Well, it has certainly been a wild ride so far this season. We have seen wild breakouts from Elijah Mitchell, Ja’Marr Chase, James Conner, and Cordarrelle Patterson. We have seen relative busts from Stefon Diggs, Allen Robinson, and Miles Sanders. In fantasy, you have to do what you think is best and hope it pans out. Maybe you just didn’t get it done this year and that is okay. Fantasy football is a fickle entity and whether you had injury woes or made a few wrong trades you just didn’t get to the promised land this year. What do you do now? 

The beauty of dynasty football is that the season never ends and you can still keep your fantasy football hat on as the year turns from 2021 to 2022. Now is the time to take a full look at your roster and see what you can offer that will mutually help you in the future and can help the top teams move towards a playoff push. While looking into this option you also have to be mindful of your league rules. If trading to the top team makes them more likely to win an Empire Pot, you need to consider that as you make your moves. Empire Pots are pools of money that get awarded to a team if they win back-to-back seasons. If your league does not have an Empire Pot, then it is smooth sailing as you weigh your options. 

Comb Through Your Roster

Your best option if you’re out of the playoffs this season is to comb through your roster. Identify the older players. Look at your players’ contract status and see who is getting close to the end of their contract and what their future might look like. My obvious and go-to strategy for this period is to find your “older” players and send them away for picks. You’re not likely to be contending in this league for a few years unless you’ve just had really bad injury luck and you believe your team will bounce back next season. In that event, any wide receiver you have on your team that is 27 years old or older is worth trading away to accumulate picks. These players will not be valuable for you when your team is ready to compete.

So, rather than wait it out and watch them return less value on your team, trade them now for picks who will hopefully be hitting their stride once your team is ready to compete. Now is the time to make these trades as your players will get less valuable during the offseason.

There is nothing worse than being a middle-of-the-road team in dynasty. Average team, ho-hum draft picks, and no action. Dynasty is oftentimes split between the haves and the have nots. Recognize which boat you’re in and make moves to either get elite talent for a playoff push or shed your good but older players to get younger talent and/or draft picks.

Identify Free Agents 

When you look at trade targets, you can help yourself by identifying who is going to be a free agent next year. A perfect example is Melvin Gordon. Gordon is set to be a free agent at the end of this season, seemingly opening a much larger door for Javonte Williams. If Williams is on a fantasy team that is competing, but Williams isn’t quite cracking their starting lineup this season because of the committee he is in, offer a trade that will give the Williams manager a player who will start for them.  In return, see if you can snag a running back who should see a large uptick in work next year in Javonte Williams.

Think About Who is on IR

Lastly, when you’re looking into trade targets for your dynasty team, don’t forget to think about the players who are on IR. There are some elite names of guys who either didn’t play this year or played sparingly but wound up getting hurt. These players can benefit you next season and beyond. A couple of names to look at would be J.K. Dobbins, Cam Akers, Travis Etienne, and K.J. Hamler. These are guys who are not helping their current manager and they may be able to be obtained for a player like Odell Beckham Jr. plus another older asset. 

Enjoy Life!

As we begin to wind down the fantasy football regular season, it is also important to remember that this is just a game. It is one where you can make educated guesses and hopefully it works, but often it doesn’t. Whether you’re winning or losing, remember to take some time to care for yourself, care for your family, take a walk outside and see the beauty in the world. Fantasy football is meant to serve as an escape. It is a fun activity to allow us to forget some of the difficulties of day-to-day life and find camaraderie in football and competition. However, it is important to remember that whether you win or you lose there is always next season, and you can find comfort and empathy with the fantasy football community. 

Thanks for reading! Let me know what trades you’re making over on Twitter @DFF_Ztrain!