Trading Post

The best dynasty trade of 2015 was an idea mentioned on the UTH chat, which constantly idles with ideas, trades, dynasty thoughts, and more between UTH contributors 24/7. We really should offer backstage passes to the chat on a weekly basis in the future.

If folks wanted to share their best dynasty trade story of 2015, I was game to organize them into a post here at UTHDynasty. A trade is worth a thousand words, of course brevity is important as well. On to the trades!

Katie Flower

Setup

12-Team PPR Devy League 1 QB, 1-4 RB, 2-5 WR, 1-3 TE, 25 total roster spots

Timeline

  • March 6:  Brandon Marshall traded to the NY Jets
  • March 7:  Randall Cobb re-signs with Green Bay Packers
  • March 10:  Jimmy Graham traded to the Seahawks
  • April 30:  NFL draft and league rookie draft

The Perfect Storm

On April 3rd a league-mate updated their trade bait to include Davante Adams.  Adams has always been one of my coveted targets; I consider him a core receiver.  I wanted to clear room on my roster for the upcoming rookie draft, so I wanted to make a decent offer.

Buzz was strong indicating Josh Hill was going to take over the hole left by Jimmy Graham.  Chip Kelly made it clear he favored his ex-Oregon players and had not drafted Agholor yet.  The Bears had not drafted Kevin White yet.

The Trade

  • Gave Josh Huff, Marquess Wilson, Josh Hill
  • Received Davante Adams

The trade calculator was not available at the time, but I knew this was a steal of a core player.  Entering this into the trade calculator now and in light of all that has happened since the trade occurred shows a +241.9% value difference in my favor.

Jordan Spires

10 Team, 0.5 PPR League

After a full day of negotiations on the day of our rookie draft, I was able to swing a deal for Rob Gronkowski.

  • Gave Coby Fleener, 1.01, 4.05, 4.06, 16 3rd
  • Received Rob Gronkowski, 3.01, 16 1st, 16 5th

To be able to get Gronk and a future 1st is insane value for Fleener and the 1.01. When putting the picks into the UTH Trade Calculator I actually lost the trade by a decent margin. Once you fill in the actual players selected I ended up with a +60.2% value win. The biggest reason I was able to win the trade was because my trade partner swiftly selected Melvin Gordon with the 1.01 allowing Cooper to fall in my lap at 1.02!

Patrick Kerrane

My favorite trade of the off-season was trading down from the 1.03 to 1.10. I packaged the 1.03 (ended up being Kevin White) with a 2016 3rd and received the 1.10 (ended up being Breshad Perriman) and a 2016 1st.
  • Gave 1.03 (Kevin White), 16 3rd
  • Received 1.10 (Breshad Perriman), 16 1st
Unlike most of the UTH Crew, I’m not a huge Kevin White fan. Essentially I think his age-adjusted production is a red flag. I do own White, but I’ve only drafted him at a discount to his initial top-3 ADP. On the other hand, I’m right in line with the UTH consensus on Breshad Perriman; he’s been a target of mine all off-season. In my opinion Perriman has all the upside of White–and although he’s a lower floor prospect, his opportunity for rookie targets keeps the floor on his market value high. At the time of the trade Perriman was a realistic target at 1.10, so I made the trade with a White for Perriman swap in mind.
Part of the reason this is my favorite trade is that the team I was trading with did not earn the 1.10, they earned the 1.03, so I’m optimistic about the future 1st. But honestly the reason that I love this trade is that waiting to see if I would get my guy was super stressful but ultimately fun as hell. Fantasy Football is supposed to be entertainment and there’s nothing more fun than pulling off a move that makes you feel smart–even if (especially if) it’s a risky trade you could be kicking yourself for down the line. Not all risky moves are good moves, but the best moves are often risky ones.
Bonus 2014 Submission from Patrick:
In honor of Trent Richardon not making the Raiders, I feel the need to share this trade from during the draft last season in the same league:
GAVE
Richardson, Trent IND RB
Richardson, Paul SEA WR
FOR
Adams, Davante GBP WR
Wilson, Marquess CHI WR
Wilson, David NYG RB
Year 2014 Draft Pick 5.08
*Chad Parsons’ Editor Note*
I also dealt away Trent Richardson in 2014, before the floor fell out of his tenuous dynasty value, getting 1.10 straight up, which ended up as Davante Adams.

Tim Torch

I love playing dynasty fantasy football and my very first team, EVER, is still considered a baby today.  It is a 14 team, PPR league through Yahoo.

League Starting Requirements (17 roster spots): 1QB 2RB 3WR 1TE, 2Flex, DST, K with 6 bench spots.  The kicker with this league is that if you draft a player during the rookie draft you hold that players rights for 5 years without penalty. [bctt tweet=”You can simply leave the player on the waiver wire and no one can touch him other than you.” via=”no”]

QB: Philip Rivers, Carson Palmer
RB: Bishop Sankey, Adrian Peterson, Matt Jones, Lance Dunbar
WR: AJ Green, DeAndre Hopkins, Andre Johnson, Sammy Watkins, Brian Quick, Ty Montgomery, Tyler Lockett, Sammy Watkins, Allen Robinson, Davante Adams, Amari Cooper, Cody Latimer,           Breshad Perriman, Kevin White
TE: Eric Ebron, Dwayne Allen, Kyle Rudolph

The Trade

  • Gave Adrian Peterson, Andre Johnson
  • Received Brandin Cooks

In this league I admittedly do not have much in terms of running backs.  In fact Adrian Peterson and Bishop Sankey were my only starting running backs on this team.  That being said this trade was too juicy to pass up.

Now you may ask why I would ever trade away my starting running back when I don’t have much depth anyway?  The fact is that while Adrian Peterson has been a great running back he is also 30 years old and will only have at most 3 years left.  Brandin Cooks is 22 and has closer to 10 years left in his career.

The big picture here is that you should never stop looking for value and building through your wide receivers.  You will often have to make what looks like a sacrifice for the greater good of your team.  While running back will be my weakness, for now, I will have an advantage over every other team I play against with my team of wide receiver ones and should be able to easily keep up with PPR value alone.  Furthermore I have a running back plan of looking for veteran running backs on the cheap in hopes of getting just enough production to push me over the top.

Brandin Cooks

Tim Smith

He must have sent it out to the entire league, but I was the first to see it and press accept. I checked my phone from the treadmill that day, as I often do, and it paid off. He offered me Frank Gore for my 5th. After checking Twitter to see if there was a car accident I didn’t know about, I took the easy plunge. It was February; Gore was still on the 49ers’ roster.
  • Gave Round 5
  • Received Frank Gore
In July, on the day of the rookie draft, having shopped Gore thoroughly throughout the league, I sold him for 2.09 (Matt Jones) and 3.07 (Cameron Artis-Payne). Perhaps I could have gotten more if I had held out longer; however, that would also have opened me up to the risk of injury. I decided to lock in solid value; I think Matt Jones will be worth a 1st rounder by 2016.
  • Gave Frank Gore
  • Received Matt Jones, Cameron Artis-Payne
So remember, stay active and check your league year-round. You might just pick up value like I did: a 5th round pick for Matt Jones and Cameron Artis-Payne.

Joey Magallanes 

My favorite trade of 2015 was in my home league. (Full disclosure, it became a full dynasty league in 2014.)

  • Gave Eddie Lacy, Brandon Cooks, 2.09
  • Received Gronk, 1.04

This league is in Oregon so Brandon Cooks holds a little extra value. It is also not very deep and still uses standard scoring, non-PPR. This and the more recent switch to full dynasty gives Lacy extra value in this league also. Remembering not all leagues have the same values led to working out a trade for Gronk. The 1.04 turned into Todd Gurley. The 2.09 turned into Sammie Coates.

Post-Trade Roster

QB: Andrew Luck, Joe Flacco

RB: Jeremy Hill, Giovani Bernard, Carlos Hyde, Isaiah Crowell, Jerick McKinnon, James Starks

WR: A.J. Green, Mike Evans, Keenan Allen, Deandre Hopkins, Jordan Matthews, Kelvin Benjamin, Kenny Stills, Donte Moncrief, Cordarrelle Patterson

TE: Rob Gronkowski, Jordan Cameron, Zach Ertz

Not all leagues are created equal, find things that change perceived value and use them to your advantage.

Chad Parsons

I had a few different choices in terms of my favorite trades. The one I will go with is from early August. On one of my strongest teams, I strive to get at least one lottery ticket Round 1 rookie pick for the upcoming year from another owner with a good shot at an early draft position. My goal is to do it as cheaply as possible. This year, I obtained said rookie pick for a very affordable bet:
  • Gave Round 1 (mine), Rashad Jennings
  • Received Round 1

I already owned the Round 1 selection from the bottom team in my personal power rankings (that one was from dealing Jimmy Graham for Jordan Cameron, Round 1 a month earlier). Now, I give Jennings, who I was already low on to swap my highly-likely late Round 1 for a shot at the 1.01. With a loaded squad, now I have two shots at the 1.01 and both are likely to be top-5 selection. In this outlined deal, the other team has a projected Week 1 starting lineup of Tony Romo, Carlos Hyde, Alfred Morris, Emmanuel Sanders, Andre Johnson, Pierre Garcon, Michael Crabtree, and Greg Olsen. With little depth behind the starting lineup, I am confident I see a solid uptick in draft position for the cost of a 30-year-old injury-riddled running back.

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