The 1995 NFL trade deadline.

In the order it happened

The transaction timeline

The draft, major signings, trades and roster decisions are ordered chronologically. Complete draft boards, trade packages and free-agent jersey changes are embedded at the moment they happened.

1. October · Market context

   The early deadline leaves contenders little time to diagnose needs

   With the cutoff arriving near the season's first quarter, clubs still treated meaningful in-season player movement as an exception.

2. Deadline week · Stand pat

   Dallas and San Francisco trust their offseason-built rosters

   The NFC favorites declined to force a late blockbuster after spending the offseason in a cap-driven talent race.

3. After the deadline · Legacy

   The championship still turns on the summer's biggest signing

   Deion Sanders's offseason move, rather than a deadline transaction, supplied the late-season difference for Dallas.