Jets, Cowboys get active at NFL trade deadline; Ohio State headlines initial College Football Playoff Top 25

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Good morning and happy Wednesday. Carter Bahns here to get you caught up on all the moves that occurred at the NFL trade deadline, the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season, UEFA Champions League action and much more.

It was one of the busiest deadlines in NFL history, so today's newsletter will be heavy on the trade details and initial fallout from all eight moves -- but especially the five splashiest transactions.

Let's get started.

🤝 Five things to know Wednesday

1. The NFL trade deadline was historically active. The eight transactions made Tuesday the busiest deadline day since 2022 and second-busiest since 1990. The biggest blockbuster of the day was a stunner that sent cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Colts. That was one of two major moves from the Jets, who also shipped defensive tackle Quinnen Williams to the Cowboys. Dallas also picked up linebacker Logan Wilson from the Bengals. A pair of wide receivers are on the move, too. The Raiders sent Jakobi Meyers to the Jaguars, and the Saints dealt Rashid Shaheed to the Seahawks. We'll have more on the fallout of these trades in the next section.
2. Ohio State stands atop the initial College Football Playoff rankings. It's no real surprise that the Buckeyes claimed the No. 1 spot in the CFP selection committee's debut top 25 rankings, but No. 2 Indiana and No. 3 Texas A&M both had compelling arguments. While the postseason is still more than a month away, the 12-team bracket began to take shape and would be SEC-heavy if the campaign ended today. There are four SEC teams in the top six and six in the top 12. On the other end, No. 14 Virginia projects as the lowest-ranked power conference team in the field and the lone representative from the ACC.
3. UEFA Champions League Matchday 4 continues today. Tuesday featured a couple of marquee matchups wherein Liverpool stunned Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain fell to a 10-man Bayern Munich squad. Perhaps the 1-0 win is just what Liverpool need to spark a turnaround after a dreadful stretch that featured two wins in eight outings. PSG's result was just as stunning given their unbeaten start to the European season and personnel advantage. The second batch of Matchday 4 fixtures includes a 3 p.m. matchup between Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund, which pits Erling Haaland against his former club.
4. Yu Darvish is set to miss the entire 2026 MLB season after undergoing elbow surgery. The veteran Padres pitcher announced that he had internal brace surgery last week to repair a torn UCL and flexor tendon. The procedure and recovery will keep him out of the rotation for all of next year and puts San Diego's pitching outlook in a state of even greater uncertainty given the free agent status of three other starters (Dylan Cease, Michael King and Nestor Cortes). Darvish, 39, logged a career-worst 5.38 ERA in 2025 and is under contract through 2028.
5. Jacoby Brissett will get another start for the Cardinals. Kyler Murray continues to recover from a foot injury that held him out since Oct. 5, and there is a chance he could be out longer than originally anticipated. The ailment could reportedly take up to eight weeks to heal completely. That's a timeline that would potentially keep Murray out until December. Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said Brissett will make his fourth consecutive start this week against the Seahawks but doubled down on his stance that Murray will return to the starting lineup when he is fully healthy.

⚖️ Do not miss this: NFL trade deadline winners, losers and grades

The Jets and Cowboys were both quite busy on deadline day, but according to Cody Benjamin, one one of those franchises came away from the chaos a winner. The Jets, Sauce Gardner and Jakobi Meyers are the three biggest winners of the deadline. The Cowboys and Colts general manager Chris Ballard, meanwhile, are losers.

• On the Jets, who won the deadline: "Selling both Gardner and Williams supplies New York with a combined five first-round picks (!) over the next two seasons to address that side of the ball, namely the quarterback spot. Should we give the Jets the benefit of the doubt when it comes to actually maximizing those resources? Probably not. But we certainly can't fault them for selling their top assets when it's clear even the defense deserved overhauling under new coach Aaron Glenn."

We also dished out team-by-team grades for each of the five biggest trades:

Sauce Gardner trade

• Colts receive: Sauce Gardner Grade: A
• Jets receive: AD Mitchell, 2026 first-round pick, 2027 first-round pick Grade: A

Quinnen Williams trade

• Cowboys receive: Quinnen Williams Grade: B-
• Jets receive: Mazi Smith, 2026 second-round pick, 2027 first-round pick Grade: A-

Jakobi Meyers trade

• Jaguars receive: Jakobi Meyers Grade: B-
• Raiders receive: 2026 fourth-round pick, 2026 sixth-round pick Grade: B+

Rashid Shaheed trade

• Seahawks receive: Rashid Shaheed Grade A-
• Saints receive: 2026 fourth-round pick, 2026 fifth-round pick Grade: B

Logan Wilson trade

• Cowboys receive: Logan Wilson Grade: B
• Bengals receive: 2026 seventh-round pick Grade: D

😬 The season just started, but our NBA Panic Meter is already heating up for some

The first two weeks of the NBA season only brought a modest number of surprises. While that is a good thing for teams that expected to contend for playoff berths and championships, it is a troubling reality for the bottom-feeders. Panic is already starting to set in among multiple fanbases as they watch the gap between the best teams and the worst teams begin to grow.

How much panic is reasonable? Sam Quinn measured the anxiety around five teams on a scale of one to 10.

• Knicks: 2 out of 10
• Magic: 6 out of 10
• Grizzlies: 7 out of 10
• Mavericks: 8 out of 10
• Pelicans: 10 out of 10

It's a five-alarm fire in New Orleans. The Pelicans are 1-6, Zion Williamson is already injured and the front office is under immense scrutiny for trading away the team's 2026 first-round pick. The present is dim, and the future looks equally as bleak.

📈📉 Pete Prisco's Week 10 NFL Power Rankings

Last week, none of the top 10 teams in Pete Prisco's NFL Power Rankings moved a single spot. This week, every team in the top 10 shifted multiple positions. Such is the unpredictable nature of the NFL in 2025.

The Bills and Chiefs met last Sunday in one of the biggest games of the regular season, and the result -- Buffalo 28, Kansas City 21 -- made those teams the two biggest movers in the pecking order at eight spots apiece. The Bills are up to No. 2, and the Chiefs are down to No. 10.

• On the Bills: "Beating the Chiefs behind a strong defensive showing is a good sign for the future. That defense will ultimately decide whether this is a Super Bowl team."
• On the Chiefs: "Losing to the Bills on the road isn't awful, but think about this: If the playoffs started today, they wouldn't be a part of them. Weird."

Here are the top 10 teams in Prisco's Week 10 NFL Power Rankings:

1. Buccaneers (previous ranking: 5)
2. Bills (10)
3. Seahawks (7)
4. Rams (8)
5. Patriots (9)
6. Eagles (11)
7. Colts (1)
8. Broncos (6)
9. Packers (3)
10. Chiefs (2)

👍👎 The best (and not-so-best) of the rest

• Salvador Perez will remain with the Royals after inking a two-year contract extension. The $25 million deal keeps the team captain on board through 2027.
• The Cubs and pitcher Shota Imanaga declined their contract options, setting the southpaw up for free agency.
• Shane Bieber, meanwhile, picked up his $16 million player option to return to the Blue Jays in search of another World Series berth.
• Despite speculation that the Eagles could trade A.J. Brown, the receiver remains in Philadelphia after the deadline. General manager Howie Roseman explained why.
• The UFC released Isaac Dulgarian amid an FBI investigation into suspicious betting activity linked to his bout against Yadier del Valle.
• The Falcons are onto their third kicker of the season. John Parker Romo hit the waiver wire after missing a crucial extra point against the Patriots, and Atlanta reportedly replaced him with Zane Gonzalez.
• LSU elevated interim athletic director Verge Ausberry to the full-time job. On his first day in the role, he shut down the idea that Nick Saban could return to coaching and become the Tigers' next headman.
• San Diego FC star Anders Dreyer is the MLS Newcomer of the Year.
• Falcons coach Raheem Morris walked back his accusation that the Patriots illegally simulated snap counts in last weekend's 24-23 loss.
• Clemson's Dabo Swinney tripled down on his disdain for a controversial call that played a key role in the Tigers' loss to Duke. In his latest rant, Swinney called for sweeping changes to college football officiating.
• Texas coach Steve Sarkisian is already campaigning for three-loss SEC teams to receive CFP bids. That's convenient, considering that the 7-2 Longhorns may very well find themselves at 9-3 come selection day.
• In a perceived attempt to gain approval from the Official World Golf Rankings, LIV Golf will adopt the standard four-day, 72-hole format for its tournaments beginning in 2026.

📺 What we're watching Wednesday

⚽ UEFA Champions League: Villarreal at Pafos, 12:45 p.m. on Paramount+
⚽ UEFA Champions League: Chelsea at Qarabag, 12:45 p.m. on Paramount+
⚽ UEFA Champions League: Galatasaray at Ajax, 3 p.m. on Paramount+
⚽ UEFA Champions League: Bayer Leverkusen at Benfica, 3 p.m. on Paramount+
⚽ UEFA Champions League: Barcelona at Club Brugge, 3 p.m. on Paramount+
⚽ UEFA Champions League: Kairat at Inter Milan, 3 p.m. on Paramount+
⚽ UEFA Champions League: Borussia Dortmund at Manchester City, 3 p.m. on Paramount+
⚽ UEFA Champions League: Atalanta at Marseille, 3 p.m. on Paramount+
⚽ UEFA Champions League: Athletic Bilbao at Newcastle United, 3 p.m. on Paramount+
🏈 Northern Illinois at Toledo, 7 p.m. on ESPN2
🏈 Kent State at Ball State, 7 p.m. on ESPNU
🏀 Timberwolves at Knicks, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Blues at Capitals, 7:30 p.m. on TNT
🏀 South Dakota at No. 23 Creighton, 8 p.m. on Peacock
🏀 Spurs at Lakers, 10 p.m. on ESPN