NFL Trade Deadline Is Nov. 10 at 4 p.m. ET: How Salaries, Picks and Waivers Work
A team that trades for a player takes on only the salary he has not been paid yet. The Giants hold five 2027 draft picks, and Over the Cap and Spotrac differ by $3.2 million on their cap space.
All NFL trading for the 2026 season ends at 4 p.m. ET Tuesday, Nov. 10. A team that trades for a player before then takes on only the salary he has not yet been paid. His signing bonus stays on the books of the team that paid it. That is how the Giants added quarterback J.J. McCarthy from Minnesota in September for less than $900,000 of 2026 cap space and a 2027 fifth-round pick.
The next trading window opens at 4 p.m. ET March 11, 2027, when the 2027 league year begins. For the rest of the regular season, teams can still claim players off waivers and sign free agents, but they cannot trade.
| Date (ET) | What happens |
|---|---|
| Monday, Nov. 9, 4 p.m. | Any 2026 salary increase from a renegotiation or extension received after this point counts as signing bonus, prorated over the whole contract, including 2026 |
| Tuesday, Nov. 10, 4 p.m. | All trading ends for 2026 |
| Wednesday, Nov. 11 | Players with at least four pension-credited seasons become subject to waivers for the rest of the season |
| Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2027, 4 p.m. | Rosters freeze for playoff teams, with limited exceptions |
| Thursday, March 11, 2027, 4 p.m. | The 2027 league year and trading period begin |
When a trade is done
The league's transaction wire lists the McCarthy trade under Sept. 28, the day the Vikings and the Giants announced it. Both announcements said the deal was pending a physical. Scott Pioli, a former NFL executive, wrote in a guide for NFL.com that in nearly every trade the player "must report and pass the new club's physical in order for the transaction to be complete."
Our explainer on McCarthy's contract covers the March deal for pass rusher Maxx Crosby, which Baltimore backed out of after the teams had agreed to it.
Who pays what: the McCarthy trade
The collective bargaining agreement splits a traded contract at the moment of the trade. The new team counts only the salary that is still unpaid and that it may owe. The old team keeps what it has already paid. The new team counts none of the signing bonus. When a trade comes after June 1, the old team keeps the current year's bonus installment on this year's cap, and its future installments count against its cap at the start of the next league year.
| Item | Minnesota | Giants |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 base salary ($1,075,000, paid weekly) | Weekly checks before the trade | $895,833 (Over the Cap) or $836,108 (Spotrac) |
| 2026 roster bonus ($1,706,800) | All of it | None |
| Signing bonus, 2026 installment ($3,178,599) | All of it | None |
| Signing bonus, 2027 installment ($3,178,599) | All of it, at the start of the 2027 league year | None |
| 2027 base salary and roster bonus ($3,775,200) | None | All of it, fully guaranteed |
The two databases count the 2026 base salary differently. Over the Cap divides it into 18 weekly checks and charges the Giants for 15 of them. Spotrac charges $836,108.
Neither database charges the Giants for the $1,706,800 roster bonus. Over the Cap's 2026 charge for Minnesota, $5,064,566, is the bonus installment, the roster bonus and three weekly checks, to the dollar. Spotrac lists Minnesota's charge at $5,134,491.
The weekly method means the cost of taking on a contract falls as the season goes on. On Over the Cap's count, a player traded on deadline day, after nine weeks of the 18-week season, would bring about half of his 2026 base salary to his new team.
Draft picks and conditional picks
The Giants have traded three of their 2027 selections. The fourth-rounder went to Cleveland in an April 24 draft-day trade. The fifth went to Minnesota for McCarthy. The seventh went to Miami with tight end Darren Waller in 2025; the Giants' announcement called it a conditional pick.
A conditional pick moves up or down a round, or changes hands at all, only if terms the two teams set are met. Those terms are not always made public.
| Round | Status |
|---|---|
| 1st | Own |
| 2nd | Own |
| 3rd | Own |
| 4th | Traded to Cleveland, April 24, 2026 |
| 5th | Traded to Minnesota for McCarthy, Sept. 28, 2026 |
| 6th | Own |
| 6th | From Jacksonville, for offensive lineman Daniel Faalele, Aug. 19, 2026 |
| 7th | Traded to Miami (conditional) with Darren Waller, 2025 |
That leaves the Giants with five 2027 picks: a first, a second, a third and two sixths, plus their seventh if the conditions on the Miami trade are not met. Spotrac also projects a compensatory fifth-round pick for them. Compensatory picks are not awarded until the spring, so the Giants do not hold that pick. In 2028, Spotrac lists the Giants with six of their own picks plus Kansas City's seventh-rounder; their own 2028 seventh went to Baltimore.
After the deadline
Until 4 p.m. Nov. 10, a vested veteran, a player with at least four pension-credited seasons, becomes a free agent immediately when he is released. After the deadline, he goes on waivers like everyone else.
A player on waivers can be claimed by any team for 24 hours. Since the day after Week 3, claiming priority has gone to the team with the worst record, with ties broken by strength of schedule. A player nobody claims becomes a free agent.
The calendar sets no regular-season cutoff for signing free agents. Teams that reach the playoffs face a roster freeze starting Jan. 13, 2027, with limited exceptions.
What the Giants have to work with
As of Thursday afternoon, Over the Cap listed the Giants' 2026 cap space at $8,079,279 and Spotrac at $11,322,329, a difference of $3,243,050. Over the Cap still lists outside linebacker Jihad Ward and running back Najee Harris, both released Oct. 20, on the active roster. Neither site publishes a reconciliation of its total, and we could not tie the gap to specific line items. Our Week 7 roster and cap check has Tuesday's figures.
By our math on Over the Cap's method, $8,079,279 in room would cover a deadline-day acquisition with a 2026 base salary of up to about $16 million, before per-game bonuses or any other move. A contract that runs past 2026 also adds to the 2027 cap, where McCarthy's $3,775,200 already counts.
A player the Giants trade away takes his unpaid salary with him, and any signing bonus left on his contract stays on the Giants' cap.
The Giants play at Houston on Sunday, then have their bye week. Trading closes at 4 p.m. ET Nov. 10.