NFL Trade Deadline: Bates to the Jaguars Opens a Busy Monday, Taylor's Exit Looks Likely — and the Cowboys' Move Is Already Done

The NFL trade deadline does not expire until Tuesday at 4 p.m. Eastern — 3 p.m. in Dallas — but the market opened early Monday. Atlanta is trading safety Jessie Bates III to Jacksonville, according to ESPN, for a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 fifth-rounder; the Jaguars recently lost Eric Murray to a season-ending injury, and Bates, in the final year of a contract carrying a $13 million base salary, becomes their replacement. USA TODAY's live deadline file carried the deal Monday morning as the day's first headline move.

The biggest name still hanging over the deadline is the one Dallas saw up close on Sunday. Jonathan Taylor's situation in Indianapolis — where the Colts have already traded away guard Quenton Nelson and defensive tackle DeForest Buckner — is expected to end in a deal: Pro Football Talk's tracker reports the Colts are expected to take the best offer they get for Taylor. The Colts have, however, told quarterback Daniel Jones he will not be traded, according to The Ringer's Tom Pelissero, and Jets pass rusher Will McDonald IV has requested a trade, NFL Network reported, though his fully guaranteed $13.7 million 2027 option complicates any move.

For the Cowboys, the deadline's suspense is mostly already spent — by design. ESPN's tracker counts eight deals done before Monday, and one of them is Dallas's: cornerback Joey Porter Jr., acquired from Pittsburgh for a 2027 sixth-round pick and a 2028 second-round selection. The rest of the completed ledger is heavy with names Dallas fans know: Jeffery Simmons to Chicago for two first-round picks, Marvin Harrison Jr. to Houston, Jacoby Brissett to Baltimore, J.J. McCarthy to the Giants. What remains for Tuesday is whether the Cowboys — 4-5, with San Francisco at AT&T Stadium on Sunday — add anything else, and where Taylor lands.