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The 2023 NFL season is officially over.
We now have the benefit of hindsight which allows us to offer our final grades for the biggest offseason moves.
Surprisingly, a handful of these blockbuster trades already look like a win-win for both sides. On the other hand, some trades that looked lopsided turned out to be, well, lopsided for the team that looked like the early loser of the deal.
So with that all said, let’s dive into our updated grades for the 2023 NFL offseason trades…starting with the granddaddy of them all:
Packers Send Aaron Rodgers To The Jets
After two years of never-ending questions regarding his future with the Green Bay Packers, Rodgers and the Cheeseheads finally agreed to a divorce.
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Ahead of the draft, he was traded to the New York Jets — along with the No. 15 and No. 170 picks — for the No. 13, No. 42 and No. 207 picks and a conditional 2024 second-round pick. Rodgers’ season-ending injury, however, ensures that the 2024 pick will remain a second instead of getting upgraded to a first.
Unfortunately, Rodgers suffered a season-ending Achilles tear just minutes into his Jets debut against the Buffalo Bills. Obviously, there was no way of predicting the injury — and Rodgers has become a well-liked figure in that locker room.
He’s brought a new form of swagger and confidence to the Jets. There is always 2024 and beyond, but we have to give the Jets a C for now. Loved the aggressive win-now move, but we won’t know for a year if the trade will have been worthwhile or not.
Meanwhile, the Packers get an A+ for absolutely acing this trade.
Please forgive us Green Bay management and fans for hating on this trade in the early going. Jordan Love is your guy after all. You got a promising young tight end in Luke Musgrave with the No. 42 pick and your new kicker, Anders Carlson, with the No. 207 pick.
Panthers Land Top Pick From Bears, Select Bryce Young
Desperately wanting a new franchise QB, the Carolina Panthers mortgaged everything to the Chicago Bears in exchange for the first overall pick. Carolina gave up the No. 9 and No. 61 picks in 2023, their 2024 first and 2025 second-rounders and star wide receiver DJ Moore.
With that pick, Carolina took Alabama QB Bryce Young.
Ahem. The Panthers are the worst team in football. Frank Reich was canned after 11 games. Young has no o-line and no weapons outside of Adam Thielen.
Oh, and Carolina has limited draft capital now to build around Young. What if they just tanked one more year and got Caleb Williams, paired him with Moore and held onto those additional picks? Oh, the humanity. F for Carolina. F as in “Failure”.
For the Bears? Well it’s an A+++ of course! They got a legitimate WR1 in Moore to help Justin Fields piece together a career year up to this point. To think they can take Caleb Williams OR Marvin Harrison Jr. first overall with Carolina’s 2024 pick…or they can trade it for extra assets.
The options are limitless for the Bears here, who are on the verge of something special.
Dolphins Bring Jalen Ramsey To South Beach
Needing more help in the secondary, the Miami Dolphins swung for the fences and acquired Ramsey from the Los AngelesRams in exchange for tight end Hunter Long and the No. 77 overall pick.
Ramsey missed Miami’s first seven games recovering from surgery on a torn Meniscus, but he’s been everything they could have asked for since returning to the field. Ramsey and fellow Pro Bowler Xavien Howard have predictably formed a dream cornerback tandem that has Miami on the brink of its first division title in 15 year.s
Ramsey notched three picks in his first three games as Miami and looks like, well, a top-five corner in the game as usual. Of course it’s an A+ here for Mike McDaniel’s squad.
Not that the Rams did bad here themselves! With the No. 77 pick from Miami, they used it on Tennessee linebacker Byron Young — who’s emerged as one of the top-rookie pass-rushers in this draft. He has been the perfect complement to All-Pro Aaron Donald, and the Rams unexpectedly find themselves back in the playoff picture following a forgettable 2022 campaign.
The Rams get an A for this one. To get another impactful starter on a cheap rookie deal in exchange for Ramsey? They couldn’t realistically have asked for more.
Browns Pair Za’Darius Smith With Myles Garrett
Unhappy with his contract situation, veteran edge rusher Za’Darius Smith sought a trade from the Minnesota Vikings.
The Cleveland Browns were happy to do business, and they acquired Smith along with 2025 sixth and seventh-round picks from Minny in exchange for a pair of fifth-round picks.
Smith has been a near-perfect fit in Cleveland, to say the least. The Browns are in position to make the postseason thanks to arguably the best defense in all of football under new DC Jim Schwartz.
Smith, Garrett and Ogbonnia Okoronkwo have formed a dynamic three-headed pass-rushing monster that should propel the Browns into the postseason. So we’re giving them an A+ here.
The two draft picks Minny got from the Browns are in 2024 and 2025, so it’s too early to see how they’ll fare here. But we are giving them a B+ anyway because first-year DC Brian Flores has somehow turned this defense into a top-10 unit despite Smith’s departure.
Danielle Hunter and D.J. Wonnum are both having career years, thus offsetting the loss of Smith.
Stephon Gilmore Joins The Cowboys’ Posse
With the Indianapolis Colts entering a rebuild, they decided to clear out several pricey veterans. That included All-Pro cornerback Stephon Gilmore, who was traded to the Dallas Cowboys for a fifth-round pick — 176th overall — in the 2023 draft.
Gilmore is still playing at a Pro Bowl level in his age-33 season, and the Cowboys’ defense has been among football’s best this year. Again.
Losing Trevon Diggs for the season with a torn ACL was supposed to doom the secondary, but Gilmore and DaRon Bland have instead formed perhaps the NFC’s top cornerback duo.
Gilmore is still crushing it in man-to-man coverage and can hang in there with the opposition’s top WR on any given night. This is an easy call. A+ for Dallas.
Indy used the No. 176 pick from Dallas on running back Evan Hull, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 1. Making matters tougher, the Colts are in playoff contention despite fielding one of the league’s worst pass defenses.
Now imagine if they had Gilmore patrolling that secondary? He could have bought them an extra win or two. This one stings for Chris Ballard and company, and it’s obviously gotta be an F.
Giants Roll The Dice On Darren Waller
The Giants were looking to upgrade the pass-catching corps around Daniel Jones following his career year that culminated in a surprise trip to the postseason.
With the Las Vegas Raiders trying to shake up their offense, they were happy to unload Waller to the G-Men in exchange for a 2023 third-round pick — 100th overall. It felt like a win-win for both sides, the Giants especially.
Or not! Waller has again been marred by injuries in his first year with the Giants, missing more than a month with a hamstring injury that affected him last year as well.
Waller also had just one touchdown over his first eight games with his new club. A non-impactful player like that isn’t worth a third-round pick, so the Giants get a D.
With the No. 100 pick, the Raiders took speedy Cincinnati wideout Tre Tucker. He hasn’t seen a whole lot of action, but we’re hopeful a player with his skill set will see more usage in 2024. If anything else, the Raiders cleared out a bad contract and opened up room for Michael Mayer to step up as their new No. 1 tight end — so let’s give them a C+ here.
Elijah Moore Gets Fresh Start With Browns
After a frustrating two-year tenure with the Jets, Moore’s wish for a change of scenery was granted. He was sent to the Cleveland Browns, along with the No. 74 pick, in exchange for the No. 42 selection.
The Browns were desperate for a capable WR2 to complement Pro Bowler Amari Cooper. Tight end David Njoku has stepped up as Cleveland’s No. 2 pass-catcher, but Moore has been a steady No. 3 option in the passing game for Kevin Stefanski’s group.
Moore has already notched career-bests in receptions and receiving yards. Oh, and the Browns still might have something in Tennessee wideout Cedric Tillman — whom they took with the No. 74 pick.
Cleveland is in contention to lock down a wild card spot amid a year filled with injuries to key players. They get a B for the Moore trade.
For the Jets? It’s tough to grade. Moore wasn’t cutting it and they had to move on. But the No. 42 pick they acquired from Cleveland went to the Packers in the Aaron Rodgers trade — which we graded as a “C”.
It’s too early to know how the Jets did here until Rodgers is back on the field. So let’s give them a “C” here as well. All we know is that the Browns are the clear-cut winners so far.
Cowboys Cook(s) Up A Blockbuster Trade For Receiver
Coming into the offseason, it was clear that the Cowboys sorely lacked a capable WR2 to complement CeeDee Lamb. Finally, Jerry Jones addressed the need by acquiring Brandin Cooks from the Houston Texans in exchange for 2023 fifth and 2024 sixth-round picks.
It took Cooks a month to get going, but he has finally regained his star-like form here in Dallas — and his contributions have helped Dak Prescott put together a career year. Go figure.
Cooks’ explosive speed and game-changing plays in the red zone have given Dak another special weapon while also opening up more opportunities for Lamb. As a result, Dallas boasts the No. 1 offense — and they’re in contention to win the NFC’s top seed.
And to think they got a consistent 1,000-yard receive for only two late-round picks? That’s an A+ for Jerry and company if we’ve ever seen one.
Now here’s the fun part: The Texans ALSO get an A+ because GM Nick Caserio packaged the fifth-rounder obtained from Dallas to the Rams so that Houston could move into the No. 69 spot. And who did they take with that pick? Rookie sensation and wideout Tank Dell.
Before Dell unfortunately suffered a season-ending fibula fracture, he had formed excellent chemistry with rookie QB CJ Stroud. Dell racked up 47 receptions for 709 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 games. That’s a special player for Houston to build around over the long run, alright.
Stroud, Dell and Nico Collins? Brandin Cooks who?! The Texans are rolling nicely without Cooks — who’s doing just fine in Dallas thank you very much.
Eagles Trade Up For Jalen Carter
For a while, Carter was the consensus top prospect for the 2023 NFL Draft class.
However, his involvement in a fatal car accident that killed teammate Devin Willock and team staffer Chandler LeCroy caused Carter’s draft stock to fall. It didn’t help that he was reportedly out of shape at the NFL Combine.
As such, it was anybody’s guess just where he’d land come draft day. It turned out to be none other than the Philadelphia Eagles — who surrendered the No. 10 pick and a 2024 fourth-rounder to Chicago to move up one spot for Carter.
Carter has been used as a rotational piece in Philly’s defense, yet he already looks like a Pro Bowler. Through Week 14, he was Pro Football Focus’ fourth-highest graded rookie at 83.8. As well, in that time period, ESPN ranked Carter fourth among defensive tackles in pass rush win rate at 18 percent.
This is easily an A+ for the Eagles. Carter is an absolute menace on the d-line, and he’s going to be a first-team all-pro for years to come. We already can’t wait to see what he does as a full-time starter in 2024.
For the Bears, it’s hard to knock on them. They obviously didn’t want Carter and used the No. 10 pick to fill a more pressing need at offensive tackle by taking Darnell Wright.
The Bears already spent a ton of dough in the front seven on Tremaine Edmunds, DeMarcus Walker and TJ Edwards — so we get why they were happy to trade down. So let’s give them a C+ here.
Texans Move Up For Will Anderson Jr.
Houston traded the No. 12 and No. 33 picks along with 2024 first and third-rounders to Arizona in exchange for the No. 3 and No. 105 picks so they could snag Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson Jr.
Anderson Jr. has quickly emerged as the face of Houston’s defense and already looks like a superstar. Through Week 14, ESPN had him third in pass rush win rate among edge rushers and third in run stop win rate.
Nevermind his low sack totals. Anderson Jr. is cleaning house at the line of scrimmage as a run-stopper and will only get better from here. With the Texans in playoff contention and thus not surrendering a top-10 pick for 2024, they get an A+.
Arizona traded up via the Detroit Lions to take offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr. at No. 6 overall. GM Monti Ossenfort continued to wheel-and-deal with all these picks and found another quality starter in BJ Ojulari with the No. 41 pick.
Of course, we won’t get the full results of the trade until after Arizona uses those 2024 first-rounders from Houston. For now, let’s give them a B.
How would you grade the biggest trades of the 2023 NFL offseason?
