2018 NFL Trade Deadline: Fantasy Football Impact and Rumors

Which players will be on the move during the NFL Trade Deadline?

As the NFL trade deadline approaches on Tuesday at 4pm EST, there are tons of names being floated out there as potential trade pieces.  What are the latest rumors?  How will they affect your fantasy team going forward?  Should you target them in your leagues?  Keep reading below and see for yourself.

Golden Tate

Update: Traded to Eagles

Arguably the biggest, most impactful name on the trading block, Tate has been a staple of the Lions offense since 2014.  Tate has averaged 93 receptions for 1056 yards and five touchdowns during his time in Detroit. Every season Tate has been a Lion, he has recorded over 90 catches.  The Lions are rumored to be looking for a fourth round pick, at minimum, in compensation for Tate at this stage in his career.  The emergence of second year wide receiver Kenny Golladay and the ever reliable Marvin Jones makes Tate available for the 3-4 Lions. Any team that can get Tate for a fourth, even at age 30, is getting an absolute steal.

Depending on where Tate lands, he could be in for an immediate fantasy boost due to his consistent hands and yards after catch ability. On the season, Tate still leads the Lions pass catchers in targets by a wide margin with 62.  He is also showing no signs of losing efficiency, catching 71% of his targets for 517 yards and 3 touchdowns.  Tate is still on pace for 93 receptions for almost 1100 yards and six touchdowns.  While that target share could increase or decrease depending on situation, Tate still is an elite WR2 option and still worth targeting going forward.

Tate seemed to be caught off-guard when Ian Rapoport mentioned his name in a tweet yesterday, and responded on Twitter:

Demaryius Thomas

Update: Traded to Texans

Oh, how quickly the mighty can fall in fantasy football.  It wasn’t so long ago that Demaryius Thomas was a top tier WR1 and a target hog in the Broncos offense. That torch appears to have been passed to teammate Emmanuel Sanders — not to mention the emergence of Courtland Sutton has made DT expendable. Thomas still has some good football left in the tank, but his $14M price tag is likely to deter many teams from trading for him.

When asked about his future, Thomas was very upfront and said, “I wish I knew, bro. I wish I could tell you, I really don’t know. Predict? 50-50, 50-50.”

With all of that being said, if Thomas were to be traded, his fantasy value likely will take a hit as a result.  Thomas has been targeted 56 times, converting 36 of those into 402 yards and three touchdowns.  However, with his price tag being what it is, the only teams likely to try to take on that contract are teams looking to make a serious run at a Super Bowl.  Those teams likely wouldn’t be overly needy at WR, but are just looking for another playmaker.  This all suggests a decent decrease in target volume if he were to leave Denver.

Just like with Tate, the Patriots are the team that’s most connected to the Denver wideout. Don’t sleep on the Texas, either. Who just lost Will Fuller for the season.

Pierre Garcon

It’s been a while since Pierre Garcon has been fantasy-relevant, but with the 49ers season falling off a cliff after the Jimmy Garoppolo injury, Kyle Shanahan is now listening to offers for the veteran wideout.

Now catching passes from CJ Beathard, Garcon is up to 230 yards on 21 receptions this season. Depending on his landing spot, it would be tough to see a major fantasy impact (he hasn’t found the end zone since 2016), as he’s seen more as a possession receiver and locker room guy at this point. But, he’s still a solid route runner with dependable hands and hasn’t really had a quarterback for the past few seasons.

Garcon missed Week 8 with a knee injury, but Rapoport believes he’ll be healthy for the stretch run. Adam Schefter reported that three mystery teams were inquiring about the 32-year old.

DeVante Parker

Wait, Parker is still in the league?  The answer is yes.  Parker has spent most of the season with a broken finger, but may have done enough with his huge game last week to generate some trade interest.  Parker has all of the physical tools to be a productive NFL wide receiver, but has yet to put it all together.  Coming out of Louisville, Parker was drawing physical comparisons to AJ Green with his similar size and skillset.

However, can anyone think of a more frustrating player in the league to get a grasp on than Parker?  It seems like every year in training camp he looks dominant and then, aside from a couple of big games every season, lays an egg on the stat sheet each game.  Parker has never really appeared to be a good compliment to Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill.  A fresh start could rejuvenate Parker and lead to him blossoming into the promising wide receiver he was expected to be.  Should he be moved before the deadline, Parker certainly merits being grabbed on waivers if available.  Otherwise, Parker is an solid buy-low candidate in the depleted Dolphins’ wide receiver group with league winning, yet frustrating WR2 upside.

The Eagles are a team that has been on the line with the Dolphins, which makes sense:

Other Fantasy-Related Rumors:

  • DeSean Jackson wanted out of Tampa due to his lack of chemistry and targets from Jameis Winston. However, the return of Ryan Fitzpatrick might have made him change his mind.
  • It would be smart for the Steelers to move on from the headache that is Le’Veon Bell, but Adam Schefter threw water on that when he said, “Le’Veon Bell is not going to be traded.”
  • Take it with a grain of salt… The mostly non-dependable Jason La Canfora reported that Tyrod Taylor and Nick Foles are two quarterbacks who have a “realistic” chance of getting moved.
  • The Giants fielded calls for Odell Beckham Jr., but Jay Glazer said the plan is for the team to keep him.
  • It would make sense for the Bills to trade Le’Sean McCoy, yet they have no plans of doing so… because they’re the Bills.

Author

  • Graduate of Regent University (2019) BA Sports Journalism Writer: Full Press Coverage, UnFiltered Sports Network Fantasy Football Enthusiast Fantasy Analyst/Writer for the Roto Street Journal

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