It’s officially an NFC arms race approaching the NFL’s Nov. 10 trade deadline — and thus far, the weapons are being supplied by the AFC.
Guard Quenton Nelson has gone from the Indianapolis Colts to the Seattle Seahawks. The Colts’ next fire sale piece? It was defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, who was shipped to the San Francisco 49ers. Elsewhere in the AFC South came the real stunner, with the Tennessee Titans sending All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons to the Chicago Bears. All useful deals that should have implications in January … and maybe even February’s Super Bowl. The Bears paid the biggest price, but they also landed the biggest difference maker. And frankly, they needed it.
I joined Josh Graham and Westwood One Sports Night to explore the moves we’ve seen and how relationships in the front offices helped to get them done. We also looked at the Minnesota Vikings, who seem to be positioned to add an offensive piece at the deadline. That would help balance out the load being carried by defensive coordinator Brian Flores and his chaos-creating unit. The Vikings are kicking tires on running backs, with the Titans’ Tony Pollard, Colts’ Jonathan Taylor and the Philadelphia Eagles’ Saquon Barkley all potential targets.
Josh and I also dug into the fading expectations for the 2027 QB draft class, which was once expected to offer multiple cornerstone players but now looks a bit more complicated. We discussed a piece on NFL Blue Book from earlier this week, which looked at the class and explored how NFL executives are feeling about it halfway through the college football season. There could still be five first-round quarterbacks in the 2027 draft, but there is clearly some work to do.
You can watch the full conversation below. As always, thank you for your support of NFL Blue Book. If you’re enjoying the content, please share it with a friend.
