Hello FFPC fans! It has been a while since I wrote about the state of the Dynasty landscape. I took my lumps in the championship round, failing to win a single ship out of 12 teams that made the dance. All in all, I did just a little better than break-even, which I consider a loss considering the amount of time I put in. I also had Ja’Marr Chase (WR – CIN) on only two of those teams, where his Week 17 performance swung many league titles across the hobby. But c’est la vie as I always say. As I said at the close of my last article:
If you constantly find yourself getting really close, then you’re doing something right.
In Dynasty, there is no crying and no rest for the weary. This is even more true in FFPC, where we must make our cuts down to 16 players, including a kicker and defense, by March 31 at midnight, or the software will make cuts for us according to whatever ADP database they are pinging. That means that the calendar period between trading opening back up at the end of the season (January) and the cut deadline is the most active trading period of the year in FFPC Dynasty by far. How active?
In one 1QB league that I looked at in detail, there have been 321 trades made since that startup ended in 2017. I have excluded the trades made during the startups. Of those 321 trades, 160 have been made during the period between the end of the regular season in early January and March 31st. Which is still six days away and more trades will be made in that time.
That is almost exactly 50% of all trades being made during a period of time that is just a fraction over 25% of the open trading period during the calendar year.
That is approximately 312 days, as the trading deadline is just prior to the Week 12 kickoff. In-season trades represent only 20% of all trades made. All my other leagues follow this same pattern and this time of year is hectic as owners are scrambling to figure out who to keep, cut or trade.
Unbelievable value can be found during this time period because of the roster size crunch. Some owners, including me, will post messages saying we have room to add a player or two. Most of my teams are really strong and deep, though, and such teams need to consolidate and look to move extra players for cheaper than we would prefer. You can read about some of my strategies for clearing roster spots here and finding value in unique ways.
Here are some trades that I made recently during this active period:
*I flipped Ridley and that second-rounder here:
Those are just a few. Trading has been hot and heavy. Many owners have already made their cuts or at least most of them.
I NEVER cut players until the last couple of days before the deadline
In my 16 SuperFlex leagues, Tom Brady is available in two of them. FFS. I didn’t put it in the table of trades above but I had Zach Wilson (QB – NYJ) in grey in my spreadsheet, which means I have already cut him in my mind but not in reality. Well, I also have Justin Fields (QB – CHI) and Aaron Rodgers (QB – GB) and generally don’t like to carry more than one QB through these cuts unless I have to. So I shopped Rodgers around and made an offer of him for Damien Harris (RB – NE). I figured I could use some RB depth. The owner rejects and counters with Wilson for Harris. I was flabbergasted and slammed the accept button.
But let that be a lesson. There is no benefit to cutting before the deadline, only risk.
Let’s unpack a couple of the trades above. The Tyreek Hill (WR – MIA) trade was before he went to the Dolphins. I still maintain Clyde Edwards-Helaire (RB – KC) is hated more than what is rational by the fantasy community. The deal for Brandon Aiyuk (WR – SF) is really a coup. I had Kenyan Drake (RB – LV) and Terrace Marshall (WR – CAR) as likely cuts on my spreadsheet since nobody wants them and my roster is too deep to keep them. I added a 2023 third to two guys I was going to cut and came away with Aiyuk. That is a third for Aiyuk. Booya. Peoples-Jones (WR – CLE) is crossed off in another deal because I have no intention of keeping him but wanted to give my trade partner a cleared roster spot in the deal.
Other considerations for this time period
Once we get through all the roster cutdowns, we can begin trading to acquire more players as rosters are expanded with no limit until the regular season. Most of the focus will be rightfully be placed on the NFL draft and FFPC rookie/free agent draft to follow in early May. And it is startup season!!
There are still several high-quality but discounted dynasty orphan teams available on the FFPC website as well as auctioned teams at Dynasty Depot’s website.
Never give up and let’s keep balling folks!
Thanks for reading! Feel free to reach out to me to chat about fantasy football on Twitter @Ship_Chaser and follow along with me on my journey as I chase six-figure paydays! Look for my new articles soon!
