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The NFL is not a league known for many blockbuster trades. But when they do happen, they have the potential to be huge.
There is plenty of drama with any NFL trade, whether it comes during the NFL Draft or during the actual season. Draft day trades are ones where the impact can be felt for years and years if a team trades up and selects a bust.
The trade deadline has passed, so no more can take place this NFL season. With that being said, let's take a look at five dramatic NFL trades that fans will have a hard time forgetting.
5 dramatic NFL trades no fan will forget
#5 - The Odell Beckham Jr. trade
The New York Giants signed Odell Beckham Jr. to a five-year extension with over $40 million fully guaranteed before the start of the 2019 season. So it was safe to assume he would be the number one guy there for a long time.
Then came the following offseason when OBJ was traded to the Cleveland Browns along with Olivier Vernon in exchange for Kevin Zeitler, Jabrill Peppers, and several top draft picks. The deal was such a shock because the Giants had just signed him to his big contract. He was also the No. 12 overall pick of the team in 2014.
At the time, Browns fans were ecstatic, and Giants fans were left confused. In the present, the trade is a bit of a wash given the fact Beckham is now in Los Angeles.
#4 - The Ricky Williams trade
The New Orleans Saints pulled off, arguably, the most ridiculous trade in NFL Draft history by sending all their picks in 1999, along with a first and third-rounder in 2000, to move up to No. 5 overall in the 1999 NFL Draft.
Washington was the beneficiary of the deal that allowed Mike Ditka and the Saints to draft Ricky Williams. The drama here was the fact that the Saints traded their entire draft for one pick that was used on a running back.
Making such a deal now would get everyone involved fired on the spot. As expected, this did not turn out well, and Williams was traded to Miami after three seasons. Ditka was let go following the 1999 campaign.
#3 - Brett Favre traded again
The legendary NFL career of Brett Favre really got started back in 1992 when he was traded by the Atlanta Falcons to the Green Bay Packers. Yet it was the second trade of his career that provided the drama.
The year was 2008, and Favre had announced his retirement, only to say he wanted to return months later. Aaron Rodgers was left in a weird spot as the starter in Green Bay, and Favre wanted out.
He was ultimately traded to the New York Jets to continue his NFL career. Fans will just never forget the shock of that summer when Favre was adamant about returning so soon after retiring. Things got ugly with the Packers, and the same thing could play out next year with Rodgers and the team.
#2 - The Herschel Walker trade
No list of NFL blockbuster deals is complete without mentioning the Herschel Walker trade. This mega-deal involved a combined total of 18 players and picks going between the Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, and San Diego Chargers.
What this trade did was let Dallas rebuild its roster for the price of moving on from Walker. One of the acquired picks was used on Emmitt Smith and the rest is NFL history. Dallas built itself into a dynasty, and the Vikings never got their wish of a Super Bowl with Walker. In fact, they didn't even reach the postseason in his only two full years with the team in 1990 and 1991.
#1 - The Eli Manning draft day trade
Watching the 2004 NFL Draft was an odd experience because it was public knowledge that Eli Manning had no desire to play for the Chargers, who happened to hold the No. 1 overall pick.
Yet the team drafted him anyway. It was incredibly awkward to watch it all play out, but the drama was solved when the Giants drafted Philip Rivers, and the two teams swapped quarterbacks.
Manning went on to win two Super Bowls with New York, and Rivers ended up with a nice NFL career as well. Another layer of drama to keep in mind is that San Diego already had Drew Brees at that time. If they had just stuck with him, all this could have been avoided.
