January and February may just be the most dangerous, and exhilarating, time of year to make a Dynasty trade. We're a little more than a month away from free agency and three months shy of the NFL Draft. A third of the league (at least) doesn't have their full coaching staff in place. Oh yeah, there are still a few weeks of playoff games left as well.
You can massively win a deal if you guess right on how the next three months but you can also get burned at no fault of your own. This volatility also makes it a good time for me to focus more on how to use the trade chart below and not the particular value of any one player. Because those are going to change a lot in the next few months.
First and foremost, the chart below is based on a one-quarterback league with PPR scoring where passing touchdowns are worth six Fantasy points and you start two running backs, three receivers, a tight end and a flex. Play in a Superflex league? Just add 21 points to the quarterback values. In that format you should also boost the value of draft picks because rookie picks are much more valuable when you can start two quarterbacks.
Also very important is the fact that I've not figured out how to make a chart that is perfectly accurate for both contenders and rebuilders. So, I've split the baby. What that means to you is that you should increase the value for younger players and picks if you're rebuilding and you should increase the value for veterans like Derrick Henry, Travis Kelce, and Tom Brady if you're contending.
This brings me to one of my most important rules for Fantasy Football. In Dynasty, you should either be contending or rebuilding. There is nothing worse than the dreaded middle. Be honest with yourself, and if you don't have one of the four best rosters in the league you should either mortgage the future to make that happen now or trade off any running back over 24 and any pass catcher over 27.
If you're rebuilding you should also increase the value of young quarterbacks and wide receivers. Because there's not much reason to add running backs until those positions are ready to compete. The running back window is just too short.
Back to the actual chart, multi-player trades are very difficult to address in a chart, but as a standard rule, I want at least a 10% premium for every player I'm adding to a deal. And a 10% premium for trading away the best player in the deal. In other words, if someone is offering you two players for Jonathan Taylor, their value should be at least 60 on the trade chart below, not 50.
Have questions about the chart, or trades you're considering? Send them to me on Twitter. They may just make the next Dynasty mailbag.
