Tuesday is a critical day. Because it’s the trade deadline. (There might be something else going on that day, too.)
For the first time ever, the window on trades closes at 4:00 p.m. ET on the Tuesday after Week 9. The Browns proposed the change in the offseason, in response to the addition of a seventeenth regular-season game — and an eighteenth weekend of action.
The Browns also suggested a two-week delay, in anticipation of the inevitable eighteenth regular-season game. That didn’t pass, even though 18 games are still inevitable.
Delaying the deadline gives every team one more chance to bring into focus whether they should buy, sell, or stand pat. Look at the standings. If the Dolphins lose to Buffalo and fall to 2-6, maybe they should trade receiver Odell Beckham Jr. If they pull off the upset and move to 3-5, maybe they shouldn’t.
If the Bengals lose to the Raiders and slip to 3-6, maybe it’s time to move receiver Tee Higgins. If the Bengals win, they probably should keep going.
The Jaguars will be 3-6 or 2-7 after Doug Pederson’s latest return to Philly. With a loss, the lingering Travis Etienne chatter could reach a fever pitch, if there’s a team willing to pick up his guaranteed fifth-year option as part of the deal.
Then there’s the injury factor. In 2011, Carson Palmer didn’t want to play for the Bengals, and the Bengals were content to let him sit at home. Then, Raiders quarterback Jason Campbell broke a collarbone two days before the deadline. And Palmer was promptly traded to the Raiders.
If a key player on a contending team gets injured tomorrow or Monday, the effort to find a replacement will kick into overdrive. Last year, Kirk Cousins suffered his torn Achilles tendon two days before the deadline, prompting the Vikings to trade for Josh Dobbs.
I won’t name names for fear of being accused of speaking the injury into existence, or whatever. We all know who a key player on a contending team would or wouldn’t be.
The point is that there are 14 more games to be played before the trade deadline. The outcomes of this weekend’s games, and the injuries that could happen during them, can change everything.
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