Ten trades, the most in 30 years, were completed on deadline day Tuesday in what was a chaos-fueled final few hours. Let's review the fantasy carnage of an impactful NFL trade deadline. All players were traded for draft picks unless otherwise noted.
Kadarius Toney traded by Giants to Chiefs
OK, this deal wasn't consummated Tuesday, but it's a trade that certainly has some fantasy ramifications. I'm just not entirely sure for whom. The Wan'Dale Robinson second-round selection essentially was the final nail in Toney's tenure with the Giants, so it was a bit of masterstroke for New York to spin the Florida product into multiple picks despite Toney playing just 71 offensive snaps over almost the entire course of a year. But he might not be a week-to-week difference maker in an offense that already has Mecole Hardman and Skyy Moore doing "fast, twitchy" player things, and JuJu Smith-Schuster locked into the slot.
Fantasy Winners - Darius Slayton, Wan'Dale Robinson
Fantasy Losers - No one? Everyone? I'm not sure.
T.J. Hockenson traded by Lions to Vikings
The Vikings moved quickly after tight end Irv Smith suffered a high-ankle sprain Sunday, trading for Hockenson on Tuesday. Smith, who is expected to be out 8-10 weeks, has been unproductive this season despite being in one of the NFL's best offenses, and while Hockenson is a tremendous talent, he likely won't jump into the upper echelon of tight ends. He'll probably remain right where he's been the last three years — fantasy
Ten trades, the most in 30 years, were completed on deadline day Tuesday in what was a chaos-fueled final few hours. Let's review the fantasy carnage of an impactful NFL trade deadline. All players were traded for draft picks unless otherwise noted.
Kadarius Toney traded by Giants to Chiefs
OK, this deal wasn't consummated Tuesday, but it's a trade that certainly has some fantasy ramifications. I'm just not entirely sure for whom. The Wan'Dale Robinson second-round selection essentially was the final nail in Toney's tenure with the Giants, so it was a bit of masterstroke for New York to spin the Florida product into multiple picks despite Toney playing just 71 offensive snaps over almost the entire course of a year. But he might not be a week-to-week difference maker in an offense that already has Mecole Hardman and Skyy Moore doing "fast, twitchy" player things, and JuJu Smith-Schuster locked into the slot.
Fantasy Winners - Darius Slayton, Wan'Dale Robinson
Fantasy Losers - No one? Everyone? I'm not sure.
T.J. Hockenson traded by Lions to Vikings
The Vikings moved quickly after tight end Irv Smith suffered a high-ankle sprain Sunday, trading for Hockenson on Tuesday. Smith, who is expected to be out 8-10 weeks, has been unproductive this season despite being in one of the NFL's best offenses, and while Hockenson is a tremendous talent, he likely won't jump into the upper echelon of tight ends. He'll probably remain right where he's been the last three years — fantasy TE4-8 who won't win you games, but also won't have you too upset when you review the box score at the end of the week. The biggest fantasy winner might be whoever emerges as the new Lions starter between presumed incumbent Brock Wright and intriguing fifth-round rookie James Mitchell. It feels like ages ago, but there was a time earlier this season where Jared Goff and the Lions had a top-5 offense with Hockenson having some explosive outings. Amon-Ra St. Brown and D'Andre Swift likely will siphon the over-the-middle targets, but the latter is an injury hazard and the former has had problematic injuries issues this year too.
Fantasy Winners - T.J. Hockenson, Brock Wright
Fantasy Losers - Anyone who still rostered Irv Smith
Chase Claypool traded by Steelers to Bears
It appeared as if the Bears were obvious sellers having traded Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn in separate moves earlier this week, but the franchise anted up for Claypool in an apparent bidding war with the Packers to acquire the first legitimate weapon for Justin Fields. Claypool is a genetic freak, and while the 24-year-old has regressed, production wise, from his 11-touchdown rookie season, it's easy to pin those struggles on an offense bogged down by late-stage Ben Roethlisberger and an equally middling duo of Mitch Trubisky/Kenny Pickett. While it's easy to say the Bears finally have an pass-catching offensive weapon who can be a featured role in the offense, I'm not willing to go that far. The Bears have the second fewest passing yards, are tied for fewest passing attempts and also have the fewest passing first downs — that can't just fall on the lack of solid pass catchers. Sure, Claypool seeing more snaps over the likes of N'Keal Harry, Dante Pettis and Equanimeous St. Brown can't hurt, but the league's most run-heavy offense isn't suddenly changing its scheme. It's not as sexy as some might think, but early 2021 A.J. Green numbers (29-456-3) feels more along the lines of what Claypool could produce if this scheme stays the same.
Fantasy Winners - Justin Fields (dynasty), fantasy managers trading Chase Claypool
Fantasy Losers - All Bears pass catchers
Chase Edmonds (and picks) traded by Dolphins to Broncos for Bradley Chubb (and a pick)
The Dolphins turned the three first-round picks acquired from the 49ers as part of the Trey Lance deal into Tyreek Hill, Bradley Chubb and Jaylen Waddle. Not too bad, and that's without the first rounder forfeited in an ill-fated attempt to save Tom Brady's marriage. From a fantasy perspective, it's Edmonds that is the most interesting piece of this equation. The versatile back was a trendy mid-round sleeper target, but through eight weeks he's been an utter disappointment and was completely phased out by Raheem Mostert. With Javonte Williams (knee) done for the year and the uninspiring duo of Melvin Gordon and Latavius Murray vacuuming up wasted snaps, Edmonds could immediately emerge as the team's top ballcarrier on a per-snap basis. Williams was great at many things, but he was infinitely better than the aforementioned veterans as a pass catcher, something for which Edmonds is uniquely qualified. Considering the 26-year-old creeped under 50 percent rostered on both ESPN and Yahoo prior to the trade, he's worth a speculative grab.
Fantasy Winners - Chase Edmonds
Fantasy Losers - Latavius Murray, Melvin Gordon
Jeff Wilson traded by 49ers to Dolphins
After the Dolphins traded Edmonds, I was initially worried they were playing a dangerous game assuming Mostert would stay healthy the entire season, but that was quickly mitigated with the Wilson acquisition. Wilson almost certainly could be a top-20 running back in the event he assumed the majority of Mostert's workload, but I highly doubt the new acquisition cuts into the latter's workload when healthy. Treat this like a Dalvin Cook-Alexander Mattison situation. The same goes for Elijah Mitchell (knee) and Christian McCaffrey with the former expected to be activated off injured reserve for Week 10 against the Chargers
Fantasy Winners - Jeff Wilson, Elijah Mitchell
Fantasy Losers - None
Calvin Ridley traded by Falcons to Jaguars
It feels like Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke paid sticker price for Ridley despite the fact the wideout will not play this year due to a gambling-related suspension. To make matters worse, the organization will essentially have just 7-9 months to determine if the 2018 first-round pick is worth a contract that likely will rival the upper echelon of wide receivers. When Ridley is actually on the field, he's generally a dynamic player and that should benefit the development of franchise signal caller Trevor Lawrence.
Fantasy Winners - Trevor Lawrence, Drake London, Kyle Pitts
Fantasy Losers - Marvin Jones
Nyheim Hines traded by Colts to Bills for Zack Moss (and a pick)
I don't think I've seen teenagers thirst after something so much as the Bills have for a pass-catching running back. Whether it was the offseason foray with J.D. McKissic, the wasted second-round selection of James Cook or the acquisition of Hines, the Bills seem hell bent on acquiring a function in their offense that ... doesn't seem all that important. Don't get me wrong, the wagons have been circling all season and likely will continue given Josh Allen's dominance, but if anything you'd think the team could use a power back who can whittle away the end of games, not another redundant offensive weapon. Hines was already on the fringes of the fantasy radar anyway, and Tuesday's trade really doesn't change the equation much. An injury to Devin Singletary would obviously change that equation, but for now, the bigger fantasy impact might be in the form of Zack Moss, who seemed to immediately fall out of favor with the Bills front office and will now get a fresh start as the essential replacement for Hines behind Jonathan Taylor.
Fantasy Winners - Zack Moss
Fantasy Losers - Deon Jackson
Other Fantasy Winners
Romeo Doubs - The Packers predictably didn't make any moves Tuesday, leaving the rookie essentially guaranteed as a top-3 wideout for the franchise. He's probably more valuable from a fantasy perspective than Toney, even if one of them is the superior talent.
Kyren Williams (knee) - The ever-aggressive Rams curiously didn't make any trades at the deadline. While they were reportedly in on Brian Burns, I thought they'd at least kick the tires on Kareem Hunt (more on him in a moment). Given undrafted rookie Ronnie Rivers was seeing legitimate snaps in a pivotal divisional battle over the likes of Cam Akers and Darrell Henderson, I think Williams might be one of the more impactful waiver-wire options available all year. Yes, he ran a slow 40-yard dash, but he's a good pass blocker, which should afford him plenty of playing time when he's eventually activated off injured reserve.
Other Fantasy Losers
Kareem Hunt - It's possible that Monday's win over the Bengals spawned an ill-fated notion the Browns could compete for a playoff spot. If that's truly what happened, it'll go down as one of the worst "wins" in franchise history. Given a number of teams had a pretty glaring need at running back, you'd think the Browns would trade Hunt for whatever the best offer was. Instead they'll continue to give him less than 10 carries a game and hope that he'll yield a good compensatory pick a year from now.
Cam Akers - There was reports earlier this week Akers would be involved in the team's rotation if he wasn't traded at the deadline, but that evidently was a smokescreen deployed to drive up value for the 2020 second-round pick. Following Tuesday's deadline, Akers suggested he "wouldn't play for the Rams for the foreseeable future" and was looking for an amicable end to his tenure with the team. Unless fantasy managers can read the tea leaves, he's not worth rostering even in 12-team leagues.
Aaron Rodgers - I'm not convinced Rodgers would have even returned to fantasy glory had the Packers actually made a move for a wide receiver, but with the franchise standing pat at the deadline once more, any hope should be completely abandoned. The Packers "best" game of the season saw AJ Dillon and Aaron Jones combine for 30 carries and five targets. If there's a winning formula in Green Bay, it's not one that's going to make Rodgers a starting fantasy quarterback most weeks.
