The NFL trade deadline has now passed, and while we did not see the complete chaos some predicted, we did see some huge moves take place. Let’s take a look at some of the intel around the Chase Young, Rasul Douglas, and Ezra Cleveland moves that took place today.
NFL Trade Deadline: Intel on Chase Young, Rasul Douglas, and Others
From what I heard over the last 48 hours, Chase Young was not the only premium pass rusher the San Francisco 49ers were looking into — meaning if it weren’t Young, they’d go elsewhere to try to bring someone else in instead.
Also, that third-round pick that San Francisco is giving up to the Washington Commanders for 2024 is a “special compensatory selection.” That pick was awarded to the 49ers for losing former defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans (now Houston Texans head coach) and former player personnel director Ran Carthon (now Tennessee Titans general manager).
The 49ers also looked into the cornerback market as well, but nothing wound up surfacing.
Douglas the Only Move at Cornerback on Trade Deadline Day
The prices on the cornerback market were very high, according to at least one team in the market for an upgrade, which could explain why only veteran Rasul Douglas was moved today at the position (from the Green Bay Packers to the Buffalo Bills).
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Douglas is seen playing at his best in a zone system according to NFL personnel executives, and that’s what the Bills use most in their coverages, as do the Packers.
Bills fourth-year CB Dane Jackson has been starting in place of Tre’Davious White (torn Achilles-IR) for several weeks. Douglas brings extensive starting experience (57 games) in his seven seasons of play with the Philadelphia Eagles, Carolina Panthers, and Packers.
It would have been surprising if the Bills didn’t acquire a cornerback after losing All-Pro Tre’Davious White earlier this season. They got their needed upgrade. In four games with White, the Bills defense allowed 169 passing yards per game; in four games without him, that number has risen to 239.
Douglas has played 96 career games and is under contract through 2024. He’s due a base salary of $6.3 million next year, and the Bills would have to eat $5.1 million in dead cap to move on from him. So this looks like more than a rent-a-player, which makes sense with how difficult Achilles injuries can be to come back from.
It will be interesting to see if Douglas can get up to speed quickly enough to play Sunday night against the Cincinnati Bengals and the suddenly hot Joe Burrow.
Jacksonville Jaguars Add Much-Needed Offensive Line Help
The addition of former Minnesota Vikings G Ezra Cleveland for the Jacksonville Jaguars made sense for a few reasons.
Keep in mind that it has been a revolving door at LG with Ben Barch, Tyler Shatley, and even LT Walker Little starting a game at that position. However, I’m told the coaches did cross-train Little at guard in training camp as they wanted to make sure they had their best five offensive linemen on the field once veteran LT Cam Robinson returned from his four-game suspension.
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Cleveland was a starter at LG for the Vikings before the team signed Dalton Risner, who wound up taking over the starting job in recent weeks. However, Cleveland was listed as out during the week and missed the team’s Week 7 game against the visiting 49ers and was listed as questionable and didn’t dress for their Week 8 game against the hosting Packers.
Carolina Panthers Remain Quiet Despite Interest in Brian Burns and Donte Jackson
On the Carolina Panthers: As we noted in our Monday notebook, it was clear they really didn’t want to trade OLB Brian Burns. And I can tell you from talking to teams that were interested in him, that was their opinion from talking to the Panthers as well.
They did receive interest from multiple teams on CB Donte Jackson, from what I understand, but the feeling here is that what was being discussed or offered wasn’t fair value.
Their secondary, which looked to be one of the NFC’s best to start the season, has been decimated by injury. All starters — both safeties and both cornerbacks — have missed time, and even top backup S Jeremy Chinn (quadriceps-IR) is out for several more weeks.
The team should get starting CB Jaycee Horn (hamstring-IR) back to practice within the next few weeks and hopefully starting S Vonn Bell (quadriceps) as well.
