For once, the NFL trade deadline came close to matching the flurry of deals that accompanies deadline day in other sports. Players with real fantasy significance swapped uniforms, as well as a key defender or two, and the ripples have major implications both for your lineups and for potential waiver claims this week. Let's look at the fallout.
Broncos trade Demarius Thomas to the Texans for a 2019 fourth-round pick and a swap of 2019 seventh-round picks
Broncos:Courtland Sutton is the obvious big winner. While Denver's passing game isn't among the league's elite aerial attacks, Thomas was still averaging seven targets a game from Case Keenum, a big step up from the 4-5 a game Sutton was averaging. The veteran had also seen eight red-zone targets this year, including three from inside the 5, a role the 6-foot-3 Sutton can easily fill. Emmanuel Sanders might see a slight bump in targets if Sutton has any trouble handling a bigger workload, but for the most part it should be a smooth transition and his role as the Broncos' No. 1 option shouldn't change. The big question is who takes over Sutton's No. 3 spot. Tim Patrick, a 2017 UDFA now on his third organization, caught his first NFL touchdown last week and should handle the assignment in the short term, but once fourth-round pick DaeSean Hamilton recovers from a knee injury, he'll probably get a long look.
Texans: Thomas is a clear replacement for Will Fuller, who
For once, the NFL trade deadline came close to matching the flurry of deals that accompanies deadline day in other sports. Players with real fantasy significance swapped uniforms, as well as a key defender or two, and the ripples have major implications both for your lineups and for potential waiver claims this week. Let's look at the fallout.
Broncos trade Demarius Thomas to the Texans for a 2019 fourth-round pick and a swap of 2019 seventh-round picks
Broncos:Courtland Sutton is the obvious big winner. While Denver's passing game isn't among the league's elite aerial attacks, Thomas was still averaging seven targets a game from Case Keenum, a big step up from the 4-5 a game Sutton was averaging. The veteran had also seen eight red-zone targets this year, including three from inside the 5, a role the 6-foot-3 Sutton can easily fill. Emmanuel Sanders might see a slight bump in targets if Sutton has any trouble handling a bigger workload, but for the most part it should be a smooth transition and his role as the Broncos' No. 1 option shouldn't change. The big question is who takes over Sutton's No. 3 spot. Tim Patrick, a 2017 UDFA now on his third organization, caught his first NFL touchdown last week and should handle the assignment in the short term, but once fourth-round pick DaeSean Hamilton recovers from a knee injury, he'll probably get a long look.
Texans: Thomas is a clear replacement for Will Fuller, who once again couldn't make it through a full season, but the two receivers have very different skill sets. Fuller's a burner and a downfield threat, and at this point in his career Thomas is more of a big-bodied possession and red-zone option who can still do a bit of damage after the catch. That leaves rookie Keke Coutee as Deshaun Watson's possible fly-route specialist, though Coutee will need to recover from a hamstring injury to take over that role. This is probably a slight downgrade for Thomas overall, though his volume could remain steady – DeAndre Hopkins isn't going anywhere and runs many of the same routes the former Bronco is used to running.
Lions trade Golden Tate to the Eagles for a 2019 third-round pick
Lions: Babytron Kenny Golladay should now be the unquestioned No. 1 target for Matthew Stafford, a role that could make him one of the most valuable fantasy wideouts in the league over the second half. He saw about six targets a game on average prior to the trade, while Tate got nearly 10, so the potential production spike here is massive. This is a win for Marvin Jones too, as he can return to the deep-threat No. 2 role that got him 1,100 yards and nine TDs last year, though his volume likely won't change much – he was already on pace for 106 targets in 2018, right in line with the previous three seasons. Fourth-year wideout TJ Jones could inherit the No. 3 job, which would put him firmly on the fantasy radar in deeper formats given how much Detroit likes to air it out, but don't be surprised if UDFA Brandon Powell starts getting snaps on offense as well. At 5-8 and with blazing speed, he could be a handful out of the slot.
Eagles: For the second straight season, Philly bolsters its offense with a big trade acquisition, but it's curious that it decided to pick up a receiver instead of another running back. The Eagles' target tree is already crowded with Alshon Jeffery and Zach Ertz at the top, so the chances of Tate seeing the kind of volume he did in Detroit are low. His volume is also likely to come at the expense of Nelson Agholor and Jordan Matthews rather than Jeffery and Ertz, so while Carson Wentz is happy to have another reliable option who can chew up yards after the catch, there aren't any real winners on the Eagles' roster for the second half – at least among the WRs. Anyone who picked up Josh Adams on a flier over the last couple weeks might be smiling, though.
Packers trade RB Ty Montgomery to the Ravens for a 2020 seventh-round pick
Packers: Montgomery had 26 carries and 23 targets through seven games before getting sent east, so it's not like Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams have a lot of touches to divvy up. Jones is probably the winner, but having one less member of Green Bay's backfield committee doesn't remove his biggest obstacle to true No. 1 status, which is still his poor pass blocking. As long as Aaron Rodgers has a brace on his knee, and probably long after that, Williams' superior blitz pickups will keep him firmly in the mix for snaps and touches, even if Jones is the more dangerous runner.
Ravens: The new guy will be firmly in the No. 3 spot on Baltimore's RB depth chart behind Alex Collins and Javorius Allen, and given that they paid essentially nothing to get Montgomery, there's no guarantee he sees offensive snaps at all unless one of the other two gets hurt. If he does see action on offense rather than just special teams, though, he's more likely to be a threat to Allen's pass-catching role than Collins' early down work.
Jaguars trade DE/LB Dante Fowler Jr. to the Rams for a 2019 third-round pick and a 2020 fifth-round pick
Jaguars: Their status as the top fantasy DST in the league was probably already gone, but dealing away an edge rusher with 10 sacks in his last 23 games isn't going to help. This would seem to be a vote of confidence in first-round pick Taven Bryan, though, who should see more action in the Jacksonville defensive line rotation. He won't be on the IDP radar yet, but he could at least grab his first NFL sack in the second half.
Rams: L.A. was only in the top 10 in sacks (tied for eighth at 22, five sacks behind Baltimore's league-leading 27), so you can see why they were desperate for pass-rush help. Fowler goes from being a 4-3 DE to a 3-4 OLB, but his actual job won't change much, and if anything he could see more clear paths to the QB with the Rams, as offensive lines already have their hands full futilely trying to contain Aaron Donald (10 sacks in his last five games) and Ndamukong Suh (who had a three-game sack streak of his own earlier in the year). This is the kind of deal Super Bowl favorites make.
Packers trade Ha Ha Clinton-Dix to Washington for a 2019 fourth-round pick
Packers: This was maybe the strangest deal of the day. Green Bay's secondary wasn't exactly great with Ha Ha at safety – it's 22nd in QB rating against – but he had three of its five picks and was drawing some glowing ratings from places like Pro Football Focus, who graded him as their No. 2 safety on the year (behind, ironically, new Washington teammate D.J. Swearinger). Second-year player Josh Jones, who had 71 tackles and a pick as a rookie before getting relegated to primarily special-teams duty this season once he recovered from an ankle injury, could get another chance at starting, but if not third-year depth player Jermaine Whitehead will be the starting safety opposite Kentrell Brice. Neither is a particularly appealing IDP option, and the Packers' DST could suddenly find itself more vulnerable to TEs and RBs running routes over the middle and down the seam.
Washington: A defense that has quietly been one of the better units in the league made some noise at the trade deadline. Clinton-Dix and Swearinger give Washington the best safety tandem in the entire NFL, and a unit that ranked 12th in QB rating against could easily creep into the top 10 by the end of the season. They're already fifth in points allowed per game at 19.1, but that could improve as well. Ha Ha's IDP value might go up, too. His tackles were way down in Green Bay, but if Swearinger remains the team's primary ball hawk – not an unreasonable assumption given his eight INTs in the last 23 games – Clinton-Dix would be freed up to lay a little more lumber, at least within the confines of the NFL's new rules on what you can and can't do as a tackler. Montae Nicholson, who might have been on the radar in deep IDP leagues, now gets bumped to a depth role.
