This dynasty trade was made during roster cut downs in late-August with one of my strongest teams. The league is a 14-team non-PPR, start 1-2-2-1-1Flex-K-DST with shallow 20-man rosters and no taxi or injured reserve. I have finished in the top-3 all three years of the league.
The Approach
After digging into this league’s offseason in depth for my Offseason in Review series, I knew I would struggle to make my cuts. Because all teams were looking to the bottom of their rosters, making two for one trades would be a challenge. I took some time and emailed out to all owners in the league individually asking what they wanted for some mid-tier or top players I liked. My plan was to use some of my players in the middle of my roster like Travis Kelce, or Jordan Matthews to package up. Unexpectedly, an owner replied with a fairly strong offer for LeVeon Bell.
The initial offer of Bell for Corey Coleman and his 2017 1st was close, but not enough due to the non-PPR format and the strength of running backs in a 14-team start-2RB league. In addition, my objective was to consolidate roster spots. My counters all included adding back end of the roster players and sweetening his side of the deal.
The Trade
Gave LeVeon Bell, Kirk Cousins, Breshad Perriman, Tim Hightower, 2018 1st
Received Russell Wilson, Corey Coleman, 2017 1st, 2018 1st, 2nd
Tim Hightower was below the cut line and with the late offseason push of Terrell Pryor and Dwayne Washington, Kirk Cousins was hovering on the line as well. Breshad Perriman would have been a nice hold, but as my WR7, I could afford to let him go.
I was surprised this team was willing to give Corey Coleman so soon after the draft. While Russell Wilson is a luxury with Jameis Winston on the roster, this locks up the quarterback position in the short and long term. I am now in a position to have an advantage at quarterback even if Winston takes another year to develop.
The underrated side of this deal was the swap of 2018 1st round picks. With the young elite talent on my roster, I expect to be in the title hunt for the long run. Even if the other 2018 pick is random (I project it to be top half at least), this is an upgrade on my pick.
My Post Trade Roster
Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston
Todd Gurley, Ezekiel Elliott, Derrick Henry, Kenneth Dixon
Odell Beckham Jr., Sammy Watkins, Kevin White, Jordan Matthews, Corey Coleman, Devin Funchess, Will Fuller, Sammie Coates
Travis Kelce, Clive Walford, Austin Seferian-Jenkins
2017 1,1,1,4,4,5,5
2018 1,2,2,3,4,5
Takeaways
The easiest time to make roster spot clearing trades is early in the offseason. Once you get down to the last few weeks before the season starts, these become harder. I have found looking at the middle of your roster for players to package up is the easiest way to make a deal happen. Make sure the players you are offering in a deal would make the other team’s roster, otherwise it is unlikely they will hold any value to the owner. If you are up against the cut deadline, you may have to be willing to overpay in order to make a package deal work.
