The NFL trade deadline is begin pushed one week later starting this upcoming season. The NFL owners approved an amendment to move the deadline to the Tuesday after week nine. It had been the Tuesday after week eight.
The league says when the season was extended to 17 regular season games the deadline wasn’t adjusted. The league says the move is to be closer to the center of the season. It was one of several new rules announced today
Several Teams Pushed to Move it Even Later
That wasn’t enough for Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry. He submitted a proposal to move it to after week 10. Berry said the idea supported giving teams more flexibility heading into the second half of the season. “We felt that was the sweet spot where we can add additional flexibility, be proactive in terms of how we’re thinking about it, but could also be at a time where teams are still competitive as they thought about the current season.”
Berry’s proposal was supported by the Detroit Lions. New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, and the Washington Commanders. “Our proposal [Moving it to after Week 10] would move it to about 55% of the games played,” Berry said. “And, oh by the way, over the last 10 years, the earliest that a team has been eliminated from postseason consideration has been Week 11…”
But, It failed after not getting the approval of 75% it needed to pass. Some teams were concerned moving the deadline even later would encourage tanking.
NFL Still Holds the Earliest Trade Deadline
The NFL still holds the earliest deadline of any of the major professional sports leagues. Major League Baseball’s deadline is two-thirds of the way through the season. The NBA’s deadline falls well beyond the halfway mark of the season. In the National Hockey League’s deadline is the latest of any league, and, it comes with about 20 of the 82 games left in the season.
Just four months ago a league official told The Athletic the NFL didn’t want to move the deadline. There were discussions of moving it last year, but, the league official said competitive balance was the reason it didn’t want the change. That obviously changed.
For More Great Sports Content
Follow us @TotalApexSports. Also, check out our betting and fantasy sites to stay in the know. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in ALL sports, click here!
Bradley Tachco is a career journalist. I spent 12+ years at CNN as a writer and producer. My sports: NHL, MLB, NFL, My goal: unique content, My teams are the Buffalo Sabres, Buffalo Bills (yes I’m a masochist), and the Los Angeles Dodgers. I have been a Dodgers fan since I was old enough to think. I have gone through decades of despair with all three franchises. You can follow Bradley at X (Twitter)