6 players to sell in dynasty fantasy football

Purging your dynasty roster of fantasy football options you no longer want is no easy task, but as each owner in your league will have different goals, you can usually find a suitable trade partner. These are the primary reasons why people make trades in dynasty:

• Win-now: Acquire a top-tier player that will put your already-good roster over the hump
• Rebuild: Sell your best piece(s) if your full roster just isn’t good enough; turn one into many and come back stronger next year with a better all-around roster
• Get younger: If you aren’t going “all-in” for a win this year, but your roster doesn’t need a complete rebuild, you can still strike some deals to make your team younger, setting you up for a more prolonged run of success

A few guiding principles if you’re looking to trade away players in dynasty: Win-now teams will be most likely to buy, rebuild teams will probably have no interest in your leftovers, and the “get younger” mindset is on everyone’s mind. You can’t just trade away a player because he’s reaching the dreaded 30 … your leaguemates also know how to look up birthdays.

These are not the only reasons to buy in dynasty, but they are the core pillars of most trades. Here are some of the top sells in dynasty leagues right now.

Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers

Rodgers has now turned in three “meh” fantasy seasons in a row — two if we don’t count an injury-impacted 2017 campaign. Here are Rodgers’ fantasy finishes over the last four seasons in fantasy points per game:

• 2016: 1st
• 2017: 6th
• 2018: 12th
• 2019: 16th

While Rodgers does have Devante Adams at his disposal, the rest of Green Bay’s offensive weapons are lackluster at best. The Packers just spent a first-round pick on a QB (Jordan Love, Rodgers’ likely heir apparent) and a second-round pick on a running back. There’s little to be excited about when it comes to Rodgers’ future, other than the fact that he’s Aaron Rodgers.

Leonard Fournette, RB, Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars just declined Fournette’s fifth-year team option, and he was rumored to be on the trading block during the NFL draft, but apparently no teams were willing to draft any draft capital for Fournette’s services. That’s a yikes.

Fournette hasn’t been great in his three years in the league. He’s the RB10 in fantasy points per game in that span, which obviously isn’t bad, but he has left so much meat on the bone.

Fournette will probably be fine in 2020 as Jacksonville runs him into the ground, but it’s going to be rough sailing after that.

Kerryon Johnson, RB, Detroit Lions

Things were looking rosy for Johnson leading into the 2019 season, but through eight games, he gained just 403 rushing yards and 127 receiving yards with four total touchdowns. He missed half the season on IR and has now played 18 games in two years. The Lions then showed the world they don’t see Johnson as their future back when they drafted D'Andre Swift with the 35th overall pick in the 2019 draft.

A best-case scenario for Johnson is a full-on committee. A worst-case scenario is that he’s the backup halfway through 2020.

The return you get for Johnson now will not be as good as it would have been a year ago, but the lingering hope that there’s a committee approach in Detroit — or that Johnson will find a new home in a year or two — helps him retain some value.

Sell while you still can — there may be no value midway through the season.

Adam Thielen, WR, Minnesota Vikings

Thielen shredded the league in 2017 (91-1,276-4) and 2018 (113-1,373-9) but played just 10 games in 2019. His production was way down in 2019 even when healthy, though. He averaged only three receptions and 42 yards per game. Thielen’s PPG over the last four seasons:

• 2016: 12.3
• 2017: 15.1
• 2018: 19.3
• 2019: 11.4

Thielen will be the primary target in Minnesota with Stefon Diggs no longer around, but Justin Jefferson was drafted to replace Diggs as soon as possible. It might not even matter: Over the last four seasons, Thielen was actually better with Diggs on the field.

DeVante Parker, WR, Miami Dolphins

Parker saw a career renaissance in 2019 with 15.4 PPG. Look at this explosion:

• 2015: 10.4
• 2016: 10.3
• 2017: 10.0
• 2018: 5.5
• 2019: 15.4

From 2015 to 2018, Parker had nine career touchdowns (including just two in 2017-2018). He had nine touchdowns in 2019 alone.

His eight targets per game last year were also a career high — though he did see 7.4 targets per game in 2017 and didn’t come close to matching his 2019 production.

It’s definitely fair to think that Parker is finally on the right course. The Dolphins drafted Tua Tagovailoa and things are looking up for Miami in the long run. But the horrible first four years of his career didn’t not happen, and Parkers’ dynasty value has never been — and never will be — any higher.

Zach Ertz, TE, Philadelphia Eagles

The writing is on the wall for Ertz. He’ll turn 30 midway through the season and the Eagles clearly love what they have in current backup Dallas Goedert.

Ertz was still good last year even with Goedert rising: He racked up 88 catches for 916 yards and six scores. His receptions and yardage were both the second-highest marks of his career (behind 2018).

The point is: You can still get solid value on Ertz, but 2018 was likely his peak, so if you’re looking to get out before it gets too rough, now is the time.