This dynasty trade was made in a 12-team, best ball, TripleFlex, tight end premium league with a six round annual devy draft. Starting lineups include 1-2-3-2-2SFlex. I adopted this team last offseason and rode a strong quarterback core to a 4th place finish.
The Approach
I have found when you are in extremely deep leagues, especially devy, there is a large disparity between the top teams and the bottom teams in the league. This means you have to have an incredibly strong roster to compete for a title. Last year, I made the mistake of looking at my roster and flagging it as a contender without comparing it to the other top teams in the league. With player like Ben Roethlisberger, Michael Crabtree and Melvin Gordon on the roster, my goal was to turn some devy assets into NFL players that can help me this year. I decided to take a different approach in this league and put Saquon Barkley on the league’s Trading Block. After making it clear I was looking for elite talent in return, interest died down for a few days. Then out of the blue, I received an offer I could work with surrounding Ezekiel Elliott.
The Trade
Executed July 31st, 2017
Gave Terrelle Pryor, *Saquon Barkley, *Michael Gallup, Devy 6
Received Ezekiel Elliott, Darren McFadden, *Bryan Edwards, Devy 4
The initial offer was Terrelle Pryor and Saquon Barkley for Ezekiel Elliott and USC RB Ronald Jones. While I am not a fan of Jones’ NFL potential for the same reasons Chad outlined, I considered the deal with the intent to quickly sell Jones. With the potential of a suspension is still hanging over Elliott, including Darren McFadden in the deal was a must for me. After a few counters to agree on the secondary pieces, we agreed on a deal I like much more for my team. I consider Michael Gallup to have Tajae Sharpe or Cooper Kupp upside so I do not consider him to be much of a loss, especially since it allowed me to get South Carolina WR Bryan Edwards in return. With another strong season, Edwards could be battling with N’Keal Harry to be the best receiver in the 2019 draft class.
Post-Trade Roster Highlights
Andrew Luck, Derek Carr, Ben Roethlisberger, Alex Smith
Ezekiel Elliott, Melvin Gordon, Ameer Abdullah, Samaje Perine, Darren McFadden, Jacquizz Rodgers, Jerick McKinnon, Elijah Hood
Davante Adams, Michael Crabtree, Josh Doctson, DeVante Parker, Kevin White, Jordan Matthews, Marqise Lee
Coby Fleener, Jack Doyle
*Bryan Edwards, *Damien Harris, *Elijah Holyfield, *Chris Warren, *Amari Rodgers
2018 Devy picks: 3,4,4
2018 Rookie picks: 1,2,3
Takeaways
I love this deal. If everything breaks right for Saquon Barkley, we are hoping he turns into Ezekiel Elliott. Even though Barkley is my early 1.01 in the 2018 draft class, things can happen in the next 12 months to depress his value. Even ignoring injury potential, Barkley could decide to return to Penn State for his senior season, he could declare for the NFL draft and get stuck in a terrible situation, or he could regress this season and simply not be the talent we expect. Remember, rookie running backs do not produce elite seasons like Elliott did in 2016 often. It could be 2019 before Barkley and Elliott are posting equivalent numbers. It is also possible that Elliott is suspended in 2017. Even if this occurs, I am still happy with this deal. Holding McFadden as the backup will allow me to produce solid 2017 numbers and I will have Elliott primed and ready to go in 2018.
