Winners and losers from the NFL trade deadline

There were a lot of rumors flying around heading into the NFL trade deadline and while some of those came true (looking at you Demaryius Thomas), there were plenty of trades that we would’ve love to have seen that didn’t happen (LEV BELL TRADE PLEASE UNIVERSE!). At least it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been...

Here are the winners and losers from what was an average and predictable deadline.

Winner: Courtland Sutton

IT’S HERE! THE MOMENT I’VE BEEN PREPARING YOU FOR ALL WEEK! Demaryius Thomas is out of Denver and now it’s Courtland Sutton time! He is going to be the WR2 alongside Emmanuel Sanders and with that will come a whole lot more targets and a whole lot more production. Obviously there’s a slight cap to his ceiling given that his quarterback is Case Keenum however, at this point in their careers, Sutton is more dynamic and explosive than Thomas so I think there’s still plenty of fantasy value lying deep within him. Today is a beautiful day.

Loser: Keke Coutee

This is a bummer because Coutee was set up to be the WR2 in Houston with Will Fuller’s injury and, after already performing well in that role earlier in the season, I was all set for him to become a regular fantasy start. Now we’re going to have to deal with Thomas thrown into the mix. I don’t think this entirely erases Coutee’s value—he’s much more explosive than Thomas and will likely still be targeted a decent amount—but it definitely caps him at nothing more than a flex for now.

Side note: I’m gonna be curious to see how the Texans use Thomas. Presumably this trade was made to help replace Fuller now that he’s out for the year but Thomas is not at all the downfield burner that Fuller is. It’ll be interesting to see how Bill O’Brien uses him and what his role will be. I was already for the Texans to snag DeSean Jackson from Tampa but clearly that wasn’t going to happen with Ryan Fitzmagic entering the starting lineup again.

Winner: Those who’ve held onto Marvin Jones & Theo Riddick

I don’t feel like I need to announce Kenny Golladay as a winner from this trade given that he’s gotten his so far this season even with Golden Tate on the roster, but he does win with this trade since he’s not THE guy in Detroit. Jones gets a win just because now there are more targets to go around and he’s a wide receiver who catches targets. However, don’t get too too excited about him since he still plays a similar role to Golladay. Maybe with Tate gone, Golladay will emerge as that legit WR1 and run routes all over the field and give the deep space role to Jones, a role that made him a top 10 fantasy receiver last year.

The sneaky biggest winner here might just be Theo Riddick and those brave enough to have held onto him up and till this point. Riddick has been more or less an afterthought in the Lions’ offense so far this season but that could change now that they’re going to need a underneath receiver to replace some of Tate’s role. Riddick has certainly shown he can be a reliable receiver—he had 53 receptions in bothe 2017 and 2016 and 80 in 2015. Maybe we’ll be seeing Riddick return to that level of production now.

Loser: Zach Ertz and Carson Wentz’s romance

I know Carson Wentz loves Zach Ertz and he’s been Wentz’s security blanket since the quarterback entered the league but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tate start to chip away at the Ertz/Wentz lovefest and worm his way into that relationship. There’s a reason over the last four years Tate has averaged 131 targets, it’s because quarterbacks love getting him the ball because a) he’s always open and b) he makes big plays out of nothing. Nothing makes a quarterback happier than dumping off a three yard pass and getting 50 yards added to their stat line because their receiver managed to turn a three yard gain into a 50 yard run. Tate can and will do that in Philly.

Winner: Golden Tate’s twitter game

Pre-trade:

Post-trade:

Winner: Pretty much everyone involved in the Ty Montgomery to Baltimore trade...

Let’s start with the man who was traded. Ty goes from being the scapegoat in Green Bay for his fumble against the Rams to a team in Baltimore that loves to run the football but doesn’t have an explosive, dynamic back to do it with. Match made in heaven. But seriously, don’t be surprised if this is a huge turnaround for Montgomery. I don’t trust anyone in Green Bay to know how to effectively cultivate a run game and while Montgomery has only been a running back for a short amount of time, he has been quite elusive on the ground. I really like this move for Baltimore as they now have their Danny Woodhead they’ve been missing since.... Danny Woodhead.

Or maybe the Ravens will move Ty back to wide receiver. WHO’S TO SAY!?

Big win for Aaron Jones as there’s now one less running back in the Packers’ backfield for Mike McCarthy to stupidly give snaps to instead of Jones. HUZZAH!

Loser: ...except Alex Collins

Sadly Collins has not been the back that we thought he’d be coming into this season from a fantasy perspective and kinda from a real football perspective too. Collins might have some mild fantasy value but that’s going to be wrapped up in goal line touches since I’m guessing Montgomery will start to eat into Collins’ workload. We’ll see, but if you haven’t already, it’s time to sell your Collins shares.

Quick thoughts on non-fantasy relevant trades:

Dante Fowler to the Rams - it’s clearly Super Bowl or bust for the Rams this season. I understand this trade, but I don’t love it. The Rams gave up a third and a fifth for a guy who is eight games away from unrestricted free agency. Not sure I love that value. But, if he turns it on and helps them win a Super Bowl, who cares the cost.

HaHa Clinton-Dix to the Team from Washington - Washington pushing their chips in the middle of the table sitting atop the NFC East. I like the move. For the Packers, are they punting the season? I understand Dix hasn’t been amazing this season but who you got in that secondary to replace him? I never would’ve expected the Packers to be sellers at the deadline but here we are.