Welcome to the Election Day edition of the Pick Six newsletter!
I'm guessing that almost every general manager around the NFL voted early because they're not going to have much time to vote today since it's the NFL TRADE DEADLINE. The owners clearly love chaos, because that's the only way to explain why they would put the trade deadline on the same day as the election.
If a team wants to make a deal, it has until today at 4 p.m. ET to pull it off. Last year, we saw a total of 15 trades go down on deadline day, so don't be surprised if things get crazy. Basically, there's a 47% chance that all hell is going to break loose over the next few hours.
There have already been several trades today and there will almost certainly be a few more, and since they will probably happen after this newsletter gets sent out, we've made it easy for you to stay updated on all the action. We'll be running a live blog that will cover every trade and you can check it out by clicking here.
As always, here's your daily reminder to tell all your friends and neighbors to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here.
1. NFL trade deadline rumors and deals
I'm totally expecting today to be wild and that's because when it comes to the trade deadline, NFL teams love waiting until the last minute to make a deal and that last minute will be happening today. As I mentioned at the top, 15 deals went down on the day of the deadline last year.
Here's a look at all of the trades that have gone down over the past 24 hours.
Lions acquire Za'Darius Smith
- Lions receive: Za'Darius Smith, 2026 seventh-round pick
- Browns receive: 2025 fifth-round pick and a 2026 sixth-rounder
- Lions grade: A-. "This was a much-needed move for the Lions in the wake of losing star pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson for the season due to a leg injury. While Smith shouldn't be looked at as a one-to-one replacement for Hutchinson, he helps cushion the blow of his absence and should help apply pressure to the quarterback down the stretch." -- Tyler Sullivan
- Browns grade: C+. "Smith is 32 years old and in his 10th season in the league, so a Day 3 draft pick makes sense for compensation. Moving on from Smith, in general, is a wise decision for a Browns team that's 2-7 and appears to be on the doorstep of a rebuild this offseason." -- Tyler Sullivan
For more on this trade, be sure to go here.
Bengals acquire Khalil Herbert
- Bengals receive: Khalil Herbert
- Bears receive: 2025 seventh-round pick
- Bengals grade: B. "The Bengals needed another running back after Zack Moss was ruled out indefinitely after suffering a neck injury. Chase Brown showed last week that he is capable of carrying a major workload after totaling 120 yards rushing on 27 carries, but a secondary option was needed." -- Tyler Sullivan
This marks just the second time in 50 years that the Bengals have made a midseason trade. For more on the deal, be sure to go here.
Cowboys acquire Jonathan Mingo
- Cowboys receive: Jonathan Mingo, 2025 seventh-round pick
- Panthers receive: 2025 fourth-round pick
- Cowboys grade: D+. "Mingo could still be a quality wideout, and at 23, with two and a half years left on his rookie contract, he's got time to grow. Up to this point, however, he's been a subpar option at best. It's almost unfathomable Jones opted to part with a fourth-rounder, when proven vets like DeAndre Hopkins and Diontae Johnson just went for minimal pick swaps." -- Cody Benjamin
For more on this trade, be sure to click here.
Cardinals acquire Baron Browning
- Cardinals receive: Baron Browning
- Broncos receive: 2025 sixth-round pick
- Cardinals grade: B+. "The Cardinals are smart to add to their defensive front. While this unit did a nice job pressuring Caleb Williams in Sunday's win over the Chicago Bears, Arizona had already lost both BJ Ojulari and Dennis Gardeck to season-ending injuries. Something had to be done at pass rusher if the Cards want to hold their lead in the NFC West." -- Jordan Dajani
For more on this trade, be sure to click here.
Remember, there could be plenty of trades going down AFTER this newsletter hits your inbox and if you want to keep tabs on those, you can do that in our trade deadline live blog here.
2. Bold predictions for the NFL trade deadline
With the trade deadline coming up in just a few hours (4 p.m. ET), Cody Benjamin decided to make a few bold predictions about what might happen today.
Here's a look at three of his predictions:
- Steelers land Tyler Lockett from the Seahawks. "The Steelers are undefeated in near-misses when it comes to the wide receiver trade market this year. At 32, however, Lockett wouldn't necessarily require a premium haul. ... And his history with Russell Wilson would make him a savvy complement to No. 1 George Pickens."
- Eagles trade Bryce Huff away. "The Philadelphia Eagles just signed Huff to a three-year, $51 million deal this spring, but the ex-New York Jets prospect has managed an egregiously minimal role in Vic Fangio's pass-rushing rotation. With others like Josh Sweat and Nolan Smith faring better recently, general manager Howie Roseman might prefer to offload Huff's bloated deal to New England, which just dealt Josh Uche at the same position."
- Vikings make trade for Jeffrey Simmons. "Simmons would represent a blockbuster upgrade for Brian Flores' already-feisty defensive front, and he wouldn't hurt long-term plans, either."
We'll only have to wait a few more hours to see if these come true.
You can check out all five of Cody's bold predictions here.
3. Chiefs beat Buccaneers: Grades and notes from Kansas City's Monday night win
The Chiefs managed to stay undefeated for another week, but just barely. The Buccaneers took Kansas City to the wire, before Patrick Mahomes engineered a game-winning drive in overtime to give the Chiefs a 30-24 win.
Here are our grades from the game:
BUCCANEERS GRADE: B
The Buccaneers did almost everything right, except win the game. Liam Cohen's offensive game-plan got everyone involved, which kept the Chiefs defense guessing all night. The Bucs had five different players who ran the ball at least twice and eight different players who caught at least one pass. Defensively, the Bucs kept Patrick Mahomes in check for most of the game until they faded in overtime with the Chiefs marching 70 yards straight down the field to score the game-winning TD. Baker Mayfield gave a gutsy performance (23 of 31 for 200 yards and two touchdowns), especially on a game-tying drive late in the fourth quarter that forced OT. The Bucs scored with just 27 seconds left in the game and probably should have gone for two, but Todd Bowles decided to play for overtime. It's a decision he might be kicking himself over and this is a loss the Bucs will probably be kicking themselves over, because they played well enough to win.
Buccaneers note
- Mayfield can't win on Mondays. The loss to the Chiefs marked the seventh straight Monday night loss for Baker Mayfield. Over the course of his career, Mayfield is now 1-7 all-time on Monday. Of course, it's not really his fault the Bucs lost. Mayfield went 6 of 8 for 69 yards and a TD on a game-tying drive that culminated with a TD pass to Ryan Miller with just 27 seconds left to play.
CHIEFS GRADE: B+
The DeAndre Hopkins trade is already paying off big time for Kansas City. In just his second game with the Chiefs, Hopkins came up huge with eight catches for 86 yards and two touchdowns. Patrick Mahomes has needed a new receiving weapon since Rashee Rice went down and he appears to now have that in Hopkins. Mahomes also has his favorite safety blanket in Travis Kelce, who caught a regular-season career-high 14 passes for 100 yards. This game was close, but the Chiefs won because Mahomes was absolutely clutch, especially on third down: He went 11 of 13 for 134 yards and three touchdowns. Another newcomer who came up big was Kareem Hunt. In just his fifth game of the season, Hunt continues to play a huge role in the offense. Against the Bucs, he rushed for 106 yards with 90 of those coming in the second half. He also scored the game-winning TD in overtime. The Chiefs, who trailed 17-10 in the third quarter, seem to be on the ropes every week, but they always find a way to win.
Chiefs notes
- You can beat Patrick Mahomes in overtime. The Chiefs quarterback has never lost a regular-season overtime game in his career. The Chiefs have gone to overtime six times since Mahomes became their starter they're now 6-0 in those games after he led them to another win on Monday night. That moves him past Terry Bradshaw (5-0) for the best regular-season overtime record in NFL history.
- Travis Kelce has a record-setting night. The Chiefs tight end caught 14 passes for 100 yards. Not only were his 14 receptions a career-high, but he also tied Tony Gonzalez's franchise record for most catches in a single-game. Kelce also set the record for the most catches in a single-game by a player aged 35 or older.
Finally, you can check out our full takeaways from the game here.
4. Prisco's Week 10 Power Rankings: Commanders crack the top five
There's some big news coming out of Washington, D.C., today and it has nothing to do with the election: The Washington Commanders have officially cracked the top five in Prisco's Power Rankings.
Let's check out the top five teams, which actually includes TWO new teams this week:
- Chiefs (Same as last week)
- Lions (Same as last week)
- Bills (Same as last week)
- Commanders (Up two spots from last week)
- Ravens (Up two spots from last week)
I'm not going to spoil the rest of the Power Rankings here, but I am going to give you a few nuggets. Here's what has changed since Prisco's last Power Rankings:
- The biggest jump this week went to the Cincinnati Bengals. As a noted Bengals homer, I sent Prisco 14 angry emails last week after he ranked them 25th. After watching Cincy beat the Raiders on Sunday, Prisco decided to move them up eight spots up to 17th.
- For the second week in a row, the biggest jump in the NFC went to the Los Angeles Rams. Heading into Week 8, this team was thinking about trading Cooper Kupp, but after beating the Vikings, Prisco bumped them up five spots to 19th. In Week 9, they beat the Seahawks and Prisco bumped them up four more spots to 15th.
- The biggest tumble this week went to the Houston Texans. Are they frauds? I'm not sure Prisco would go that far, but he did drop them seven spots from fifth down to 12th following their Week 9 loss to the Jets.
- Finally, we have some big news: The Panthers are no longer the bottom team in the power rankings. After watching Carolina beat New Orleans, Prisco bumped the Panthers up two spots from 32nd to 30th. The unofficial title of "worst team in the NFL" now belongs to the Raiders, who dropped from 29th to 32nd after getting blown out by the Bengals, 41-24, on Sunday.
If you want to know where your favorite team ended up in Prisco's Week 10 Power Rankings, be sure to click here. If you want to argue with Prisco over his rankings, you can do that on Twitter by clicking here. I argue with him all the time about everything.
5. Breech's Week 10 NFL picks: Bengals and Steelers both pull off upsets
Every Tuesday, I unveil three of my weekly picks here in the newsletter and if my picks go anything like they did last week, then you're going to want to memorize them so you can share them with everyone you know. In Week 9, I went 13-2, which means I'm now 46-14 over the past four weeks. This makes up for the fact that my picks during the first three weeks of the season were so bad that I almost fired myself.
Anyway, let's get to this week's picks:
- Bengals (4-5) at Ravens (6-3): The Bengals blew a 10-point lead in the final six minutes during a 41-38 loss back in Week 5. The Ravens defense still can't stop the pass and the Bengals defense still struggles against good teams, so I think we're going to see another shootout, but this time, the Bengals won't blow their lead. PICK: Bengals 34-31 over Ravens
- Steelers (6-2) at Washington (7-2): Mike Tomlin has a 25-6 career record against rookie quarterbacks and that's all I need to know before making this pick with the Steelers getting set to face a rookie QB in Jayden Daniels. PICK: Steelers 23-20 over Commanders
- Lions (7-1) at Texans (6-3): The Lions have won six games in a row and they've been beating down everyone in their path during this winning streak. They have a better offense than the Texans, they have a better defense and I won't be surprised if this one turns into a blowout. PICK: Lions 41-24 over Texans
If you want to check out the rest of my picks for Week 10, be sure to click here.
6. Extra points: Dak Prescott out multiple weeks
It was a busy 24 hours in the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.
- Dak Prescott could be placed on IR. The hamstring injury that Prescott suffered on Sunday will keep him out for multiple weeks, which makes it feel like the Cowboys season is all but over. The team is considering the option of putting Prescott on injured reserve and if that happens, he'll have to miss at least four games. You can read more about his injury here. On the other hand, the Cowboys did get some good news with CeeDee Lamb. The receiver injured his shoulder against the Falcons, but he still might be able to play this week against the Eagles.
- Jets flexed out of Sunday night. For the second time this season, the NFL is flexing a game out of Sunday night. The Jets and Colts were supposed to play on Sunday night in Week 11, but they've been given the boot. Instead, the Bengals and Chargers will be playing in prime time on NBC. You can check out the full details of the flex here.
- Christian McCaffrey returning to practice. This could finally be the week where Christian McCaffrey returns. The 49ers star hasn't played a single game this season due to Achilles tendinitis, but he could be on the field in Week 10 against the Buccaneers. General manager John Lynch said he "hopes" that McCaffrey is able to play. If he's not quite ready, though, he could return in Week 11 against the Seahawks.
- Browns and Colts sticking with their starting quarterbacks. Jameis Winston and Joe Flacco will both be keeping their jobs for another week. Flacco was unable to spark the Colts offense in Week 9, but despite his struggles, Shane Steichen won't be giving the QB job back to Anthony Richardson Indy's game against the Bills on Sunday. As for the Browns, Winston threw three interceptions against the Chargers, but Kevin Stefanski has decided to stick with him. The Browns are on a bye this week, so it would have been easy to make a switch, but the Browns decided that Winston gives them the best chance to win.
