The NFL trade deadline has passed, meaning teams are now, for the most part, in their final forms heading into the second-half stretch of the season.

In this week's edition of The NFL From A to Z, we round up the top remaining trades and hand out grades, plus discuss head coaching candidates for the New Orleans Saints. To finish up, we have Week 10 betting picks, injury updates and more news from around the league.

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—Wes Roesch, Newsletter Editor at A to Z Sports

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Trade roundup: Grades for remaining NFL trades at the deadline

A flurry of trades happened near Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline. Below are five of the top remaining NFL trades that went through this week, with analysis from our writers (pulled from our trade tracker) and grades from yours truly (unless otherwise noted).

CB Marshon Lattimore, New Orleans Saints -> Washington Commanders

Commanders get: Marshon Lattimore and 2025 5th. Wes’ grade: A
Saints get: 2025 3rd, 4th and 6th. Wes’ grade: A

The move is particularly intriguing for two reasons. First, the compensation is not insignificant whatsoever, but the Commanders had an extra third-round pick after selling wide receiver Jahan Dotson to the Philadelphia Eagles back in August and the extra sixth from the Saints themselves. Second, because Lattimore is under contract through 2026.
—Wendell Ferreira

EDGE Za'Darius Smith, Cleveland Browns -> Detroit Lions

Lions get: Za'Darius Smith and 2026 7th. Wes’ grade: A
Browns get: 2025 5th and 2026 6th. Wes’ grade: C

Smith is a big get for the Lions. The former Pro Bowler has been balling out this season and especially in the last few weeks. He has 26 pressures and 4.5 sacks this year, but 16 pressures and 1.5 of sacks have come in the last three games. He's been one of the big bright spots on the Browns defense.
—Mike Payton

WR Mike Williams, New York Jets -> Pittsburgh Steelers

Steelers get: Mike Williams. Wes’ grade: C
Jets get: 2025 5th. Wes’ grade: B

For Pittsburgh, when it was clear that they're top targets of Brandon Aiyuk and Davante Adams fell through, the team turned to Mike Williams as their next target, per league sources. Other than the draft compensation, which can be debated given your opinion on the value of a fifth-round picks, the move is a low-risk, high-reward type of transaction when analyzing the remaining salary for Williams and his potential upside as a deep threat.
—Rob Gregson

EDGE Preston Smith, Green Bay Packers -> Steelers

Steelers get: Preston Smith. Wes’ grade: A
Packers get: 2025 7th. Wes’ grade: D

By doing that move, Green Bay opens up around $2 million in cap space in 2024. The big savings are in the future, with the Packers clearing up $7.6 million in 2025, $18.207 million in 2026, and $1.667 million in a void year in 2027. Green Bay has $12.083 million in dead money in 2024 and $9.881 million in 2025. Beyond the money factor, the only positive for the Packers is that their young edge rushers will have more snaps — especially former first-round pick Lukas Van Ness. The roster also has Kingsley Enagbare, Arron Mosby, and Brenton Cox Jr.
—Wendell Ferreira

WR Jonathan Mingo, Carolina Panthers -> Dallas Cowboys

Cowboys get: Jonathan Mingo and 2025 7th. Mau’s grade: C+
Panthers get: 2025 4th. Wes’ grade: B

This is the Cowboys. For better or worse, they do things differently. Ultimately, although the Cowboys are "buying" here, this is a move with a focus on the future. The team's front office liked Mingo during the 2023 NFL Draft process and now it gets a chance to develop the young wideout starting now with hopes of cashing in on the move next year. In the meantime, they'll pay him on a rookie deal. In other words, it's a move that the team is certainly not pulling off in hopes of turning around the 2024 season.
—Mauricio Rodriguez

NFL trade deadline tracker: 2024 moves and reactions

Deadline is on November 5

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Dennis Allen fired: Head coaching candidates for Saints

After losing seven straight and falling to 2-7 with a loss to the Carolina Panthers, the New Orleans Saints have officially fired head coach Dennis Allen. He finished with an 18-25 overall record with the team and had no playoff appearances. With Allen gone, Saints special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi will serve as interim coach.

While Rizzi technically shouldn’t be ruled out for the job, our guy Adam Holt put together a list of coaching candidates for the Saints in 2025. Here were some highlights:

Ben Johnson, offensive coordinator, Detroit Lions

Johnson will be the hottest name on the market this offseason, in all likelihood. He got plenty of interest last offseason but never found the fit he was looking for in a new team.

He chose to stick with Detroit, and they have one of the top offenses in football once again. It would be a tough sell to pull him from the Lions to the Saints, but they will probably give it a try, at the least. At only 38 years old, whoever lands Johnson will be getting a bright, young offensive mind to lead their team.

Joe Brady, offensive coordinator, Buffalo Bills

This may be a bit early for the young offensive play-caller, but the murmurs are there already and won't cease this offseason. Brady is best known for calling the offense for the LSU Tigers in 2019, a historic run and arguably the best CFB offense ever.

Now, he is the leader of Josh Allen's unit that has been rolling all season long. He's another young candidate and comes with risk, but the potential reward could be enticing for teams, including New Orleans.

Mike Vrabel, former Tennessee Titans head coach

Vrabel has spent some of this season as an analyst with the Cleveland Browns after not landing a HC job this past offseason. The Titans moved on from him due to a multitude of reasons, but he was a successful coach in terms of expectations in Tennessee during his time there.

Vrabel is a fiery leader that is not afraid to show emotion. We will see if New Orleans shows some interest in a coach who has proven that he can win in the NFL as a team's leader.

5 emerging head coach candidates for the Saints after firing Dennis Allen

Plenty of notable names.

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