As the frenzy of NFL offseason action approaches, fantasy football owners should be hoping these five guys get traded.
The NFL free agency “tampering period” for 2023 starts in less than a week as of this writing, and interwoven in that will certainly be some trades. Fantasy football owners will be watching all the activity to hone in on how a new landing spot impacts a player, positively or negatively. April’s draft will also have a say when it’s all said and done.
As teams’ situations change, many players will have their fantasy value positively impacted by landing on a new team. Fantasy owners may have their eyes on some, with the hope they do get traded to a better situation. Some may simply just need a change of scenery to reach their full potential.
Situation and talent, plus opportunity=fantasy value.
Focusing strictly on trades, fantasy football owners should be hoping these five players are traded this offseason.
Note: Data use from Fantasy Pros and Pro Football Reference unless otherwise noted.
5 players fantasy football owners should hope are traded this offseason
5. Jerry Jeudy, WR, Denver Broncos
You could say Jeudy had a third-year breakout in 2022, with career-bests across the board (67 catches for 972 yards and six touchdowns). But he needed a strong stretch run to finish the season as a top 20-25 fantasy receiver, depending on going through Week 17 or Week 18.
The Broncos may he hesitant to trade Jeudy, given he’s approaching his 24th birthday in April. But he is stuck dealing with the shell of Russell Wilson under center, and even with the promise of last year’s stretch run new head coach Sean Payton can only do so much to fix Wilson’s eroded skill set.
There’s a slim chance it happens. But those of us who thought Jeudy would finally be fully unlocked by a good quarterback last year were left holding the bag for much of the season. Any lingering believers in Jeudy’s fantasy potential moving toward 2023 have to be wishing for a trade, with a preference for some teams over others.
4. D’Andre Swift, RB, Detroit Lions
Through three seasons with the Lions, Swift just hasn’t put it all together. His usage as a rookie was mysterious at times, with a concussion and illness costing him time. In 2021 he was doing ok until a shoulder injury cost him time, and led to limited work when he returned to action late.
Last season started great, with a career-high 144 rushing yards. But he emerged from that game with an ankle issue that lingered all season. He also added a shoulder issue in Week 3, and he ultimately missed three games.
The big season Jamaal Williams had was definitely a big factor in Swift seeing limited work once he was healthy enough to play again last year. But the Lions coaching staff clearly did not trust him to take on more, leaving behind only some teases of what he could do. Deeper numbers, albeit without the full context of his struggle to stay on the field, are enticing.
At the NFL Combine last week, head coach Dan Campbell’s comments about Swift, via Ben Raven of MLive, came off as very telling in a certain light.
"We’re going to start all over from scratch again. Let’s find another way to see if we can help him stay on the field, you know? I already know he’s doing that for himself, so we’ve got to do that on our end. What can we do better by him? Can we? Because he’s too talented. He’s too talented to not have out there. He’s an explosive athlete.”"
Swift is entering the final year of his rookie contract, and the Lions are not giving him a contract extension this offseason. Another team may think they can do better to help him reach his full potential, and fantasy football owners should be hoping for a change of scenery a year earlier than it’ll already be coming
3. Mike Evans, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
In league history, Evans’ is in some exclusive company with nine 1,000-yard seasons to open his career. He has been a top-10 fantasy wide receiver in six of those seasons, and top-eight five times (standard scoring).
One of those non-top-10 seasons was of course 2022 when he was WR16 in standard scoring. Having him on a fantasy roster and naturally in a fantasy lineup last season on a weekly basis was a rollercoaster ride, though he certainly won some league titles with a boom game in Week 17 (10 receptions for 207 yards and three touchdowns).
In Tampa Bay, Tom Brady is gone and one potentially viable option to replace him (Derek Carr) is going elsewhere in the NFC South to the New Orleans Saints. Kyle Trask would be the starter under center for the Buccaneers if the season started today, which of course it doesn’t. But they are so strapped financially that Jimmy Garoppolo might be the best they can do to add a veteran. Drafting someone is also a possibility.
Evans’ teammate Chris Godwin is worth a mention here as well. But while Godwin has time left on his contract, Evans has one year left on his deal that’s not a cap hit-stretching void year.
Anywhere Evans might go in a trade will have a better quarterback situation than what’s in line for Tampa Bay next season. There are big dead money implications for the Buccaneers attached to a pre-June 1 trade of Evans (h/t to Over The Cap), which would be lessened if a deal was made official after June 1.
However the mechanics of it looks in terms of salary cap implications, fantasy football managers don’t have to care about that. They should be crossing their fingers Evans is dealt this offseason.
2. DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Arizona Cardinals
There’s no question the Cardinals will trade Hopkins this offseason, even as team brass gives non-answers about his future. The six-game suspension he served to start last season eliminated his no-trade clause, according to Joel Corry of CBS Sports, so the Cardinals can send him wherever the best deal is.
Hopkins was one of the most productive wide receivers in the NFL when he returned from that suspension, with 64 receptions for 717 yards in nine games before an injury sidelined him for the final two. From Week 7-Week 14, the game Kyler Murray suffered his torn ACL in, Hopkins led the league in receptions (56) and had the fourth-most receiving yards (653) over the span.
Over that Week 7-14 stretch, Hopkins was WR5 in full PPR fantasy scoring and top-10 regardless of scoring format (WR9 in standard, WR6 in 0.5-PPR).
Murray will of course be out well into next season, and it’s hard to know what the Cardinals will do to replace him in the meantime. Hopkins was productive despite some ugly pre-Deshaun Watson quarterbacking as a Houston Texan, but that was when he was a younger player. Not that he’s decrepit or incredibly diminished now coming up on 31 years old. But playing with a very bad quarterback has a “been there, done that” feel he should not repeat.
Hopkins won’t be able to choose his trade destination, which would have practically guaranteed he was going to head to a far better situation. But the natural list of potential suitors pushes the idea he will have a good, healthy quarterback next season, and a return to WR1 status in fantasy over a full season is well within the range of possibilities.
1. Brandin Cooks, WR, Houston Texans
Cooks is no stranger to being traded, of course, playing for four teams in his nine NFL seasons thus far. But that has generally not stopped him from being productive, with six 1,000-yard seasons and six finishes as a top-20 fantasy wide receiver (standard scoring) on his resume. His most impressive campaign might have been in 2021 when he had a career-high 90 receptions for the Texans without Deshaun Watson as his quarterback.
Cooks was openly frustrated that he was not traded at last season’s deadline, at least on social media if not also to the Texans behind the scenes. A more recent anecdote, from the Houston Chronicle in January, said he has told the Texans he doesn’t want to be part of a rebuilding process.
Some reporting more recently has suggested a Cooks trade is not close as the start of the league year approaches, with the New England Patriots and some others also bandied about as a possible suitor. But deadlines drive action, and Cooks trade talks will surely ramp up.
The ship has sailed on Cooks having a steady quarterback for a multi-year stretch in his career. But a trade away from the Texans can only be good for his fantasy value, and the landing spot really doesn’t matter in that regard. A bounce back to WR2 standing as a fantasy receiver is in the offing for 2023, on an inevitable new team.