The NFL has expanded just about everything in recent years. The league has more games and playoff matchups than ever before in history.

Yet, the NFL trade deadline has remained the same since 2012.

The Indianapolis Colts could have benefitted this season from a different NFL trade deadline date — one that was at least a couple weeks later.

The Colts aren’t alone. Entering Week 9, there are 13 NFL teams who aren’t currently in a playoff spot but are within 1.5 games or less of a wild card position.

Those teams in playoff purgatory, like the Colts, weren’t buyers on Tuesday. But they weren’t really sellers either. Of those 13 teams within “striking distance” of a playoff spot Tuesday, only the Washington Commanders and Green Bay Packers traded away a significant player.

And it took the Commanders being in a unique situation with two star players for their trades to occur.

The Colts could have traded away Michael Pittman Jr. or Julian Blackmon. Both are on expiring contracts as defensive linemen Montez Sweat and Chase Young are. Washington traded both Sweat and Young on Tuesday.

But losing Pittman and Blackmon would have severely hurt Indianapolis’ chances of not only competing for the rest of 2023, but fielding a competent wide receiver and safety corps.

Those moves would have been more realistic if the Colts were definitely out of the race. However, they aren’t entering Week 9.