FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Week 9’s early Sunday window was an overreaction manufacturing facility. The Steelers can play protection now? Has the outdated Daniel Jones resurfaced? Are the Packers dangerous once more? J.J. McCarthy goes to be simply fantastic? The Falcons will not cease Falconing? The Bengals will not cease Bengaling?
With the NFL commerce deadline solely a few days away — 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday — it appeared like a number of groups have been ready to see what occurred Sunday to determine whether or not to attempt to add or deal away gamers. The deadline might be too early, as a result of issues change a lot week to week on this league, but it surely’s there and it will occupy quite a lot of our consideration over the subsequent couple days.
So, we determined to make the Week 9 Overreactions column all in regards to the commerce deadline. How have been groups’ deadline plans impacted by what occurred Sunday, and the way a lot ought to they’ve been? In some methods, these subsequent couple of days are an important time of the 12 months not to overreact.
So whereas we kind by way of the weekly overreactions to determine which of them may maintain up and which of them are mirages, we’re right here to assist groups assess themselves at this crucial juncture. I am positive they admire it.
Leap to:
Dolphins needs to be open to buying and selling anybody?
Patriots must commerce for a operating again?
Ought to Bears attempt to commerce for Hendrickson?
Vikings do not want Cousins, one other veteran QB?
Saints needs to be open to buying and selling Olave?
5 fantasy-related overreactions
The Dolphins needs to be taking calls on everybody they’ve
Miami misplaced to the Ravens on Thursday evening in a sport that showcased its big range of points. The Dolphins fired common supervisor Chris Grier the subsequent morning, a attainable indication that possession is desirous about buying and selling away gamers and providing interim GM Champ Kelly a mandate to take action.
Miami has a number of gamers of curiosity to different groups forward of the deadline, together with edge rushers Bradley Chubb, Jaelan Phillips and Matthew Judon together with operating again Jaylen Wright, linebacker Jordyn Brooks and even extensive receiver Jaylen Waddle. With the Thursday evening sport providing Miami additional pre-deadline days to work, by Tuesday they need to have a superb sense of the place issues stand and what they could have the ability to get for the gamers on their roster.
Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION
This appears like a crew headed for a whole overhaul, maybe together with at quarterback (although Tua Tagovailoa has $54 million in assured cash coming subsequent 12 months). If the Dolphins can get respectable draft picks in return for anybody they don’t seem to be positive shall be a part of their future, they’ve to think about all attainable offers.
Head coach Mike McDaniel stored his job, and a part of the reason being possession’s hope that the crew will play onerous for him down the stretch. Buying and selling away gamers is not essentially going to assist with that, which might make it more durable for McDaniel to remain on for 2026. However the Dolphins have not received a playoff sport since 2000 (the longest streak within the NFL) and wish to consider main adjustments to all the pieces they do. A 2-7 begin is license to think about all the pieces, and they need to.
The Patriots want so as to add a operating again on the commerce deadline
With beginning operating again Rhamondre Stevenson out due to a toe damage, the Patriots turned the backfield over to rookie TreVeyon Henderson and second-year man Terrell Jennings. They did fantastic. Jennings had 35 yards and his first profession landing on 11 carries and caught one 9-yard go. Henderson had 55 speeding yards on 14 carries and caught 4 passes for 32 yards. The Patriots escaped an uncharacteristically sloppy sport wherein they misplaced the turnover battle 2-0 when the Falcons missed an additional level that may have tied the sport within the remaining minutes. They’ve now received six video games in a row to maneuver to 7-2, tied with the Colts and Broncos for the very best document within the AFC.
If Stevenson is out for extra than simply this sport, you can make the case that the Patriots want greater than these two younger guys within the backfield, and so they have been making calls in latest weeks to gauge the provision of veteran backs. Those that could possibly be out there for varied causes embody Cleveland’s Jerome Ford, Tennessee’s Tony Pollard and the Jets’ Breece Corridor. The Patriots have 10 picks within the 2026 draft and a ton of cap area, in order that they’re positioned to make strikes.
0:19
Terrell Jennings scores his first NFL TD
Terrell Jennings forces his means into the tip zone and offers the Patriots a lead.
Verdict: OVERREACTION
It would not be a mistake so as to add to the operating again room if the worth is correct. You’ll be able to’t be too deep at that place, given how typically accidents strike. However I do not assume that is one thing the Patriots want to do. I’ve coated three of their video games this season, together with the previous two, and I can let you know it is a crew that feels actually, actually good about itself. Even after Sunday’s sport, coach Mike Vrabel talked in regards to the significance of pleasure within the postgame information convention and mentioned, “We have now to study from profitable so we do not have to study from shedding.”
The vibes round this crew are excellent, and there was by no means some extent after they thought they could not cowl Stevenson’s absence sufficient to beat Atlanta. Second-year quarterback Drake Maye is piloting a high-level offense with a medium-level receiving corps, and if the Pats are going so as to add somebody on offense, it will most likely be higher to make it a game-breaking extensive receiver. However you may also make the case that it is going too effectively in New England proper now to threat messing with issues.
The Bears ought to ask the Bengals if they may let Trey Hendrickson get on the airplane again to Chicago with them
Chicago beat Cincinnati within the wildest sport of the week, as a result of they apparently handed a rule on the final house owners’ conferences wherein Cincinnati is required to play within the wildest sport of each week. Down 14 factors within the remaining two minutes, the Bengals scored a landing and a two-point conversion with 1:43 left, recovered an onside kick and scored one other landing and a go-ahead PAT with 54 seconds left.
Sadly, the Bengals’ protection (which was taking part in with out Hendrickson, its greatest participant, due to damage) can’t cease anybody, and 54 seconds was greater than sufficient time for Caleb Williams to hit rookie tight finish Colston Loveland for the go-ahead landing — a 58-yard, tackling-optional, catch-and-run that gave the Bears the lead and handed the Bengals a second brutal last-minute loss in as many weeks. Cincinnati might be carried out, however the Bears are 5-3, tied with the Lions for second place within the NFC North, only a half-game behind the first-place Packers. Because the 47-42 remaining rating signifies, the Bengals weren’t the one crew on this sport that would use defensive assist.
Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION
It is most likely moot, as a result of the Bengals have been telling everybody who has requested for the reason that offseason that they don’t seem to be desirous about buying and selling Hendrickson. But when he does grow to be out there, Chicago ought to at the very least ask. It is a two-month acquisition, as a result of Hendrickson isn’t signed past this season, and the Bears may need the texture of a rebuilding crew long run with Williams in his second season and coach Ben Johnson in his first.
However the standings say what they are saying, and Johnson has mentioned he has little interest in making this a sluggish construct. Bears GM Ryan Poles is normally energetic on the commerce deadline, and it will be no shock (nor a nasty thought) if he made an aggressive transfer to enhance his go rush for the stretch run.
The Vikings need not commerce picks for Kirk Cousins or some other veteran QB
McCarthy made his third begin of the season (and his profession) Sunday and appeared … fairly good? He was 14-for-25 for 143 yards, two touchdowns and an interception and likewise ran for a landing. McCarthy made a improbable throw to ice the sport on the ultimate drive, and the Vikings received 27-24 in Detroit.
It has been a rocky season for Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell and his QB state of affairs. McCarthy appeared horrible for 3 quarters, then sensible within the fourth in a season-opening victory over Chicago, then he and the offense did completely nothing in a Week 2 loss to the Falcons. McCarthy obtained damage in that sport, so Carson Wentz began the subsequent 5, however then Wentz obtained damage and McCarthy obtained wholesome, so it was the teenager once more Sunday in a significant division sport. He won’t have dazzled, however he appeared as much as the duty.
With Wentz on injured reserve, McCarthy and undrafted rookie Max Brosmer are the one two quarterbacks on the Vikings’ energetic roster. (They signed John Wolford to the follow squad final week.) So, there was some chatter about bringing again Cousins, who’s a backup in Atlanta, or at the very least including a veteran.
Verdict: OVERREACTION
I might nonetheless do it. Whether or not it is Cousins or another person, McCarthy and the Vikings would profit from having a veteran within the QB room. Even when McCarthy goes to be simply fantastic and begin the remainder of the way in which — which we actually cannot know for positive, even when Sunday was an encouraging signal — having a veteran round can solely assist as he navigates the ups and downs of his first energetic NFL season.
The Vikings are spending extra money on their roster this 12 months than some other crew within the league, and it is fairly loaded. They’re in final place within the NFC North, however Minnesota is 4-4 and solely a sport and a half out of first. The Vikings received 14 video games final season and must do no matter they’ll to maximise their probabilities of getting again to the playoffs. Go get the vet.
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J.J. McCarthy retains it for a 9-yard speeding TD
J.J. McCarthy rolls to his proper and turns up discipline for a 9-yard speeding landing.
The Saints needs to be extra open to buying and selling Chris Olave
Groups have referred to as the Saints about their extensive receivers — Olave, Rashid Shaheed and Brandin Cooks — and been instructed that New Orleans does not wish to commerce Olave. The Saints’ first-round decide within the 2022 draft, Olave is signed by way of 2026 and scheduled to earn $15.493 million subsequent 12 months on his fifth-year rookie contract possibility. He has handled concussion points throughout his profession however has been wholesome this season, and the Saints have mentioned they’re extra desirous about signing him to a long-term contract than buying and selling him. They nonetheless have not signed him, which is why groups maintain asking. Properly, that and since he is an ideal participant.
Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION
Of New Orleans’ receivers, Olave would carry again the very best return in a commerce. And the Saints appear like a crew that needs to be buying and selling gamers for draft picks and pondering rebuild. If you are going to signal him long run, then signal him so folks will cease calling. There is no rule prohibiting the Saints from extending Olave’s contract tomorrow.
However for a crew corresponding to New Orleans, the commerce deadline is not about ditching good gamers, it is about maximizing the worth of your property. And Olave is a participant for whom groups would quit lots in a commerce. The Saints are doing their franchise a disservice if they are not even open to having the dialog. Once more, I am not saying to commerce him. I am saying that so long as he is signed for just one extra 12 months, there should be some return that may make it value contemplating.
Fast-hitter fantasy overreactions
Falcons operating again Bijan Robinson is not going to hold you to the playoffs: OVERREACTION. Certain, the previous couple of weeks have been underwhelming. However the entire offense underwhelmed in Week 8 with out Michael Penix Jr. and Drake London, and Sunday they performed the Patriots, who have not allowed a operating again to hurry for 50 yards in a sport but this season. Do not do something rash. Except you wish to commerce him to me.
Bears operating again Kyle Monangai will proceed to be fantasy related even as soon as D’Andre Swift is again wholesome: NOT AN OVERREACTION. No, he is not going to hurry for 176 yards each week, however the seventh-round rookie out of Rutgers carved out a job even earlier than Swift missed Sunday’s sport due to an damage. Monangai will nonetheless be a part of the plan. And this is the place everybody says one thing about Ben Johnson and the way he made each Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery fantasy related in Detroit.
You’ll be able to belief Lions extensive receiver Jameson Williams in your lineup shifting ahead: OVERREACTION. Hey, you knew what you have been entering into when drafting Williams. He can get you 16.6 factors like he did Sunday, however he may also get you zero like he did in Week 7, or two like he did in Week 5. If another person desires to purchase in, commerce him. In any other case, you are driving the curler coaster. There are too many mouths to feed in Detroit to count on week-to-week consistency from a participant whose manufacturing is that this unstable.
Decide up Jerome Ford now: NOT AN OVERREACTION. In case your league lets you decide up gamers on bye weeks, take a shot right here. Ford could possibly be on a brand new crew by 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, and relying on which crew that’s, he might have a serious fantasy function. Think about him on the Chiefs? The Patriots? No hurt in taking a shot if in case you have the roster spot to spare.
The 49ers’ George Kittle is not a top-five fantasy tight finish anymore: OVERREACTION. Kittle’s game-by-game level totals in his three video games since coming back from damage: 0.0, 14.3, 6.9. Yucko. I am nonetheless holding, although. Quarterback Brock Purdy coming again will assist, as will the Niners getting more healthy at extensive receiver and never needing to lean on Kittle as a run blocker fairly a lot. Purchase low!