Welcome to the Dynasty Trade Review HQ, your go-to source for mastering the art of Dynasty Fantasy Football trading. We’re back examining the startup trading market of the “Chads Trading League“. To recap the 1.01 overall trade, you can look back here at Dynasty Startup Trading, where we cover the league scoring, our draft plan, and the importance of tiering players in a startup draft.
This week, we’ll examine a few more trades that we completed to fill out our team, revisit our draft plan, and look at some trades others in our league made that I think can offer some insight into evaluating trades.ย
Team Direction and Future Pick Values
Sometimes, you let the trades come to you, and you find something you like in your inbox. This is one of those days when we come across a delightful value package. We are acquiring a bevy of picks: Startup 15.11, two 2025 second-round picks, a 2026 second-round pick, and the true gem, a 2026 first-round pick.
To begin our evaluation, we need to scout out the range of players at 5.12 (60th overall) and 6.01(61st overall). Looking at the average draft position for these picks, we have a range of players: Kenneth Walker (RB-SEA), D.K. Metcalf (WR-SEA), Zay Flowers (WR-BAL), Josh Jacobs (RB-GB), Jordan Addison (WR-MIN), Bryce Young (QB-CAR) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR-SEA). All these players are within three spots of the ADP of our picks being traded away. While these are solid additions to a dynasty team, they are far from needle movers or game-breakers.ย
Next, we pick our direction; trading away your mid-round picks for future draft capital begins to lock us into a draft strategy; we are punting the 2024/25 season if we accept this deal. We also need to estimate the value of these picks we are acquiring. As a baseline, I recommend you assume any future draft pick you acquire will be in the mid-round range, roughly 1.06-1.09. If you high-roll and end up with an early pick, it feels great. There are many variables for Dynasty teams- a single injury to a top performer can tank a season for a squad and turn the assumed 1.07 first-rounder you acquired into the 1.02.ย
When the draft finally rolled around to the 5.12/6.01 spot, the selections were Kenneth Walker (RB-SEA) and D.K. Metcalf (WR-SEA), while at the 15.11 spot that we acquired, we selected Gardner Minshew (QB-LV).
So to total the trade, Gardner Minshew (QB-LV), 2x 2025 second-round picks, 1x 2026 second-round pick, and 1 2026 first-round pick, for Kenneth Walker (RB-SEA), and D.K. Metcalf (WR-SEA). The trade grades out fairly evenly, with potential upside to high roll a 2026 first-round pick. The benefit of converting these startup picks into future draft capital is that they can only accrue value. There is no chance that they can get hurt and drastically lose value. This keeps our options open to acquire players mid-season with draft capital while having the opportunity to further trade Gardner Minshew (QB-LV) in the season to a team that might need a replacement-level quarterback. We are committed to the tank and need to acquire more picks and trade back targets.
We drop back again, sending the 8.09 and the 18.01 for a 2026 1st and 2025 3rd. The 8.09 selection was Rhamondre Stevenson (RB-NE), with Ladd McConkey (WR-LAC) directly after him, while the 18.09 selection was Tank Bigsby (RB-JAX). While it stings a bit to miss out on McConkey, I’m happy to again convert a dice roll pick into the gold standard that is first-round rookie picks; 2026 picks will never be cheaper than they are now. If your team can shed some players to acquire a 2026 future first, it opens the flexibility of your team.
I hope you enjoyed the article! If you have a trade topic you want to discuss or want a trade analyzed, please DM me at @DynastyReviewHQ with your league roster and scoring format. Keep grinding those trade lines! #DFFArmy #AlwaysBeBuilding #FantasyFootball #DynastyLeague #StartupDraft #TradingStrategy
