NFL Trade Deadline Proves To Be An Exercise In Boredom Once Again

By Peter Rogers @petahrahgas on October 28, 2014

Why does the NFL hate me? It’s not like I’m asking for all that much. All I’m asking is for once to have a trade deadline that’s exciting. Please. Just once.

But that hasn’t happened yet, and it didn’t happen this year. The only thing that happened was Tampa Bay Buccaneers trading linebacker Jonathan Casillas to the New England Patriots. At this point, is it fair to call the Bucs the minor league team for the Patriots? It feels like half the Patriots’ players once played for the Bucs.

Oh, and the Buccaneers traded safety Mark Barron to the St. Louis Rams, furthering the Buccaneers’ descent into horribleness. Now that the NFL trade deadline is officially done and even with the spice of Barron in a Rams’ jersey, I’m still filled with boredom and sadness and the feeling of being underwhelmed. There was suppose to be action this deadline! Where did it all go?

Vincent Jackson was supposed to leave Mike Glennon behind and catch passes from a quarterback who’s actually good, like Tom Brady, Russell Wilson or Alex Smith. Cameron Wake was going to become that pass rusher the Dallas Cowboys have been missing since they decided it was for the best to release their Pro Bowler and double-digit sack machine DeMarcus Ware … and replace him with not DeMarcus Ware. Even the Super Bowl winning Seattle Seahawks were going to move Marshawn Lynch, who has been Beast Mode-ing all over the Seahawks’ locker room.

I was suppose to be able to sit back and watch the glory that was occurring as playoff teams added that extra piece to get ready for the Super Bowl run, but none of that happened. The Patriots added linebacker depth and the Rams got another big-name defender to add to their always-underperforming defense, and that was it.

I don’t know what about the NFL prevents owners and GMs from making big, team-altering trades, but it’s sad to watch. The NFL trade deadline has become more about reminding the world how rarely trades happen in the NFL than the teams actually trading players. Obviously I’m not going to stop watching football over this, but it would be nice to see more trades throughout the league. It’s exciting, and it gets the people going. Look at basketball; those team-altering trades are huge and make everyone go crazy! It gives fans something to look forward to in the middle of the season.

Maybe not having a deadline at all would help spice things up. Then teams can trade for a player right before the playoffs to freak out their opponent. Who knows what the answer is, but all I know is that no matter how hard I try, one year from now I will be just as excited about the trade deadline — only to have nothing occur and my hopes and dreams left shattered.

Why NFL, why?

Peter Rogers is a New England Patriots writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @petahrahgas, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google