With the Fantasy Football marathon going and preseason football started, football season is back. For Dynasty and Keeper leagues it’s starting to get down to the selection process and figuring out which players you’re going to keep as the drafts are around the corner. I’m not breaking news by saying how crucial this is or how important it is to find every asset you can, but that still seems lost on teams.
If you’re in a rollover league then these are the last moments to grab a player or two to put on your roster for the 2019 season and with some teams having to make cuts it could provide you a chance to find them on the cheap. Hopefully your league has players that are open about who could be on the trade block but send those messages.
A smart owner is always going to be exploring trades to gather assets. This off season I’ve gone back and forth on which direction I was going to take my team, sell from the get go or run it back after injuries destroyed my playoff hopes. Tyreek Hill not getting suspended was a big nudge for the go for it, but I made a trade I was going to either way.
The class of my Dynasty League had Emmanuel Sanders and Delanie Walker on the chopping block. Now, I know they’re old and both coming off of injuries but they are still solid players. In a full on even trade both are worth around a 2nd round pick a piece but I was able to get them for two third round picks. Is it a risk, sure, but I consider it a win win. They give me more depth with upside but also give me assets to move in the season if my team goes South once again.
As a rebuilding team I know youth and draft picks are something you should hoard, but if there’s a chance to add solid players on the cheap then you have to look at them as lottery tickets. Several rebuilding teams were offered this trade, including one with all seven picks in the first three rounds, but they all passed. That’s a benefit for me. Maybe they want to tank and not get those players, but you don’t have to play them. It’s a cheap price to get players you can flip later, and tight ends are a good market to want to sell in.
Now, maybe that’s not a trade you’d want to make as a rebuilding team but I’ve also seen something no one should agree with. As you mark your keepers there are players on your roster that aren’t going to make it, but you don’t cut them ahead of the drive. You keep those players and make sure they go in to the pool so if anyone wants them they have to spend the draft pick on them instead of just getting them for free.
A second round pick from last year, Jordan Wilkes, just found his way on to the waiver wire. Don’t get me wrong, the Colts backfield looked pretty set at the end of the season, but we aren’t to the draft yet. What if an injury happens? Running backs are such a valuable commodity, and the shelf life is short, so why would you bail on them after one season? This was a rebuilding team, and even if you decided to risk him going in to the draft pool why would you cut him ahead of the draft so other teams have a shot to roster him for free?
This is the same team that drafted Pat Mahommes his rookie year and then cut him early in the season. Needless to say another team quickly grabbed him and rode him last year in to the championship game. What are you doing? Again, this wasn’t a championship team that completely whiffed on the league MVP and set it and forget QB for at leas the next decade.
When you’re not redrafting you have to have patience. I took Tyler Boyd his rookie year and let him walk. His second year wasn’t as good and then he broke out. Now, especially with AJ Green beat up who I have now, he could become a WR stud. In re-draft leagues it’s all about one year at a time, but that’s the fun challenges of Dynasty Leagues, you have to think long term. You have to let your assets grow and you always have to be looking to find more.