseason moves to improve teams' rosters for the short or long-term.
Who treated their fan base to a scarily exciting deal? Who got tricked into getting spooked? Although no rumored big-name offensive skill players were dealt, there was plenty of splash on defense.
Sporting News breaks down the winners and losers from Tuesday:
MORE NFL TRADE DEADLINE: List of every deal | Grading the moves
NFL trade deadline 2023: Winners and losers
Winners: 49ers and Chase Young
The 49ers saw their pass rush disappear in bad losses to the pass-happy Vikings and Bengals. After being picked apart by Joe Burrow, they landed the edge talent taken one spot behind him in the 2020 draft.
As the No. 2 overall pick, Young has flashed when healthy, which hasn't been often for Washington. He's having a revived season in a bad pass defense. He will thrive as a complement to Nick Bosa, his former Ohio State havoc-wreaking teammate. He doesn't offer much against the run, but he can be a key specialist to get to the QB, building on his 6 sacks.
Winners: Bears and Montez Sweat
The Commanders made it a complete breakup of their defensive ends in the 4-3 front. Sweat has been solid all-around with his floor beyond 8 sacks this season. Chicago had zero pass-rush upside and give up only a second-rounder for a disruptive 27-year-old in his prime. Sweat has a chance to get paid big-time by the Bears ahead of free agency.
Losers: Commanders and Ron Rivera
Rivera is starting to look like a lame-duck defensive-minded coach under the new ownership. His inability to fix the defense along with Jack Del Rio has been the biggest issue in Washington, especially when Sam Howell might give them an answer at QB. The Commanders did get some draft capital back for Young and Sweat, but they also indicated to the fan base they're headed to more rebooting and rebuilding
Winners: Seahawks
The Seahawks aren't messing around with their good fortunes as the surprise midseason leaders in the NFC West. Their defense has cleaned up in the middle of the field much better with run defense and inside coverage. They got another versatile run stopper and pass rusher who was being limited in New York. The USC product should be a key immediate cog for Pete Carroll.
Loser: Raiders WR Davante Adams
Adams has been trapped with the Raiders. He got traded away from Aaron Rodgers. Then the team didn't bring back Derek Carr to keep the Fresno State connection going. He hasn't clicked with Jimmy Garoppolo or any of their QBs. He seems to be in absolute misery trapped in the Josh McDaniels' offensive and locker-room mess. But Adams has a big contract and McDaniels still thinks he can save his job with wild-card contention. It's such a waste of an elite receiving future Hall of Famer.
Winners: Eagles
The Eagles didn't go nuts with Howie Roseman and made a subdued move well before the deadline in acquiring another Titan, safety Kevin Byard. Byard is 30 and slowed down as a cover man, but he still dominates vs. the run and can make impact plays on the ball. He's a nice complement to Reed Blankesnhip to help better clean up inside behind the linebackers.
Winners: Josh Dobbs and Vikings
Dobbs was about to lose his job to a returning Kyler Murray in one week, tops. He has been playing with house money with his career at 28, as the well-traveled veteran stopgap QB wasn't even supposed to extend his career beyond the Browns.
Now Dobbs gets new life again as the latest facilitator of the passing game in Minnesota. The Vikings haven't had this feeling at QB since Case Keenum took over for Sam Bradford six seasons ago. Kirk Cousins has made every meaningful start from '18 to tearing his Achilles' in Week 8 in Green Bay.
But this time, the Vikings needed a decent fill-in to help their weapons and a playoff push from 4-4 with an improving defense. It wasn't the splashiest move Minnesota could have made, but it was the easiest one to save some of its seasons and its top receiving assets.
Losers: Cardinals and Kyler Murray
The Cardinals were thought to be bigger sellers than just moving a fill-in QB who wasn't needed anymore. Wide receiver Marquise Brown and other veterans weren't moved to acquire more draft picks hasten the rebuild. Instead, they stood pat other than moving Dobbs.
That includes sticking with Murray at QB instead of shopping him harder. That should have to come to mind more after Week 8, given the Cardinals now hold the No. 1 overall pick at 1-7 and are set up well to take Caleb Williams as their new franchise passer. Instead, Arizona is stuck playing out the string with Murray and hoping he can return to form post major knee injury.
Losers: Falcons
They also needed some pass-rush help badly and lost their best, savviest defensive lineman in Grady Jarrett to a season-ending knee injury. They also could have kicked the tires more on QB options with Desmond Ridder fading and Taylor Heinicke being only a short-term pivot. They are caught in limbo between buying and selling under Arthur Smith.
Losers: Broncos
No team had more trade rumors swirl around them than the Broncos. But then Sean Payton spoke for GM George Paton in saying there were no moves to be made. Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, Garett Bolles, Justin Simmons and others will all be staying put for a 3-5 team.
Did the two-game winning streak and beating the Chiefs give Denver delusions of wild-card grandeur? Did the team suddenly forget about the salary-cap hell ahead in 2024? It makes no sense for them not to be sellers to get more capital for Payton to get his kind of guys.
Winners: Bills and Rasul Douglas
Douglas, the former Eagles castoff, was very effective in Green Bay for 2 1/2 seasons after bouncing around with four other teams. The Bills needed immediate corner help after losing Tre'Davious White for the season. Douglas isn't a top shut-down type, but he's a good all-around cover man acquired for a reasonable draft pick exchange. Douglas wins by getting to a Super Bowl contender.
Winners: Lions and Donovan Peoples-Jones
It seems a bit superfluous for the Lions to add the former Michigan big-play wideout with young Jameson Williams, Josh Reynolds and Kalif Raymond playing off Amon-Ra St. Brown. But there have been some injury issues in that group and DPJ, who was phased out of the Browns' offense, gets new life in Detroit, which also happens to be his hometown.
Winners: Jaguars and Ezra Cleveland
The Vikings made this other move to shake up their offensive line. The Jaguars have Brandon Scherff holding down right guard, so it made sense to bolster another inside spot around young center Luke Fortner. Fortner has been so-so blocking and Cleveland brings more solidity to flank the dominant Scherff.
Losers: Bengals
The Bengals have been more aggressive with great free-agency offseasons and also have a strong core build through the draft. But their fans knew this was coming: Standing pat while the Bills and Jaguars improved among AFC powerhouses behind the Chiefs.
