NFL Trades: Rules, Deadlines and How Picks Are Valued
What can be traded in the NFL, how a trade becomes official, why the calendar matters, how salary-cap consequences follow a player, and how teams put a price on draft picks.
On the day a trade breaks, the news usually arrives as a single line: one team has sent a player to another in exchange for a draft pick. It looks tidy. Behind that line there are conversations about contracts, physical exams, salary-cap arithmetic, a league-office phone call and a quiet argument about what a pick in the fourth round is really worth.
NFL trades are simpler than baseball's or basketball's in some ways, because there is no minor-league system and no player-for-prospect swaps to untangle. They are also more constrained by the salary cap and by the calendar. This guide explains what teams can trade, how the process works, when trades can and cannot happen, and how the value of picks is judged.
What can be traded
Three kinds of assets move in NFL trades.
- Players under contract. A player's contract goes with him. The new team takes on his salary, his remaining years and the obligations in the deal.
- Draft picks. Teams own their own picks and any they have acquired, and these can be sent in any round. Clubs routinely trade picks in the next draft and, in many cases, in drafts further ahead. The league sets limits on how far ahead picks may be traded, so check the current rule if the exact reach matters to you.
- Pick swaps. Two teams can exchange positions within a round. For example, a team holding a later first-round slot can move to an earlier one by sending its original slot to the other club along with an extra pick.
Not every kind of pick was always tradable. Compensatory picks, which the league awards to teams that lost certain free agents, were once off limits. Since 2017 they have been tradable, which is part of why they now appear in offers. We explain how they are awarded in The Compensatory Pick Formula Explained.
How a trade becomes official
A trade does not take effect when two general managers agree on a handshake. The sequence is more formal.
- The teams agree on terms. This usually happens by phone or message, between the clubs' decision-makers.
- The player takes a physical. The receiving team's doctors examine the player. If something turns up that the new club was not told about, the deal can be revised or fall apart.
- Both teams notify the league office. Each club confirms the trade with the league, which records it and checks that it follows the rules, including salary-cap compliance.
- The trade is announced. Once the league has the confirmations, it is official, and the player's contract moves to the new team.
The physical is the part fans see least and clubs worry about most. A team is acquiring a person with a medical history, and the exam is its chance to verify the details. That is why a trade announced by a reporter can still be "pending a physical" for a day or two.
Trades involving only draft picks are simpler. There is no player to examine, and the league office needs only the confirmation.
The calendar: when trades can happen
The league restricts when trades involving players may be completed. Understanding the calendar explains why some trades are announced and then "made official" weeks later.
During the regular season
Trades are allowed from the opening of the league year until a trade deadline, a date set by the league near the middle of the season, usually a Tuesday. After the deadline passes, teams may not trade players for the rest of the season. The exact week and date change from year to year, so check the league's announcement for the current season. The schedule page lists the weeks of the season so you can see where the deadline falls.
The deadline has a practical function. It prevents a team that is out of the race from reshaping a rival's roster late in the year, and it stops contenders from collecting players at the last minute with no consequence for the standings.
In the offseason
After the season ends, teams can discuss trades, and many do. But a trade involving players cannot take effect until the new league year begins in the spring. That date, the start of the league's financial year, is when contracts renew, salary-cap numbers reset and free agency opens. Clubs can agree on a trade earlier and have it processed on that date. This is why you sometimes read that a trade has been "agreed to" but cannot be official yet.
Draft picks can be exchanged more flexibly, including during the draft itself, when teams trade picks on the clock.
The closed stretch
Between the deadline and the new league year, the market is closed for completing player trades, but not for conversation. Teams plan ahead, and a good deal of negotiation takes place before the formal window opens.
What a trade does to the salary cap
The salary cap is the biggest reason a trade works or does not. Two things happen at once when a player changes teams.
- The receiving team takes on the player's salary for the rest of the contract, which counts against its cap.
- The sending team keeps certain costs, namely any signing bonus money that has not yet been charged to its cap. That remaining amount is accelerated onto the sending club's books, and the timing of the charge depends on when in the calendar the trade is made. A trade completed before or after a particular spring date is treated differently, and the details are set by the collective bargaining agreement.
The second point surprises many fans. A team can trade a star player and still see a large number from him on its own cap. The idea is the same one described in Dead Money Explained: the bonus was paid to the player, spread across years for accounting purposes, and the unspent portion has to land somewhere when the contract changes hands.
That is why teams often prefer to trade a player who has a modest bonus balance and are reluctant to move one whose signing bonus was large and recent. The cap cost of leaving can outweigh the benefit of the picks received.
Common structures
Most trades fit a few patterns.
- Player for pick. A team sends a player and receives a pick in return. The most common type.
- Pick for pick. Often a team moving up or down on draft day. Several picks may be packaged to land one earlier selection.
- Player for player. Rarer than in other sports, because contracts and cap numbers have to match up.
- Conditional picks. The pick's round depends on something that happens later, such as the player reaching a playing-time target or the team making a deep playoff run. The condition is written into the agreement and the pick's final position is set when it resolves.
- Pick swaps. As noted above, teams exchange positions within a round, usually with an additional asset attached.
A hypothetical
Imagine a team with a veteran at a position where it has recently drafted a replacement. It no longer needs him, but another club does. They agree that the first team will send the veteran in exchange for a mid-round pick, and that the pick will move up one round if the veteran plays a certain share of the snaps. The conditional piece lets the buyer pay more only if the player is truly useful, and lets the seller share in the upside. Nothing about the example refers to a real club.
How picks are valued
This is the part of trades that draws the most debate. The usual starting point is a draft value chart, a table that assigns a number of points to each pick so that teams can compare offers. A team with the 20th pick that wants to move up can look up what the 10th pick is worth, subtract, and see how much it needs to add. We cover the chart itself in The Draft Trade Value Chart.
Several principles apply no matter which version of the chart is used.
- Earlier picks are worth much more than later ones. The value drops steeply through the first round and flattens toward the end of the draft.
- A pick in the current draft is usually worth more than the same round in a future draft. Teams discount future picks because they are less certain and because the club has to wait for them. A common rule of thumb in negotiations is that a future pick is treated as if it were a round later, though teams differ and the practice is informal.
- Position and need change the price. A team that desperately needs a quarterback may pay more than the chart suggests, and the chart does not account for that.
- The chart is a starting point. Teams use their own models, scouting and asking prices. The chart helps them see whether an offer is in the right range.
Why the same pick is worth different amounts
Two clubs holding the same pick may value it differently because each has its own plan. One team may have identified several players it likes in a particular range and be happy to trade down and collect extra picks. Another may have a single target it fears will be gone and be willing to pay to climb. The chart gives the baseline, and the difference between the baseline and the final price is where negotiation happens.
Teams also care about when the pick is used. A pick in a deep position group, where many similar players are available, is worth less to a trading partner than a pick in a thin year. That kind of judgment lives in the scouting department, not in the chart. For the sequence of the draft itself, see Inside the NFL Draft, and for the day's results the draft page.
Trading during the draft
Draft-day trades happen under time pressure. Each pick has a time limit on the clock, so a team that wants to move up or down has to reach agreement with the other club and confirm it with the league before its time runs out. If the clock expires first, the team that owns the pick at that moment must make its selection. Trades can include picks from any round, and the league's draft staff tracks which picks have changed hands so that the announcement of each selection names the right team.
That is why a pick sometimes changes hands only minutes before a name is called, and why teams that want to move prepare their offers long before the first round begins.
Mistakes and myths
"A trade needs the player's approval." In general, no. The player's contract goes with him, and he cannot block a trade unless his contract has a no-trade clause, which is rare in the NFL. If you hear of a player blocking a move, it is almost always a contractual provision.
"Trading a player clears his entire salary from the books." The new team takes over the salary going forward, but the old team may keep part of the bonus money on its own cap.
"Picks are always better than players." Picks carry uncertainty. A drafted player may not pan out, and a veteran with a track record is a known quantity. Teams weigh the risk differently.
"The chart sets the price." It sets the reference point. Teams regularly pay more or less than the chart says depending on their needs.
"Trades happen only before the deadline." Only trades involving players are restricted by the in-season deadline. Picks can move in the offseason and during the draft, and the new league year opens the window again.
What to watch
When you read a trade announcement, a handful of questions tell you most of what you need.
- Is the player's contract large or small, and how much is left on it?
- What does the trade do to each team's cap?
- Are any of the picks conditional?
- Is the pick moving into this year's draft or a future one?
- Which position group does the trade fix for the buyer?
The injury report is worth a look as well, since a pending physical is often the part that decides whether a deal is finished. And the team pages and player pages show who has moved where once the deal is done.
The short version
- Teams trade players, draft picks and pick swaps. Conditional picks tie the final round to later events.
- A trade becomes official after a physical and confirmation with the league office.
- In-season player trades end at the trade deadline; offseason player trades take effect when the new league year begins.
- A traded player's salary goes to the new team, but unspent bonus money can stay on the old team's cap.
- Draft value charts give a starting reference for pick prices, and teams adjust for need, class strength and timing.
- Compensatory picks have been tradable since 2017.
- Rules and dates can change; check the league's current announcements before relying on a deadline.