Trading is the quickest way to take your team from sitting on the bubble of a playoff berth to a championship contender, or vice-versa if you make the wrong deal, which is why it is so important to make sure you are targeting (and selling) the right players at the right time.
And yes - every player has a price. It doesn't matter whether they are the best player in fantasy football or a dwindling kicker - every player has a price that they should be traded away for or should have something given up to get. If you don't know what the value of your players is, head over to our Trade Charts!
For people in leagues that are more active in trading, this is for you - these are our top 5 trade targets based on the "buy-low, sell-high" approach with players highlighted likely to see an increase in value in the near future due to easy matchups, surrounding injuries, improving/changing scenarios, etc:
1. Marquise Brown - WR, Arizona Cardinals
Last chance to get Marquise Brown!
He's coming off a down week (4 catches, 24 yards) with Clayton Tune at QB, but now will get his QB back in Kyler Murray this week. With Murray at QB and Brown serving as the Cardinals' top WR, Brown was the WR5 in fantasy points and ranked 4th in the NFL in targets.
He draws the 5th-easiest remaining schedule and the 2nd-easiest playoff schedule. Brown's a potential league-winning WR2 option likely to cost FLEX/WR3 value via trade. I'm doing anything I can this week to get Brown before he starts to rebound with an increased target share with Murray back under center.
2. Puka Nacua - WR, Los Angeles Rams
The early-season explosion for Nacua has slowly dissipated over the last few weeks with the return of Cooper Kupp, exceeding 7+ points in just one of his last four games.
The volume is still there for Nacua to be productive, receiving 7+ targets in every game this season, and while he's going through a slump right now, especially with the injury to Matthew Stafford, the end of 2023 projects to be very kind to Nacua.
If trading for Nacua, you may not see top-15 results immediately, especially as Stafford recovers to full strength in time for a top-10 playoff schedule. You should be able to get Nacua at some form of a discount, especially given his limited recent success - I'm targeting him as a WR2 for mid-to-low WR2 value.
3. Bijan Robinson - RB, Atlanta Falcons
It has been a rough couple of weeks for Bijan, who has not eclipsed 20+ points since hitting that benchmark in each of his first two career games and has failed to hit 14 points in five straight weeks. Outside of the anomaly of his "headache" game, we just saw Bijan's floor with 59 yards and a lost fumble (5.9 points).
He's not going to get goal-line work this season, but he will likely be more involved as the season progresses if Arthur Smith has any intention of competing for a playoff spot (and keeping his job for 2024).
You're likely buying Bijan at the lowest point this season. I'd be hesitant to have him as my RB1 at the moment, but if you can acquire him as your RB2, he could be a league-winner, especially with the 5th-easiest remaining schedule and the 2nd-easiest playoff schedule among RBs.
Buy him while owners are panicking from a down stretch.
4. David Montgomery - RB, Detroit Lions
Through the first five weeks, the Lions' backfield was David Montgomery as the 1 and then Jahmyr Gibbs as the definitive number 2. After a Week 6 injury that paved the way for Jahmyr Gibbs' back-to-back 125+ yard, 1-TD games (including a 190-yard, 1-TD Week 8 performance), it sounds as if it will be a true split between the two going forward.
Traditionally, I would be avoiding Montgomery - a TD-dependent (and relatively inefficient) RB coming off an injury with an explosive rookie coming on, but this is a unique situation. Montgomery will control the goal-line work, no matter what, going forward and the schedule in the playoffs, both from a statistical perspective (7th-easiest playoff SOS) and from a game script perspective (favorable scripts against DEN, MIN), Montgomery could be a league-changing RB2 option.
He's a boom-or-bust option on a weekly basis and while I believe Gibbs will be the more valuable (not necessarily the more productive) between the two for the remainder of the season, the playoff schedule is aligning very favorably for Montgomery, who likely can be acquired at somewhat of a discount off of injury.
5. Kyler Murray - QB, Arizona Cardinals
Similar to Hollywood Brown, now's the last chance to get a potential 'home run' and league-winner in Kyler Murray at a massive discount.
Murray's set to return from the PUP List after missing the end of 2022 and the first 9 weeks of 2023 to an ACL tear last year, but he's been fully practicing for going on three weeks now. Prior to his season-ending knee injury, Murray ranked as the QB7 in PPG and had kept pace with never falling below 17.8 PPG in a season.
Don't necessarily expect the traditional Kyler Murray due to a potential impact from the injury on his rushing abilities, but even with a reduced role in the rushing game, he should still be highly effective and offer a likely return on investment via trade.
Worst-case scenario, you trade for him as a QB2 and he's just that - a matchup-based QB2 option.
Best-case scenario, he returns to (or close to) his previous form and is a mid-QB1 (or even better) and a potential league-winner with the easiest playoff schedule among QBs in fantasy football.
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