Dynasty Fantasy Football Trade Ideas for February 2023

Every season fantasy managers are looking to improve their roster. Either by drafting incoming rookies or by swinging trades during the season or in the offseason. One thing is for certain, fantasy managers playing dynasty fantasy football can never rest on their laurels if they want to build a competitive roster.

At this part of the season, the early offseason, the only way to really improve your roster is by making trades to shake up your roster. This can either be by selling off pieces in order to gather rookie draft picks, or to trade your own draft picks in order to get better right here and now.

There are many ways to trade in fantasy football, not just in terms of what resources to use to get a trade done, but also in terms of what to look for. You can acquire draft picks, young players, veterans, and players that might not start every week for your team, but help you build bench depth for those pesky bye weeks. The possibilities are many.

In this article, we will be looking at some of the overall ideas to look for when trying to make trades in your leagues. The early offseason is one of the best times to trade for somewhat inexpensive players who could make an impact on your dynasty roster down the line for one reason or another. And if you are not only looking for trade ideas but want to read about everything dynasty related, we have plenty of dynasty content for you to get into.

Look for young backups that could become starters due to free agency.

One of the best ways to improve your dynasty roster is to look for young players who have been stuck behind a starter but have shown glimpses of star production when given a chance. These players can eventually become starters, especially if the player ahead of them on the depth chart is an impending free agent, or because the player himself is a free agent and could win a starting role with a new team.

An example of this type of player is Tony Pollard. He has been the backup or change-of-pace back for multiple seasons in Dallas, and this season he has really taken off, getting more carries than Ezekiel Elliott toward the back half of the season.

If you can identify and trade for the next Tony Pollard, you are going to win big value on your early investment. Here are some of the players you could look to target:

Khalil Herbert, RB, Chicago Bears

We have already seen what Khalil Herbert can do in a lead role with the Chicago Bears. When he has been asked to take on the RB1 spot for the Bears, he has been very good. Even when David Montgomery, who could leave in free agency, has been healthy, Herbert has been able to do more with his touches than Monty.

If Montgomery does in fact leave as a free agent, Khalil Herbert could become the lead back and thus a valuable fantasy asset. Get him now, before owners catch on.

Jake Ferguson, TE, Dallas Cowboys

With starting TE Dalton Schultz being a free agent, the Cowboys might look to Jake Ferguson to become their new starter. If he does, Ferguson should see a good number of targets, as Dak Prescott likes to look for his tight end on numerous occasions every game.

As the starting tight end for the Cowboys, Ferguson might be able to return low-end TE1 numbers for fantasy, which would make him worth an investment, especially if you can get him on the cheap, as Ferguson has shown the capability of making plays in the NFL.

Kenneth Gainwell, RB, Philadelphia Eagles

Another current backup that could see increased touches due to the offseason shakeup, is Kenneth Gainwell from the Eagles.

We recently saw, against the Giants, what Gainwell can do when he scored the long touchdown. Gainwell is a smaller version of Tony Pollard – Explosive and elusive in the open field with great skills in the passing game. Of course, he is going to struggle if he is met in the backfield, but if he gets into the open field, he is extremely difficult to tackle.

If Miles Sanders moves on in free agency, look for Gainwell to get more opportunities. He is not going to become a featured back, he is too small for that, but those are few and far between anyway in the NFL. If Gainwell can get around 12 touches per game, he could very well carve out a good role for fantasy owners, something that would be well worth a mid-round pick if you can acquire him for that price.

Approach owners of injured players to see where they stand.

When it comes to fantasy managers, we all know that we have an absurd tendency to buy into the freshest narrative, regardless of what prior experience tells us. This also means that players who have been injured since the beginning of the season have been “out-of-sight-out-of-mind” for quite some time, which oftentimes equates to a decrease in perceived value.

As a result, this is the perfect time of year to strike and make a bid or start negotiating for players who have been out for a while due to injury. For an injured player, their value is only going to increase from here until the beginning of the season, as the player works their way back to game form. Some of the injured players you should look to acquire include:

Calvin Ridley, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars

Trying to acquire a WR who has basically been out of the league for 2 seasons is always going to be risky. But for that exact same reason, Calvin Ridley might also be had on the cheap, and we all know the talent that Ridley possesses.

As a former first-round WR, who already has a top-5 WR fantasy finish to his name, Ridley is worth taking the chance on if he can be had for the right price. Trevor Lawrence is an ascending talent at quarterback, and if Ridley can return to form, this duo could be lethal for fantasy. Even more so, when you factor in Doug Pederson, who was one of the reasons that the Jags went out and traded for Ridley, despite his season-long suspension.

Of course, there is risk involved, but at the price it should take you to acquire Ridley, the reward severely outweighs the risk.

Breece Hall, RB, New York Jets

When it comes to season-ending injuries, it is always difficult to know where the owner of a player who sustained such an injury stands. In the past, many owners were wary if an RB on their roster suffered an ACL tear, because it, historically, is a difficult injury to come back from.

An ACL tear is exactly what happened to Breece Hall, which makes this the perfect time to start talking to the Hall-owner and see if you can swing a trade. Mind you, Breece Hall won’t be cheap despite his injury, because he blew up the stat sheet in most of his 7 games as a rookie. However, this might be the best time to try and acquire Hall, because his value can practically only go up from here, and it will skyrocket if he comes back in 2023 and plays as he did in 2022.

Trey Lance, QB, San Francisco 49ers

This one is another high-risk, high-reward player you can target. With the season-ending injury to Trey Lance and the emergence of Brock Purdy in 49er-land, it would seem inevitable, that the 49ers try to move Trey Lance in order to recoup some of the massive draft capital they spend to move up in the NFL draft and select Lance.

Although Lance has not seen much playing time in the NFL, he was still deemed a first-round quarterback by many teams. A QB-needy team in a rebuild might send a package of picks to San Francisco to acquire Lance. In case that happens, Lance could rekindle his career and we have already seen what he can do with his legs for fantasy purposes.

It’s hard to imagine that he won’t get a chance for some other team, meaning he could have plenty of value down the line. However, right now, his value is at an all-time low, which makes it the right time to pounce. Especially in SuperFlex leagues, sending a secondary pick or two for a future starting QB is well worth the risk.

Kyle Pitts, TE, Atlanta Falcons

Going out of your way to acquiring Kyle Pitts might be extremely scary. He took a step back in his sophomore season from what he was able to do as a rookie, and he suffered a season-ending injury to boot. But I am still advocating for your to, at the very least, try to talk to the Pitts owner in your league. The owner might be frustrated with the setback and just look to move on while getting a first-round draft pick in return.

Pitts has all the tools to become a top-tier tight end in the NFL, and the Falcons can’t live and die by the run forever (at least I don’t think so), so they will have to get Pitts more involved. The Falcons should be in the market for a quarterback, so Pitts could very well serve as the main target for any new QB that the Falcons might acquire. But as of right now, Pitts’ value can’t really get any lower, so this is the time to attempt a buy if you believe in his talent and want to get him on your roster.

Sell your rookie picks for “known” commodities.

I get it. I totally understand that it is the early offseason and that everyone is hyped about scouting rookies and figuring out which incoming rookie is going to be better for fantasy than every other rookie. Even though the NFL Draft is still three months away, the rookie craze is hitting fantasy owners the second the fantasy season is over.

It’s the next big event on the fantasy docket unless you join a dynasty startup league before then, and everyone wants to get a piece of this new crop of NFL players. But just hear me out: Despite the fact that rookies are the new “toys” and they are exciting, very few rookies are “the sure thing”. There is always a possibility that rookies bust. We have seen it so many times, even from first-overall draft picks in the NFL draft.

As long as a draft pick in the upcoming draft has not been used, it is going to accumulate value the closer we get to the NFL draft and fantasy rookie drafts because the rookie hype is going to continue from now until then until it eventually peaks in late April to early May.

If you can sell your draft pick for a very good player, that can help you immediately and be a “sure thing” for your dynasty roster, because we have already seen that player produce in fantasy, then you have made a great trade. Rookies often take time to develop, unless you get extremely lucky and hit a Justin Jefferson or Jamarr Chase-type rookie, so getting immediate help is worth paying draft picks for.

I am not telling you to sell off your rookie draft picks in early February, but start inquiring about trades with your fellow league-mates, in order to see who shows interest in your picks, so you can start to groom them for a trade further down the road when your rookie draft picks have hit their peak value. You might even be able to package draft picks and acquire a great starter for your dynasty roster.

February’s Dynasty Trade Ideas

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