What time is the NFL Trade Deadline?

It's that magical time of year, when the NFL Trade Deadline arrives and with it comes a frenzy of activity and rumors.

For the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the question is what will the team end up doing? It was looking a few weeks ago like the team might be buyers at the deadline, but the three game losing streak that has sunk the team into third place changed those plans.

There was no guarantee that the Bucs would have been buyers at the deadline, but falling to 3-4 and out of the playoff picture pretty much sealed the deal. Just because the Bucs are free falling doesn't mean they're automatically sellers, either.

Historically, Jason Licht hasn't really been active at the deadline, and the Bucs haven't made many deadline trades in the past. A deal this year would have to truly blow the team away, as they won't be buying any pieces but don't plan to blow anything up either.

What time is the NFL Trade Deadline 2023?

The NFL Trade Deadline is set to expire at 4pm ET, at which point no furhter trades can be made. There's usually a half-hour period after the deadline where deals still get announced, but those are trades that were submitted under the wire and needed to be processed through the league office before becoming official.

Nothing can happen after 4pm ET.

Teams can still make transactions after the trade deadline, though. Waiver wires remain open all season but teams can't be compensated for losing a player the way they can through a trade. Baseball used to have a waiver trade deadline, where players could still be traded through the waiver wire, but the NFL does not have that. MLB actually did away with it this season, so it doesn't even exist in that form anymore.

If a team doesn't make a trade before 4pm ET, it can't make another move until the new league year begins next March.

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