The NFL trade deadline is Tuesday at 1 p.m. Arizona time. Monday night though delivered a pair of NFC West trades -- neither involving the Cardinals -- that will impact the division for a while. The first was Texans veteran tackle Duane Brown going to the Seahawks for veteran CB Jeremy Lane, a fifth-round pick in 2018 and a second-round pick in 2019. The other was Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo going to the 49ers for a 2018 second-round pick (which, as bad as the Niners have been, would be near a late first-round pick.)

The Brown deal makes sense for a Seattle team going for it. Their offensive line has been bad for a long time. Russell Wilson is so good, if they can get him a modicum of blocking, that offense -- which was awesome against the Texans Sunday throwing the ball -- will be that much better. But it's the Jimmy G trade that gets everyone's attention. So many teams are looking for long-term answers at QB. The Cardinals are one. Now, the Niners could offer a much better second-round pick. Garoppolo is going to be an unrestricted free agent, so he's going to be due a lot of money. And frankly, he hasn't played that much. No one is really sure what he will be. It's not like Bill Belichick has ever flipped backup QBs where people have had high hopes only to have them be, um, less than expected (Ryan Mallett, Matt Cassel.)

So this will be Kyle Shanahan's QB choice going forward (no QB in the first round for San Francisco, so that helps the Cards a bit.) He likely won't play against the Cards this season -- it's hard to see him jumping in the lineup Sunday, especially since the Niners are 0-8 and are going nowhere.

The Cardinals made a trade too, don't forget. They got Adrian Peterson, he just happened to come a couple weeks ago. As for their future QB, there are still options. Kirk Cousins may be a free agent (although the 49ers were believed to be a possible destination, so he may just stay in Washington.) There is the draft. At some point very soon, the Cards will have to address that. I don't see how it can't be this spring at the latest.