The 1998 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

   Historic offenses leave little appetite for midseason reconstruction

   Minnesota and Denver had already found their identities, while the early cutoff again made major trades difficult to execute.

2. Deadline week · Stand pat

   The Vikings keep the ball in their rookie's hands

   Minnesota declined to disturb the league's highest-scoring offense after the draft had already supplied the season's defining addition.

3. After the deadline · Legacy

   The draft, not the deadline, owns the transaction story

   Moss's arrival remained the move that changed the NFC race all the way to overtime of the conference championship.