Tue Jul 8th 2025

Grading Recent Dynasty Trades

On this holiday weekend, I'm writing a quick article on the trades executed in my dynasty leagues since rookie drafts. I was surprised to see that four of the eight trades that took place over the last four to six weeks have been my trades. I am a Dynasty Freek who loves trading year-round!

This short holiday article allows me to discuss the dynasty value of many players and the various ways managers trade based on the strength of their teams. It's a short article, but I hope you enjoy the read.

My Trades

Dont'e Thornton <=====> Marvin Mims

• I briefly mentioned this trade in last week's article about the players I added to my rosters off waivers since rookie drafts. Thornton is the player I have added the most, including once in a trade. I was willing to trade Mims after two years of watching his performance in the NFL, even though he ended the year on a hot streak. He was fifth on the team in wide receiver snap counts last year behind Courtland Sutton, Lil'Jordan Humphrey, Devaugh Vele, and Troy Franklin.  Humphrey is no longer with the team, but the Broncos added Pat Bryant in the draft, which is another indication that coach Payton prefers bigger and taller wide receivers, even if they have bounced around the NFL, as was the case with Humphrey, their receiver with the second-most snaps last year. This year, Evan Ingram is likely to be their second-most-targeted pass catcher, too. All the signs point to Mims never becoming an every-down starter, so I was willing to move on from him for Thornton, who was running with the first team in minicamp. I don't want to make too much of minicamp reports, but they were enough to make me prefer Thornton over Mims, given that he can earn a starting role with the Raiders while Mims will not with the Broncos. The addition of Thornton in this league let me hedge my bets a bit, too, since I drafted Jack Bech in the rookie draft in this league. I expect the Raiders' offense to improve with their new coaching staff, new quarterback, and the addition of a stud rookie running back. The Raiders wide receiver depth chart is wide open behind Jakobi Meyers, whose contract can be voided after this season. The Raiders future starters could be Thornton and Bech. At least one of them will become a productive part of the offense, if not both.

DeMario Douglas <=====> Rashod Bateman

• I made another player-for-player trade to acquire DeMario Douglas after minicamp reports told of his rapport with Drake Maye. I like betting on new coaches and young quarterbacks, and I believe Douglas will become a highly targeted player in the Patriots' new offensive system with Drake Maye. Bateman has been one of my personal favorites since his rookie season. Still, he has never lived up to his ability because he's on an offense that does not allow wide receivers to produce for fantasy. Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely, and Zay Flowers will all score more touchdowns than Bateman, which is why I was happy for him but sad for dynasty managers when he re-signed with the team this year. His upside is capped in the Baltimore offense, whereas Douglas has room to grow. Neither of these players is likely to see starting lineups in dynasty rosters often this season, but if I were to start one, I'd like to start Douglas, whom I am confident will receive more targets than Bateman this season. It's a small trade to depth and possible upside. Both managers preferred the upside of one over the other.

Javonte Williams <=====> Cedric Tillman

• I offered this trade based purely on team need. In this league, I have top-end depth at the wide receiver position, featuring Puka Nacua, Drake London, Marvin Harrison, Xavier Worthy, Jordan Addison, Chris Olave, and George Pickens. However, I am very weak and thin at running back, with Chase Brown, Aaron Jones, Omarion Hampton, and a bunch of RB-2s as depth. I wanted to add a player I'm not fond of but who at least has an opportunity to produce and rebuild his career with a new team in Dallas. I have Miles Sanders in this league, too, which gives me a significant share of the Dallas backfield, assuming Jaydon Blue does not surpass them. I don't believe he can. The other team needed depth and a wide receiver with upside, just as I did at running back, so he accepted the trade. If Williams becomes a productive and reliable starter, I will be very pleased with this trade, and he will become a viable starter on my team. Tilman, on the other hand, will likely never see my starting roster in this league. That's why I was pleased to make this trade. Even if Williams does not bounce back or Blue surprises me, I will not be disappointed with the calculated risk I took on this trade for this team.

Davante Adams, Ray Davis, and a 2026 4th round pick <=====> 2026 1st and 3rd round pick

• A rebuilding team contacted me shortly after the rookie draft to ask if I liked any of their veteran players for draft picks. Davante Adams was the player I liked the most. I'm a top contender in this league, having won the Super Bowl two years ago and lost in the Super Bowl last year. I like to build my team with wide receivers in any dynasty league but in a PPR league with three starting wide receivers and three flex spots, I load up my team with wide receivers. I am confident that Adams will thrive with the Rams and produce throughout his two-year contract.  Plus, I have Puca Nacua on this team. If he battles injuries again like he did last year, I'll have the WR-1 for the Rams while he recovers. I was willing to trade Adams for a first-round pick, but he wanted a little more, and so did I. We went back and forth through direct messages to strike a deal that enabled me to acquire Ray Davis by giving up a third-round pick and adding a fourth-round pick back to my team. It's been very difficult for my team to rebuild at running back since it's a one-quarterback league, and I draft at the end of the first round every year. So, I wanted to add a player who I believe will become the starter for the Bills next year: Ray Davis. Adding him to the deal was the icing on the cake. I was pleased to add a fourth-round pick, especially because we have a three-rookie taxi squad, so I can select some of "my guys" late in the fourth round and let them sit on my taxi squad for a year if need be. 

Other Trades

Trey Benson and a 2026 2nd round pick <=====> 2027 1st round pick

• The four-time returning champ in this league found himself in the same place I was in in the league above, always at the end of the first round in rookie drafts and unable to draft a rookie running back. So, he made a trade for Benson in the hope that he would become the future starter in Arizona. He threw in a distant future first-round pick for a future second-round pick to finalize the deal. The team that traded away Benson has James Conner on its roster, so it's banking on Conner holding off Benson or Benson not being talented enough to become their future starter. It's interesting to see two different takes on the value of Benson. I did not like Benson as much as other rookie drafts last year, and he did not look good in his rookie season. However, the Cardinals did nothing this offseason to threaten the depth chart, so I like his situation now more than I did a year ago. I like Ray Davis's chances of becoming the Bills' starter more than Benson's because James Cook is in the final year of his contract, and his contract negotiations have turned negative. While Conner, though much older than Cooks, is signed through 2026. It's more of a gamble to bet on Benson in my eyes, so the first-round pick side of this trade little better than the package side of this deal, but I get each team's reason for the trade.

Rhamondre Stevenson and Travis Etienne <=====> Ricky Pearsall

• The same Super Bowl champion made this trade for Ricky Pearsall, and he gave up way too much in the deal. I understand dynasty managers being fearful or concerned about Stevenson's role now that the Patriots added TreVeyon Henderson, but I believe Stevenson will still have a significant role in the running game. As for Travis Etienne, I am not buying the hype that Tank Bigsby or BhayShul Tuten will take over his role. Dynasty managers are wrong to give up on Etienne. He's their best running back, even if the Jaguars can choose not to extend the fifth year of his contract. Pearsall is the youngest player in this trade, but that's the only advantage of that side of the trade. He had a few productive games to end the season, but he's a long way from proving he can become the 49ers' top-targeted wide receiver in the future, especially after Brandon Aiyuk gets healthy. I like the package side of this deal for the depth it gives to the team at running back. I think they got the best player in the deal, Travis Etienne, but I know I hold a minority opinion on him, as evidenced by this trade and how far Etienne falls in my many best-ball drafts this summer.

2027 1st round pick <=====> Mike Evans and Tony Pollard

• Two contending teams made this big trade. The team willing to trade Evans and Pollard believed he had enough firepower to give up the aging Evans and a depth-piece, Pollard, for a distant future first-round pick. The other team that lost in the Super Bowl last year is weak at starting wide receiver and gained a starter in Evans, at least for this one year. His team is very old at wide receiver and running back, so the team that traded for the future first-round pick is banking on his team dying out before 2027, which is a good bet. When making a "go-for-it" bet with an old team, it's always important to measure your roster against the best team in the league. In this case, the best team has won the Super Bowl three years in a row, and their team remains dominant. In that case, I'd not add older players for a future run in 2025; I'd add future picks, even if I am a contender like the team that traded away Evans and Pollard. On paper, this trade appears to be a better package deal, but in context, I prefer the first-round pick side of this trade, given what each manager attempted to do.

Jalen Hurts <=====> C.J. Stroud and Jaydon Blue

• In this superflex league, each manager preferred one quarterback over the other, with the difference being rookie Jaydon Blue. The package side of the deal is also the more youthful side of the deal, so he as that in his favor. If Blue surprises me to become a starter for the Cowboys, the package side of this deal is the winner by far, but as I already wrote above, I do not think he will. The Hurts side of the deal gets the highest-scoring player for years to come. In this league's scoring settings, Hurts scored 84 more points than Stroud in 2024 and 76 more points in 2023. Stroud has room to grow and produce more than he has in his first two years in the NFL, but I don't think he will ever score more than Hurts in a season, especially since Stoud rarely runs and the tush-push was not banned by the NFL. I like the Hurts side of this trade.

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