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November 6, 2026

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Trades were once rare in the NFL—there were just six during the 2016 season. But the league’s old-school approach of building solely via the draft has given way to more aggressive front offices looking to win now. That resulted in 22 trades last season. This year, several high-profile moves have already been made as Tuesday’s trade deadline approaches.

—Mark Maske

First Up

Texas Gov.-elect Gina Hinojosa could replace public university board members—including Cody Campbell, who shaped national college sports legislation.
LAFC star Son Heung-min is met by enthusiastic fans at the team’s away matches. Some supporters worry the crowds won’t stay to support their local MLS team.
LIV Golf announced it is shutting down after a $300 million rescue deal fell apart. The PGA Tour rival is in the middle of Chapter 11 bankruptcy hearings.
The WTA took responsibility after a hot mic captured world No. 5 Jessica Pegula calling No. 3 Mirra Andreeva a “diva,” saying players weren’t told the mics were on.

How the Risk-Averse NFL Learned to Love Trades

Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

The NFL once was a virtual no-trades league.

Not anymore. Not even close.

As teams consider their options ahead of next Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET trade deadline, there already has been a series of significant deals made this season. And those in and around the league say they expect more eye-catching trades to be completed in the coming days.

“I do,” veteran NFL agent Leigh Steinberg told Front Office Sports this week, “because we’re starting to be at the halfway point in the season. And that’s enough time for evaluations. In other words, it’s enough time for the Kansas City Chiefs to say, ‘Gee, wouldn’t it be nice—isn’t it necessary for us to find wide receiving help?’ They’ve got enough proof.”

This season’s major trades already have included defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons being dealt from the Titans to the Bears, quarterback J.J. McCarthy being sent from the Vikings to the Giants, cornerback Joey Porter Jr. going from the Steelers to the Cowboys, center Cam Jurgens heading from the Eagles to the Ravens, and wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. moving from the Cardinals to the Texans.

The Colts have begun a potential fire sale in Carlie Irsay-Gordon’s second season as primary owner by trading guard Quenton Nelson to the Seahawks and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to the 49ers. The Ravens, after losing quarterback Lamar Jackson to a thumb injury and top backup Tyler Huntley to a toe injury, have lined up an expected deal with the Cardinals to get quarterback Jacoby Brissett.

Some within the league still believe the Colts could part with a player or two from among running back Jonathan Taylor, wide receiver Josh Downs, and defensive tackle Grover Stewart. There has been trade speculation about Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., pass rushers Khalil Mack of the Chargers and Josh Sweat of the Cardinals, Arizona safety Budda Baker, and many other players.

“Stay tuned,” a high-ranking official with one NFL team told FOS. “I’m guessing there’s much more to come.”

Long gone are the days when the trade deadline would pass with a league-wide collective yawn and barely a notice.

“We now have a situation much more like baseball … with teams identifying themselves as buyers, sellers, stand-pat,” Steinberg said. “And it’s much more like the wild, wild West. And it’s self-reinforcing. The very fact there are more trades means that there are [further] trades because it takes the stigma [away]. Obviously general managers can be judged and focused on very easily with a draft pick. But they also can be evaluated very easily with a trade, for good or bad.”

There have been seven in-season trades so far this year, not counting the pending Brissett deal. That’s after there were 22 in-season trades in the NFL last year between the roster cutdown and trade deadline. That was up from 18 such deals during the 2024 season and 15 in 2023. The average over the previous seven years has been 17.4 in-season trades annually. There have not been fewer than 13 in-season trades in any year over that span.

That’s after there were only six in-season trades league-wide in 2016, nine in 2017, and eleven in 2018.

The old-school NFL approach was that teams were built exclusively through the draft. That began to change in the 1990s with free agency and the salary cap. But even then, many GMs and coaches stuck with the notion that trades were mostly taboo, particularly during the season when a player would have to be incorporated into a new on-field scheme.

Read the full article here.

ESPN Edge Innovation Conference

Discover what’s next in sports innovation at the 6th Annual ESPN Edge Innovation Conference. Tune in for a free livestream exploring ESPN’s first Super Bowl, the next era of content creation, immersive fan experiences, and cutting-edge technology.

Shae Cornette, host of ESPN’s First Take, will captain the evening, featuring conversations with industry leaders including Lisa Salters, reporter for ESPN’s Monday Night Football and the NBA, and Peter Schrager, ESPN NFL analyst and host of Big Day with Peter Schrager, alongside ESPN Edge innovation partners Accenture, Microsoft, Meta, and WSC Sports.

Watch live Nov. 12, 5–7 p.m. ET.

ONE BIG FIG

A Lighter Purse

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

$10 million

That’s the gap in prize money between the men’s TGL and WTGL, a new women’s indoor golf league that will begin play Sunday. TGL, founded by golf superstars Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, paid $21 million in prize money to competitors in its 2025 inaugural season and again in 2026. WTGL players—competing in five teams of five—will have an $11 million purse.

A WTGL spokesperson told Front Office Sports the purse “aligns with the major championships in women’s golf.” The men’s majors paid out an average purse of $20.81 million this season, while women’s majors averaged $10.72 million.

DAILY SPORTS TRIVIA

Can you list the last five unique NASCAR Cup Series champions in reverse chronological order, starting with 2025?

LOUD AND CLEAR

Deutsche Duolingo

Alexander Hassenstein-Reuters

“Hopefully I’ll learn more within the next three years than what I have in the first three years.”

—Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane when asked how his German language skills are progressing. The 33-year-old England international, who had roughly six months left on his contract with the defending Bundesliga champion, signed a three-year deal reportedly worth $84.2 million (€75 million) to keep him at the club through the 2028–29 campaign.

The Ballon d’Or winner has led the club in goals each of the past three seasons since his arrival, when he became one of the few England internationals to play abroad. But his German hasn’t been as sparkling as his play, despite a team policy that non-German-speaking players take classes. “I know I keep saying it, but hopefully there will be a time where I can at least do an interview or two where I talk some German,” he said at a press conference.

How the Yankees Get Ahead Off the Field

Behind one of sports’s most storied organizations is a finance team managing 50 different departments.

With Sage Intacct, the New York Yankees have cut month-end close time by 67% and made financial modeling immediate, giving the team more time to focus on long-term planning. Real-time dashboards and automated processes help the finance team deliver insights faster, giving leadership the information it needs to make decisions in the moment.

Read how Sage Intacct is helping the Yankees streamline operations, make faster decisions, and plan for the future.