Winners and losers of the 2022 NFL trade deadline

Winners: San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers may have won the NFL trade deadline days before Nov. 1. On the Week 7 edition of Thursday Night Football, the 49ers decided to bring in running back Christian McCaffrey from the Carolina Panthers in exchange for a second-, a third-, and a fourth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and a 2024 fifth-round pick.

Adding McCaffrey to the 49ers offense under head coach Kyle Shanahan is, well, a bit unfair. Especially to those teams who have to line up against the 49ers offense for the remainder of the season.

McCaffrey showed out against the Los Angeles Rams, the very team that was in on him before the 49ers secured a deal. Facing the Rams following his first full week of practice with the 49ers, McCaffrey ran for 94 yards and one touchdown on 18 carries, caught eight passes for 55 yards and a touchdown on nine targets, and threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Aiyuk.

If Shanahan is going to utilize McCaffrey like he did in Week 8, the 49ers offense is going to be a problem for opposing defenses.

Losers: Los Angeles Rams

Speaking of the Rams, there are one of the losers of the deadline. They failed to make a single move to help improve their roster, which is desperately needed to do.

If there is one common theme of the Rams’ 2022 campaign, it is that their offensive line performance was a far cry from what it was in their Super Bowl-winning season last year. The line has been hammered with injuries, and quarterback Matthew Stafford is under duress for the majority of games.

The Rams tried to bring some help to their offense in the form of McCaffrey, but they just missed out. No moves were made to bolster the offensive line. Not to mention, they could not find any takers for running back Cam Akers.

Now, they will have to fight very hard to make it out of the NFC and their division to have a chance to defend their Super Bowl title.