NFL competition committee expected to look at the trade “loophole” after the Daiyan Henley, Arnold Ebiketie and Andre Cisco deals were cancelled or changed

The NFL’s competition committee is expected to look at how trades can be changed or cancelled after two teams have agreed to them. Adam Schefter and Ian Rapoport reported on Saturday, Nov. 14, that front office executives have complained after three deals around this year’s deadline were called off or reworked, and that the committee is expected to take up the issue in the offseason.

The three deals were the Broncos’ trade for Chargers linebacker Daiyan Henley, which Denver cancelled after his physical; the Bengals’ agreed trade for Eagles pass rusher Arnold Ebiketie, which Cincinnati backed out of; and the Lions’ trade for Jets safety Andre Cisco, whose compensation was changed after the teams had agreed.

#Chargers HC Jim Harbaugh says the #Broncos didn’t want to pass Daiyan Henley on a physical if they were giving up a 4th- and 5th-round pick, but would have passed him under different terms.

Harbaugh says it’s a loophole the NFL needs to examine.

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) November 12, 2026

Three deals that did not stick

Henley’s is the case that started the argument. Denver agreed before the Nov. 10 deadline to send a 2027 fourth-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick to Los Angeles for Henley, pending a physical. After the physical raised concerns about his knee, the Broncos tried to change the compensation, the two sides could not agree, and Denver announced late on Nov. 11 that the trade would not be finalized. Henley stayed with the Chargers.

Cincinnati and Philadelphia had agreed to terms on Ebiketie before the Bengals called it off. The deal would have cost the Bengals the third-round compensatory pick they expect for losing Trey Hendrickson. Tom Pelissero reported on Saturday that the Bengals agreed to the trade before asking the league how it would affect them under the compensatory pick formula, and that general manager Duke Tobin apologized to the Eagles when he cancelled it. Schefter and Rapoport reported that the Eagles were not pleased.

Detroit’s trade for Cisco went through, but not on the original terms. The league’s transaction wire first listed the Lions sending the Jets a 2028 sixth-round pick, then changed it to a 2029 sixth-rounder on deadline day. Pelissero reported that the change followed medical concerns, which makes the Lions the first team this week to renegotiate a deal after a physical, a day before Denver tried the same thing with Henley.

The Broncos aren’t the first team to attempt to renegotiate a trade based on medical concerns: The Lions did it the day before and agreed with the Jets to modify their trade for safety Andre Cisco.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 14, 2026

What the complaint is about

Under the current system, a trade agreed before the deadline is not final until the player passes a physical with his new team. That lets the acquiring team either fail the player or, as the Lions and Broncos did, ask for different compensation before passing him. Several executives argued last week that once trade terms are agreed, they should not be up for renegotiation, according to Schefter and Rapoport.

Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh made the same case on Nov. 12. “The Broncos based a pass-fail on a medical grade, based on whether we would take less compensation. And we wouldn’t. And we didn’t,” he said. “In my opinion it’s one of those loopholes that the league should really look into because it sets a bad precedent.” His full comments are in our Thursday transactions roundup.

Pelissero wrote that the Broncos acted in good faith and within their rights when they cancelled the Henley deal, but that some general managers want the league to re-examine the rule because a team could abuse it. One possible fix reported by Schefter and Rapoport would stop teams from changing the draft picks in a deal once it is agreed, leaving the acquiring team with only two choices after a physical: accept the trade as agreed or walk away.

This is not the first failed physical to undo a big trade. Last offseason, the Raiders and Ravens agreed to a trade for pass rusher Maxx Crosby, and the deal was voided when he failed his physical.

A later deadline could be on the table too

The trade rules may not be the only deadline topic in the spring. Pelissero reported that a sizable number of general managers support pushing the trade deadline even later, possibly as soon as 2027, and that the subject could come up for formal discussion in February and March, when teams and the competition committee put together proposed rule and bylaw changes. He said a poll of general managers and other top football executives from 18 teams was essentially split on where the deadline should be.

The deadline moved to its current spot, after Week 9, in 2024. Pelissero counted 17 trades from the start of this regular season through the Nov. 10 deadline, nine of them in the final 36 hours, plus the two that were cancelled, and an average of almost 19 in-season deals a year in the three seasons since the move. Every trade from deadline day is in our deadline roundup, and the full season of deals is in our trade ledger interactive.

Any change to the trade rules would have to go through the usual process: a proposal from the competition committee or a team, then a vote of the owners, most likely at the league meeting in March.