Christian McCaffrey, Roquan Smith and Von Miller were the best trade deadline acquisitions over the past four years.
NFL teams looking to bolster their playoff hopes for a run at the Super Bowl have until 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday to make a trade. Of course, it takes two to make a deal.
Several moves already were made. The Bengals acquired Joe Flacco. The Rams got cornerback Roger McCreary. The Eagles added cornerback Michael Carter II. Defensive end Keion White went to the 49ers. Safety Kyle Dugger was traded to the Steelers. The Jaguars and Browns swapped cornerbacks Greg Newsome II and Tyson Campbell a few weeks ago.
None of those were blockbuster trades like McCaffrey going from Carolina to San Francisco for four draft picks in 2022. Or cornerback Jalen Ramsey going from Jacksonville to the Rams for two first-round picks and a fourth in 2019.
The Ravens got Smith from the Bears for a second-round pick, a fifth-rounder and linebacker A.J. Klein in 2022. Smith has been an All-Pro linebacker in each of his two full seasons in Baltimore.
Miller was traded from Denver to the Rams in 2021 for two Day 2 picks. He had nine sacks in 12 games for Los Angeles, helping the Rams win the Super Bowl that season.
Bengals All-Pro edge rusher Trey Hendrickson and Jets running back Breece Hall are among the biggest names being mentioned in trade speculation along with quarterback Kirk Cousins. Dolphins edge rushers Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb, Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen also have been discussed in rumors.
Rumors and speculation don't mean much. It’s just talk. The Eagles aren’t moving wideout A.J. Brown by Tuesday despite endless speculation about the mercurial star.
Raiders wide receiver Jakobi Meyers and Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson have requested trades so those rumors have merit.
Here’s a look are some of the players who could be available and potential landing spots:
The 30-year-old Hendrickson is in the final season of a restructured contract paying him $29 million after a lengthy holdout during training camp. The Bengals (3-5) aren’t in playoff contention and it’s unlikely Hendrickson will get the contract he wants from Cincinnati, though he’s a candidate for the franchise tag. Trading him makes sense and there are several teams who could use a sack artist. The Bengals’ asking price for Hendrickson was too high in the offseason. He’s dealing with a hip injury and has a lot of money left on his contract so the cost has to be reasonable. The Patriots (6-2) have $52.4 million in salary cap space, are surprise leaders of the AFC East and landing a premier pass rusher could be a difference maker. The 49ers (5-3) have $20.7 million in cap space and a huge need after losing Nick Bosa. The Cowboys (3-4-1) have $31.5 million available after trading Micah Parsons and have the second-worst defense in the NFL. But Jerry Jones already said they’re not one player away from contention.
Hall has 581 yards rushing and two touchdowns in eight games for the woeful Jets (1-7). He had two rushing touchdowns and a passing touchdown in the fourth quarter in a comeback win over the Bengals last week. But Hall is a pending free agent, though the Jets could put a franchise tag on him. Coach Aaron Glenn said New York has no intention of trading Hall. The Jets are going nowhere. They need a quarterback and adding draft capital can only help them. Trading Hall could provide important pieces for the future. He’s making $3.4 million this season in the final year of his rookie deal. If the Jets want to move him, the Chiefs (5-3) should be first in line. Adding a talented back like Hall to join Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Rashee Rice would make Kansas City favorites to return to the Super Bowl for the fourth straight season. The Chargers (5-3) have a need for a running back and might want to keep him away from the Chiefs.
The Falcons kept Cousins as the highest-priced backup in the NFL and he started last week because of an injury to Michael Penix Jr. Atlanta would have to pay some of his guaranteed $27.5 million (plus $10 million next season) to make a deal. Cousins has a no-trade clause and probably wouldn’t be interested in going somewhere unless he would start. So unless a team loses its quarterback this weekend, that’s not a possibility.
Wilson wants to go somewhere he can play and the Bengals should be looking to add draft picks. But Wilson’s $8.8 million cap complicates the trade. The Bills could use a linebacker but have the least amount of salary cap space available at $1.7 million.
The Dolphins (2-7) should be sellers and they have three edge rushers who can be attractive additions to teams. Phillips is making $13.3 million in the final season of his rookie deal and will be a free agent. He has three sacks. Chubb is on an expiring contract with a $12.3 million cap hit. He has four sacks this season. Judon is on a one-year, $3 million deal and his playing time has diminished. He has no sacks. The Patriots, 49ers, Eagles, Colts and Lions would be among the teams should have interest in Miami’s edge rushers.
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New York Jets running back Breece Hall (20) runs for a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)
The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting Thursday to discuss Iran's deadly protests at the request of the United States, even as President Donald Trump left unclear what actions he would take against the Islamic state.
Tehran appeared to make conciliatory statements in an effort to defuse the situation after Trump threatened to take action to stop further killing of protesters, including the execution of anyone detained in Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.
Iran’s crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,615, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported. The death toll exceeds any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The sound of gunfire faded Thursday in the capital, Tehran. The country closed its airspace to commercial flights for hours without explanation early Thursday and some personnel at a key U.S. military base in Qatar were advised to evacuate. The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait also ordered its personnel to “temporary halt” travel to the multiple military bases in the small Gulf Arab country.
Here is the latest:
Abdul Malik al-Houthi, leader of the Iran-backed Yemeni rebel group, said on Thursday that “criminal gangs” were responsible for the situation in Iran, accusing them of carrying out an “American-Israeli” scheme.
“Criminal gangs in Iran killed Iranian citizens, security forces and burned mosques,” he said without providing evidence. “What’s being committed by criminal gangs in Iran is horrific, bearing an American stamp as it includes slaughter and burning some people alive.”
He also said that the U.S. imposed economic sanctions on Iran to create a crisis leading to the current issues in the country with the end goal of controlling Iran.
Yet he said the U.S. has “failed in Iran” and that Iranians “will not yield to America.”
The president of the European Union’s executive arm says the 27-member bloc is looking to strengthen sanctions against Iran as ordinary Iranians continue their protests against Iran’s theocratic government.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Thursday following a meeting of the EU’s commissioners in Limassol, Cyprus that current sanctions against Iran are “weakening the regime.”
Von der Leyen said that the EU is looking to sanction individual Iranians —apart from those who belong to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard — who “are responsible for the atrocities.”
She added that the people of Iran who are “bravely fighting for a change” have the EU’s “full political support.”
Canada’s foreign minister says a Canadian citizen has died in Iran “at the hands of the Iranian authorities.”
“Peaceful protests by the Iranian people — asking that their voices be heard in the face of the Iranian regime’s repression and ongoing human rights violations — has led the regime to flagrantly disregard human life,” Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand posted on social media Thursday.
“This violence must end. Canada condemns and calls for an immediate end to the Iranian regime’s violence,” she added.
Anand said consular officials are in contact with the victim’s family in Canada. She did not provide details.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies announced Thursday that a local staff member was killed and several others were wounded during the deadly protests in Iran over the weekend.
Amir Ali Latifi, an Iranian Red Crescent Society worker, was working in the country’s Gillan province on Jan. 10 when he was killed “in the line of duty,” the organization said in a statement.
“The IFRC is deeply concerned about the consequences of the ongoing unrest on the people of Iran and is closely monitoring the situation in coordination with the Iranian Red Crescent Society,” the statement continued.
U.S. President Donald Trump has hailed as “good news” reports that the death sentence has been lifted for an Iranian shopkeeper arrested in a violent crackdown on protests.
Relatives of 26-year-old Erfan Soltani had said he faced imminent execution.
Trump posed Thursday on his Truth Social site: “FoxNews: ‘Iranian protester will no longer be sentenced to death after President Trump’s warnings. Likewise others.’ This is good news. Hopefully, it will continue!”
Iranian state media denied Soltani had been condemned to death. Iranian judicial authorities said Soltani was being held in a detention facility outside of the capital. Alongside other protesters, he has been accused of “propaganda activities against the regime,” state media said.
Trump sent tensions soaring this week by pledging that “help is on its way” to Iranian protesters and urging them to continue demonstrating against authorities in the Islamic Republic.
On Wednesday Trump signaled a possible de-escalation, saying he had been told that “the killing in Iran is stopping.”
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union’s main foreign policy chief said the G7 members were “gravely concerned” by the developments surrounding the protests, and that they “strongly oppose the intensification of the Iranian authorities’ brutal repression of the Iranian people.”
The statement, published on the EU’s website Thursday, said the G7 were “deeply alarmed at the high level of reported deaths and injuries” and condemned “the deliberate use of violence” by Iranian security forces against protesters.
The G7 members “remain prepared to impose additional restrictive measures if Iran continues to crack down on protests and dissent in violation of international human rights obligations,” the statement said.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has spoken with his counterpart in Iran, who said the situation was “now stable,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Abbas Araghchi said “he hoped China will play a greater role in regional peace and stability” during the talks, according to the statement from the ministry.
“China opposes imposing its will on other countries, and opposes a return to the ‘law of the jungle’,” Wang said.
“China believes that the Iranian government and people will unite, overcome difficulties, maintain national stability, and safeguard their legitimate rights and interests,” he added. “China hopes all parties will cherish peace, exercise restraint, and resolve differences through dialogue. China is willing to play a constructive role in this regard.”
“We are against military intervention in Iran,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told journalists in Istanbul on Thursday. “Iran must address its own internal problems… They must address their problems with the region and in global terms through diplomacy so that certain structural problems that cause economic problems can be addressed.”
Ankara and Tehran enjoy warm relations despite often holding divergent interests in the region.
Fidan said the unrest in Iran was rooted in economic conditions caused by sanctions, rather than ideological opposition to the government.
Iranians have been largely absent from an annual pilgrimage to Baghdad, Iraq, to commemorate the death of Imam Musa al-Kadhim, one of the twelve Shiite imams.
Many Iranian pilgrims typically make the journey every year for the annual religious rituals.
Streets across Baghdad were crowded with pilgrims Thursday. Most had arrived on foot from central and southern provinces of Iraq, heading toward the shrine of Imam al-Kadhim in the Kadhimiya district in northern Baghdad,
Adel Zaidan, who owns a hotel near the shrine, said the number of Iranian visitors this year compared to previous years was very small. Other residents agreed.
“This visit is different from previous ones. It lacks the large numbers of Iranian pilgrims, especially in terms of providing food and accommodation,” said Haider Al-Obaidi.
Europe’s largest airline group said Thursday it would halt night flights to and from Tel Aviv and Jordan's capital Amman for five days, citing security concerns as fears grow that unrest in Iran could spiral into wider regional violence.
Lufthansa — which operates Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings — said flights would run only during daytime hours from Thursday through Monday “due to the current situation in the Middle East.” It said the change would ensure its staff — which includes unionized cabin crews and pilots -- would not be required to stay overnight in the region.
The airline group also said its planes would bypass Iranian and Iraqi airspace, key corridors for air travel between the Middle East and Asia.
Iran closed its airspace to commercial flights for several hours early Thursday without explanation.
A spokesperson for Israel’s Airport Authority, which oversees Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, said the airport was operating as usual.
Iranian state media has denied claims that a young man arrested during Iran’s recent protests was condemned to death. The statement from Iran’s judicial authorities on Thursday contradicted what it said were “opposition media abroad” which claimed the young man had been quickly sentenced to death during a violent crackdown on anti-government protests in the country.
State television didn’t immediately give any details beyond his name, Erfan Soltani. Iranian judicial authorities said Soltani was being held in a detention facility outside of the capital. Alongside other protesters, he has been accused of “propaganda activities against the regime,” state media said.
New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Thursday that his government was “appalled by the escalation of violence and repression” in Iran.
“We condemn the brutal crackdown being carried out by Iran’s security forces, including the killing of protesters,” Peters posted on X.
“Iranians have the right to peaceful protest, freedom of expression, and access to information – and that right is currently being brutally repressed,” he said.
Peters said his government had expressed serious concerns to the Iranian Embassy in Wellington.
Women cross an intersection in downtown Tehran, Iran, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A demonstrator lights a cigarette with a burning poster depicting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally in support of Iran's anti-government protests, in Holon, Israel, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Protesters participate in a demonstration in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Protesters participate in a demonstration in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
