The NFL's trade rate has not been used. Now it is.

When it comes to the trade deadline, the NFL is not quite baseball-like. But it's getting closer.

The NFL's trade deadline never used to be much of a thing. In most seasons, it came and went barely noticed. There were some speculation but few, if any, deals were made, and even fewer of significance were contemplated.

That has become a thing of the past. A year ago, Jimmy Garoppolo, running back Jay Ajayi, broad receiver Kelvin Benjamin and left tackle Duane Brown were traded on deadline day or the day before. AJ McCarron from Cincinnati to Cleveland was disallowed because of the Browns failed to properly notify the league office by the deadline.

This season has come back Carlos Hyde traded from Cleveland to Jacksonville last week, wide receiver Amari Cooper dealt Monday from Oakland to Dallas and cornerback Eli Apple feels Tuesday from the New York Giants to New Orleans. Some expect more activity by next Tuesday afternoon's deadline.

[With Eli Apple trade, Saints continue to go all-in on this season’s Super Bowl chances]

"Trade talks going on around the league that would really excite people," form Browns and Philadelphia Eagles executive Joe Banner wrote on Twitter. "We will see how many actually happen. I predict more action than we are used to seeing. "

A variety of factors have been mentioned in the NFL from a no-trade league. There is a new generation of young general managers around the world who is not a leader in the traditional ideas of roster construction. Coaches, who are forced to adapt to the practice of collective bargaining agreement, have become more flexible. The burgeoning salary cap has given greater freedom to make moves.

But the biggest factor by far, according to NFL Front Office Executive Bill Polian, has been the 2012 decision by the league, on the recommendation of the competition committee and with the cooperation of the NFL Players Association, to push the trade deadline back from the Tuesday after Week 8 of the regular season at the Tuesday after Week 8.

"For years and years, [the deadline] "Polian said in a phone interview. "Now, a team like Dallas can say, 'This division is wide open. Let me see if I can fill a need. Same for a team like New Orleans: This is winnable. Let's see what I can do and see if I can fill a need. I do not know if it's good for clubs. "

These days, there are some clearly defined buyers and sellers. The Raiders, after trading standout pass rusher Khalil Mack in Chicago before the season, Jon Gruden's return to coaching. Sending Cooper, a two-time Pro Bowl who has been in the past two seasons, to Dallas the NFL draft two others.

[The Amari Cooper trade means the Cowboys are in win-now mode]

"We felt like it was an opportunity that I felt like I was not going on," Raiders General Manager Reggie McKenzie told reporters Monday. "To get a first-round pick in this business here, I thought was invaluable. It was something that I felt like I had to do moving forward for this organization. "

The Cowboys and Saints have gone all-in on this season. The Saints, one of the top seeds in the NFC playoffs, feels a fourth-round draft choice next year to the Giants, with a record of 1-6, as part of the trade package for Apple. The Saints now have only one pick in the first four rounds of next year's draft. They'll be able to pick you up and get you started again. Drew Brees is starting to wind down, they will not worry too much about the cost of their roster-bolstering.

"The Saints" championship window is now with Drew Brees at QB, "Joel Corry, an expert salary captain, has form agent, wrote on Twitter. "Brees is an MVP candidate at 39 Father Time goal eventually catches up to everybody."

It remains to be seen if more noteworthy trades are to come. The Giants said Eli Manning. Patrick Peterson's reported trade request. The Pittsburgh Steelers have said they expect running back Le'Veon Bell, who still has not signed his franchise-player deal or reported to the team, to be a member of the franchise moving forward.

Bell could make the Steelers' intentions a moot point by joining the team after Tuesday's deadline. But could the Eagles, after Ajayi's season-ending knee injury, use one of their two second-round picks next year to try to land Bell? It is certainly a possibility, as is the speculation about the Minnesota Vikings and Peterson.

But even with the new attitudes around the NFL about trade-deadline maneuvers, getting a football player to learn a new offensive or defensive scheme and blend with his teammates , plugging a new hitter into a lineup or placing a new pitcher in the rotation and telling him to do his thing.

Count Polian among the skeptical. This far is a season, he said, a team usually is what it is, and its fortunes are likely to be around all along.

"In the end, it's probably a lot of sound and fury about not very much," he said. "For years, the competition committee did not want the sound and fury. But now, you're going to be in the room and you're going to be talking about it, and it's not good in a clubhouse or a locker room. . . To me, it takes the focus away from where it should be. "

Read more on the NFL:

The NFC playoff race is about to get wild

Derek Carr disputes report of 'fractured relationship' with Raiders teammates

Deion Sanders defends Alex Smith, predicts Redskins will win the NFC East

NFL power rankings, Week 7: Redskins, Panthers move into a mostly unchanged top 10

Ranking the NFL's eight divisions, from best to worst