The NFL’s 2025 season produced 22 in-season trades. A year later, the useful question is not which deal made the biggest headline. It is which teams can point to production from the players they acquired—and what they paid to get it.[2]
The trade-return standings
This is a ranking of documented on-field returns, not the NFL’s win-loss standings. It covers three acquisitions with enough reported results to compare; it does not grade all 22 deals.
- Cowboys — Quinnen Williams: In 15 games for Dallas through The Athletic’s review, the defensive tackle recorded 50 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks and a forced fumble. That is the clearest sustained production in this group.[2]
- Chargers — Trevor Penning: The offensive tackle started four of seven games after arriving from New Orleans, then re-signed with Los Angeles on a one-year deal. Depth became usable playing time—and the team chose to keep him.[2]
- Bears — Joe Tryon-Shoyinka: He appeared in eight games for Chicago, but his combined stint with the Bears and Browns yielded 21 tackles and no sacks across 16 appearances. Chicago’s return was limited.[2]
Dallas got production—but paid for it
Williams leads that short list on output. He also came at a price: Dallas sent the Jets defensive tackle Mazi Smith, a 2026 second-round pick and a 2027 first-round pick. Williams signed a three-year, $105.9 million extension in August. His 6.5 sacks show why the Cowboys wanted him; the draft capital and contract mean the deal’s final grade cannot be settled by 15 games alone.[2]
The Jets’ side needs time, too. Smith played three games without a recorded statistic before leaving in free agency. Cornerback D’Angelo Ponds, selected with the second-round pick, had five tackles in six games and no starts at the time of the review. The 2027 first-round pick remains part of New York’s return, so declaring a permanent winner now would outrun the evidence.[2]
The quieter measure: useful snaps
Penning’s four starts illustrate a different kind of payoff. The Chargers sent a 2027 sixth-round pick to the Saints for an offensive lineman who could fill in immediately, then retained him. He did not need Williams-level numbers to give Los Angeles a return on that move.[2]
The Bears’ Tryon-Shoyinka deal went the other way. Chicago sent Cleveland a 2026 sixth-round pick and received the defender plus a 2026 seventh-rounder. Across his time with both clubs, he recorded zero sacks; he later retired after signing with Philadelphia. The draft-pick cost was modest, but the hoped-for pass-rush help did not appear in the reported results.[2]
What to watch as the 2026 season continues
The lesson from these 22 trades is not that teams should stop dealing in-season. It is that returns come in different sizes and on different clocks. Williams has supplied measurable defensive production. Penning gave the Chargers starts and stayed on the roster. Dallas and New York still have future draft value tied to their exchange. The trade-return standings can change; unlike a final score, a deal involving future picks is still being played out.[2]
References
- NFL teams made 22 in-season trades in 2025. Only a handful truly paid off — The Athletic — https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7753298/2026/11/05/revisiting-all-22-in-season-nfl-trades-2025
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