The NFL trade deadline came in with a lot of hype but it did not fully live up to expectations by the time the deadline arrived on Tuesday.

There were some huge trades earlier on. The last two undefeated teams in the NFL — the San Francisco 49ers and the New England Patriots — both traded for wide receivers.

The Patriots traded for veteran wide receiver Mohamed Sanu from the Falcons. They also traded away veteran defensive end Micheal Bennett to the Dallas Cowboys. The 49ers, meanwhile, traded for star wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders from the Denver Broncos.

The Patriots in particular were looking to improve at wide receiver because of the season-ending injury to Josh Gordon. Sanders, meanwhile, will make an immediate impact with the 49ners. He will most likely be their best target. 

There were few big trades on the actual day of the deadline. The Miami Dolphins traded away running back Kenyan Drake to the Arizona Cardinals for a 2020 sixth-round pick.

The New York Jets also traded away star defensive end Leonard Williams to the New York Giants in exchange for a 2020 third-round pick and 2021 conditional pick.

Also, Aqib Talib was shockingly traded to the winless Dolphins. Talib was on the Los Angeles Rams when the season started. 

There were a lot of stars who were on the trade market but none of them were traded when the deadline came around. Le’Veon Bell and Jamal Adams, both on the Jets, were almost traded. This is Bell’s first year with the Jets, after his years with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Other big-name players who were almost traded were Denver Broncos cornerback Chris Harris and Cincinnati Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert.

Every year it seems that the NFL trade deadline is a dud. The MLB and NBA trade deadlines, on the other hand, are the ones everyone talks about. 

A lot of people were disappointed by the end of this year’s NFL trade deadline because of the lack of star power involved in the trades. This year was supposed to be different for the NFL  trade deadline, but it ending like it did the last couple of years — a disappointment.