The fantasy football trade deadline is approaching in most leagues, meaning it’s now or never for managers to make their moves.
Whether you're trying to shore up your roster for a playoff run or are looking to offload an overperformer for someone who could help you in the future, we’re here to help navigate the trade deadline.
Below are three candidates to buy low on, and three to sell high.
Buy Low Fantasy Football Trade Targets
Brian Thomas Jr, WR, Jaguars
Thomas is coming off the worst performance of his rookie season, a 2-catch, 22-yard stinker. The key is he was limited in practice last week with a chest injury and it wasn’t certain he would play in the game until the gameday injury updates were announced.
That game was an anomaly. On the season, he’s averaging 17 yards per catch with 5 TDs and has the most targets on the Jaguars. With Christian Kirk expected to be out for the season, Thomas will play an even larger role in the Jags offense moving forward. They have a strong matchup against the Raiders and Titans to finish the fantasy season as well.
Nick Chubb, RB, Browns
The Browns are on a bye week and Chubb hasn’t looked great since rejoining the team in Week 7. However, he’s handled a huge volume of carries since his return (42 in three games) and will likely see a spike in his yards per carry after some time off.
The Browns face the Saints coming out of the bye and Chubb could go off on that defense, which gives up the seventh-most fantasy points to RBs in the NFL. They do face the Steelers twice with the Broncos in between, two tough teams against the run. But if you make it to the championship, a juicy matchup against the Bengals awaits.
Deebo Samuel, WR, 49ers
Samuel has been battling injuries the last few weeks and his last game was a disappointment – 4 catches, 71 yards, and 15 rushing yards. But coming off a bye week where he had a chance to get healthy, and with Brandon Aiyuk out for the season, I’d expect Samuel to come out firing against the Bucs this week and keep it going as the 49ers make another push for a playoff run.
On the season, Samuel is averaging just 11.7 fantasy points per game, but a lot of that is due to the injuries and he was a strong finisher last year. In the 49ers' final six regular season games in 2023, Samuel had 8 total TDs, 26 catches, and 418 yards receiving. That includes the season finale when he barely played.
I expect Samuel to have a monster finish this year as the 49ers face plus matchups against the Bucs this week, the Seahawks next and the Rams in the first round of the fantasy playoffs.
Sell High Fantasy Football Trade Targets
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Seahawks
The Seahawks are on a bye this week so moving Smith-Njigba could be more challenging. However, coming off a 7-catch, 180-yard, 2-TD game, I don’t see his value ever being higher than it is right now.
DK Metcalf was out last week but should be back after the Seahawks return from the bye. That puts Smith-Njigba back into the WR2 role with Seattle. In that role this year, Smith-Njigba has only eclipsed 13.1 points one time, and that was against the Patriots in Week 2.
While he’s the WR2 in Seattle, he’s more of a flex starter than a WR2 or even WR3 in fantasy. He’s getting plenty of targets, 75 on the year, but is averaging just 11.4 yards per catch. Outside of last week and the Patriots game, he has just 1 TD catch.
JK Dobbins, RB, Chargers
Dobbins just had his best game of the season, rushing for 85 yards and 2 TDs against the Browns. He has 4 rushing TDs in his last four games and is averaging 16.2 points per game in fantasy. Two things scare me about him moving forward:
- He’s injury-prone. We all know that.
- The Chargers face the Titans, Ravens, Chiefs and Broncos down the stretch, four of the toughest defenses against the run in fantasy.
If you’re gearing up for a playoff run, one stinker from Dobbins could spell the end of your season. He is highly reliant on rushing TDs to help his fantasy score and has three games with single-digit points this year where he didn't find the end zone. That will happen again. You just have to hope it’s not in the playoffs if you keep him. I’d avoid that risk.
Aaron Rodgers, QB, Jets
I’m not sure what you’d get back for Rodgers or a deal including him, but I also don’t see his value being any higher. He’s thrown 5 TDs and 0 INTs his last two games and averaged just over 17 fantasy points between them.
Looking deeper at the numbers, however, it’s clear the Jets have become a run-first team since firing Robert Salah and Rodgers' passing totals have declined (outside of the TDs) as a result. In their win over the Texans, it was a perfect storm of circumstances that led to Rodgers’ best fantasy day of the season, including facing a defense on a short week and an insane one-handed catch by Garrett Wilson. Neither is replicatable.
Again, his value is low anyway, but if you throw him in as a trade sweetener, it could push a deal over the top, even though Rodgers holds little fantasy value for the rest of the season.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Buy Low/Sell High: Immediate Trades to Make in Fantasy Football Week 10.