The 2026 NFL trade deadline is less than a month away.
Here's what you need to know about this year's trade deadline:
When is the 2026 NFL trade deadline?
The trade deadline is on November 10 at 1 p.m. (PT).
While teams can certainly make a trade before then, all trades must be submitted to the league by 1 p.m. (PT) on that day.
Is the trade deadline normally then?
Around there, yes.
The 2025 NFL trade deadline was on November 4, but the key date is now usually after Week 9.
In previous years, the trade deadline landed on the Tuesday after Week 8.
But NFL owners voted at the 2024 Annual League Meeting to push the deadline to after Week 9.
As a result, the trade deadline now typically falls during the first week of November.
Will the Chargers make a trade?
That remains to be seen.
Chargers General Manager Joe Hortiz has shown a willingness to turn over parts of the roster where he sees fit in his two-plus seasons at the helm.
In 2024, the Bolts did not make a deal at the deadline but made a pair of deals — including one for Elijah Molden — before the start of that season.
In 2025, Hortiz swung an October trade with Baltimore in a deal that sent Odafe Oweh and a 2027 seventh-round pick to the Bolts.
The Chargers sent Alohi Gilman and a 2026 fifth-round pick to the Ravens in return.
Hortiz also made two moves at the 2026 deadline, including adding offensive lineman Trevor Penning in a deal with the Saints in exchange for 2027 sixth-round draft pick.
The Chargers also traded cornerback Ja'Sir Taylor to Jets for 2028 conditional seventh round pick.
So, while Hortiz has certainly made moves before, the Chargers current sub-.500 record might change that line of thinking.
We'll see what happens in the next month.
What draft picks do the Bolts have?
While the Chargers could trade a player if they made a deal, teams can also give up draft compensation as a return.
The Bolts currently have seven total picks in the 2027 NFL Draft.
Another note: teams cannot trade compensatory picks before they are awarded.
So while the Chargers could end up getting a comp pick in the spring for a departed free agent — such as Oweh — they can't deal that pick until the league finalizes comp picks before the 2027 NFL Draft.
