NFL Trade Deadline: Hurricane Sandy moves date to Thursday

2012's NFL Trade Deadline was set for Tuesday at 3 PM CDT—itself the latest the deadline's ever been. But the east-coast shutdown precipitated by Hurricane Sandy means it'll go back even further, to Thursday, according to an announcement from NFL spokesmen. For the St. Louis Rams, that means two more days to decide whether Steven Jackson has played his last home game (in London), a question brought about by Daryl Richardson's emergence and Jackson's voided contract.

The Rams' decision is already prolonged in an important way: Whether they're trading veterans for draft picks or some combination of both for a wide receiver, their post-London bye week means Jeff Fisher and company would have time to restart the offense around a new presence (or a lack thereof.) Now the simple act of making the decision is prolonged.

So far the NFL's attempt to jump-start trade deadline activity, which has always been a bust compared to the NBA and MLB equivalents, hasn't really panned out. But if teams were waiting until the last possible minute to deal, they now find themselves having to wait for the last possible minute.