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ROSTER BUILD

Building A Roster For The Future

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By: Jay Pounds (@jaypoundsnfl) 

Dynasty Owners, it is that time of the week again! Before we get into the important stuff, let’s hit a couple of public service announcements. As all of you know we are currently in the free agency period here on Dynasty Owner and for those of you who still have moves to make, like myself, you still have ample time to be patient. I would also like to touch on the fact that it is ok to make a bad trade vs cutting a player because you are over the cap.  

As an example, let’s say you sat at $143,000,000 in salaries before Marquez Valdes-Scantling (MVS) signed his new $10,000,000 deal with the Chiefs, putting your team over the cap. In this scenario it is perfectly ok to take a third round pick in a trade even though you feel MVS is worth a second. All you need to do is look at the alternative option which is cutting him so one of your league mates can pick him up essentially for free. 

In last week’s article, I covered my team from the Writer’s League (League #80545) and will be doing more of the same this week. The biggest difference in this week’s article vs last is the fact I am going to detail every trade made to get to where I am at right now along with why I made the choice to rebuild. I will warn you that you have probably seen a few of these trades in previous articles, but this article will give me a better opportunity to cover each trade in detail and hopefully get all of you headed in the right direction when it comes to rebuilding your rosters. 

Why I Chose to Rebuild 

When I go into a new Dynasty Owner league, I have two things on my mind, and they are polar opposites from each other. The first thing is what everyone wants, which is winning the league and having a Top 3 roster. The other thing I am thinking is, if I have a bad start, I am blowing this roster up. I do it this way because of one big reason and it can be applied to any dynasty league you find yourself in and that reason is your league mates are always filled with hope when the season starts. If you do not get what I mean by this just think about how many times you have seen people think terrible rosters have a shot at winning a championship. Almost every fantasy football player will carry bias towards their own roster and if you can avoid doing so yourself you will be one step ahead of the game.  

The two trades I really want all of you to analyze are the trades I made sending out massive contracts and the reason I am asking you to do this is because I would have never gotten the value, I did had I decided to hold on and try to make a run at the playoffs. My rule of thumb when going into a new season is if I am not a serious contender or heading in that direction by Week 4-5, I go into rebuild mode right away by flipping my running backs. Always remember the longer you wait to rebuild, the less assets your league mates will have to make deals with you. 

The Trades 

(All salaries shown will be the player’s current contract) 

  1. Sent – Daniel Jones ($6,416,014), Nick Chubb ($12,200,000) 

Received – Michael Pittman ($2,153,212), Tutu Atwell ($1,477,175), 2022 1st round pick, 2022 2nd round pick, 2023 1st round pick 

Trade Date: October 14, 2021 (Week 6) 

The trade that started it all! Before diving into this trade, I would like to remind everyone that Nick Chubb was significantly cheaper ($1,845,774 salary in 2021) when this trade was made. When making this move, I knew Chubb had to be the first to go as he was going to be very expensive and heading into his 2nd contract come 2022. Before making the trade, I looked around the league and found someone who needed both quarterback and running back help and decided he would be my trade partner of choice. After a quick back and forth, we decided on the deal above and felt it was fair for both.  

Anytime you are heading into a rebuild I strongly recommend trading away your running backs first as they tend to lose trade value if you do not have a competitive roster. The other reason you want to move on from your running backs first is because of their shelf life and the fact they likely won’t be anywhere near the player they are today when your team is ready to win championships.  

  1. Sent – DeAndre Hopkins ($27,250,000), Zack Moss ($1,153,079) 

Received – Jacoby Brissett ($4,650,000), Robert Woods ($16,250,000), Gerald Everett ($6,000,000), Jacques Patrick ($660,000), 2023 2nd round pick 2024 1st round pick 2024 2nd round pick 

Trade Date: November 3, 2021 (Week 9) 

Trade Number 2 on the list is basically an add on to Trade Number 1 as we had trouble making that big of a deal work. The main thing I want all of you to focus on here is the fact I was able to move on from Hopkins and still managed to get solid value back on top of the cap relief. Still to this day, I genuinely believe this deal would not have been completed had I waited another week or two because of injury and cap space. As I mentioned in the trade above the earlier you start trading the better and I feel this trade is evidence of that as this was just the third trade in league history. Let’s be honest any time you can get good value for that type of contract, it’s a win as a rebuilding owner. 

  1. Sent – Amari Cooper ($20,000,000), 2023 2nd round pick 

Jay Received – Julio Jones ($22,000,000), 2022 2nd round pick, 2023 1st round pick 

Trade Date: November 4, 2021 (Week 9) 

Out of all the trades I made with this team this one has to be my favorite looking back because it seems it will benefit both rosters for more than just last season, plus I was able to free up a ton of cap space. I know you may be wondering how I was able to get cap space out of this deal and it is because I used the Amnesty Provision on Julio Jones. I feel this trade shows an excellent strategy that not enough Dynasty Owners take advantage of. Anytime you are looking to move a big money player, it’s easiest to identify your trade partner’s worst contract and trade for it with the Amnesty Provision in mind. Before Cooper linked up with Deshaun Watson, he was on the free agent list in more than a few leagues which makes me even more satisfied knowing I was able to get a first round pick in return for a player with such a high salary. 

  1. Sent – Devonta Freeman ($1,075,000), Michael Pittman ($2,153,212), Clyde Edwards-Helaire ($2,705,393), 2024 3rd round pick 

Received – Cole Beasley ($7,250,000), 2022 1st round pick, 2022 2nd round pick, 2023 1st round pick, 2023 2nd round pick  

Trade Date: December 10, 2021 (Week 14) 

I have covered this trade already and will not spend much time covering it here. In this trade, I knew my trade partner was ready to make a push for a title along with wanting Michael Pittman in a bad way. One thing that helped me quite a bit in this deal was how open I was about my man love for Pittman and forced my trade partner to overpay for his services. While the trade did not pay off in a championship for this Dynasty Owner, they should make it again this year and hopefully one of these guys will put him over the top! 

  1. Sent – Teddy Bridgewater ($6,500,000), 2023 3rd round pick 

Jay Received – Marvin Jones ($6,250,000), Matt Prater ($3,250,000), Mike Glennon ($1,375,000), 2023 2nd round pick 

Trade Date: December 11, 2021 (Week 14) 

A small trade here that I feel rebuilding owners overlook all of the time. When heading into this trade I knew I would have zero use for Bridgewater this past season or in 2022 and didn’t care what I got in return. If you look at this move now it’s easy to see, I would have cut Bridgewater this off-season but because I moved him for cheap, I was able to move up a round in the 2023 draft. Just another reason I always say if you aren’t certain a player will be producing when you are ready to win, take what you can get for them and move on. 

  1. Sent – Isaiah McKenzie ($2,200,000), 2022 2nd round pick 

Received – Calvin Ridley ($2,725,178), 2022 3rd round pick 

Trade Date: March 21, 2022 (Off-season) 

The last trade on the list is one that I feel all rebuilding owners should be trying to make. As a rebuilding owner you realistically know that you have zero shot at a title this season which makes Calvin Ridley the perfect fit for your roster. While it’s obvious Ridley comes with significant risk, he also will not be winning you any games this season and we have all seen what he can do when he is on the field. If Ridley gets back to even 75% of his original self, this deal becomes a home run for me. 

Summary 

As you all can see there are many different ways to getting deals done and can even be two separate deals if needed. I hope these trades give you a good sense in value for the players you need to move on from on your rebuilding roster along with what you should get in return. I know I still have a ton of work to do before this team is winning but with all of the draft picks I have I am definitely heading in the right direction. The last thing I would like to touch on really quick is to explain yourself in most trades as a little context can go along way with your league mates.  

Thank you all for reading and be sure to check our other content out from Matt, Steve, and Nate. Stay safe out there and good luck on your 2022 Chase for the Ring! 

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