There are some classic stereotypical characters in every league when it comes to trading. For instance, everyone knows “4-for-1 Guy”. He’s the guy who offers you four dudes from his bench for Christian McCaffrey because, hey, four is more than one right? You’re getting a steal!
We’ve all played with them. And there’s a bunch more stereotypical trade guys out there from the “Trade Scientist”, who needs trades to fit a highly specific value formula before accepting, to the “Only Trades If He’s Getting the Best Player in the Deal Guy” because he read that on Twitter once. It’s honestly a plague in today’s fantasy landscape.
What we’re here to do today is share some ideas in the hopes we can help you become a rare and powerful trade guy. The legendary “Guy Who Understands That All Trades Are Relative”. Because that’s the guy who gets the league winning deals done.
First things first - there is no such thing as a “vacuum” in fantasy football. From the moment you even know what slot you are drafting at, every trade has context. And that goes double for after you’ve completed your draft and triple for when the season has actually started. So, if you are doing a trade that might not necessarily help your team but is just too good of a deal on paper, you are the sucker here.
No one should live in a fantasy vacuum. Context is everything when it comes to trades. Take this example: I offer my Patrick Mahomes , Travis Kelce , and Chase Edmonds for his George Kittle and Marvin Jones .
Seems insane on paper right? Just the tight end swap straight up isn’t even fair in most people’s eyes and Marvin Jones for Patrick Mahomes makes no sense either. Also, why am I throwing in Chase Edmunds on top of a bad deal – to the guy who happens to be the handcuff to David Johnson , who my trade partner owns? I’m giving up arguably the best players at two positions who I probably spent a ton of draft capital on as well as a valuable handcuff for, at best, an even TE swap and a WR going in like the eighth round. “Veto Corleone” hasn’t had a heart attack this bad since he was playing in the garden with his grandson Anthony.
But what if we sprinkle on a bit of that context stuff we were talking about? Let’s say, at this point in the year, I’m 4-6 and the trade deadline is looming. I have two cupcake matchups coming up before I play another team who is currently 4-6 in Week 12 – the same team I’m trading with. I drafted Kyler Murray late as my second QB who is breaking out (let’s say he’s the QB6 and Mahomes is the QB1 or 2) and I badly need help at WR. On top of that, the guy I’m trading with has a stacked bench and the worst two players on his team are WRs that I would pick up immediately. And it just so happens I have the top waiver claim.
When pull your suction cupped face out of the vacuum and you look at in the context of this situation, this is what I’m doing.
Getting the WR I need in Marvin Jones
Adding another WR when he drops one in order to accept the 3-for-2
Not making that big of a downgrade at TE because of the swap
Not making that big of a downgrade at QB because of my backup
Getting two guys who already had their bye weeks
Sending my Week 12 opponent three guys who will have their bye week on Week 12, when I play him.
“Week 12 Guy” might look at this trade and think “how could I possibly turn this down? So much value!” And the rest of the league might say “what the heck are you doing? You are giving “Week 12 Guy” all these great players and his handcuff”. But the reality is that, if I win my next 3 games, including the one against him in Week 12 when he won’t have Mahomes, Kelce, and David Johnson , then I’ll finish 7-6 and the best he can finish is 6-7. I’m likely in the playoffs and he’s likely out. Who cares that he has Kelce and Mahomes and some mega squad – he’s in the consolation bracket now. And if he beats me and runs the table on the rest of the league? Who cares – I didn’t make the playoffs anyway. But I gave myself the best chance I possibly could while also likely giving my opponent the best chance he’s going to have to win the whole league.
This of course is a fairly extreme example as you would think “Week 12 Guy” would realize he’s setting himself up with a bye week time bomb but, with the value obsession we see in today’s game, maybe he pulls the trigger anyway. Like we mentioned, if he can somehow pull it off, he’s going to have a monster squad going into the playoffs. The bottom line is it’s a risky strategy that both of us should be able to employ, if we chose to do so. Trading is inherently risky – it’s nearly impossible for it to come out exactly even for both teams.
See, the main problem with most trade scenarios is that no one really cares about anything but their own interest. When they are offering you a trade, they care about their own team, not yours. When they are vetoing the trade, they care about their own team, not the two teams involved. Our challenge to you is to help break the mold here. Of course you call out the “4-for-1 Guy” if you see the trade isn’t helping the other team but also stand up to the Godfathers in your leagues too. Try to empathize with your leaguemates and recognize that the trade might not be great in a vacuum but both teams have a plan in mind for what they are looking to accomplish. If you start thinking outside of the vacuum, you’ll not only step in to save your league from some painful and embarrassing veto mobs but maybe you’ll also “lose” some trades that just might win you a championship.