With the regular season winding down, we start to look towards the off-season. The excitement of free agency, veterans being traded, stars demanding trades. Not to mention mock drafting for your favorite team and watching your team dominate(or fumble) the draft and change the course of their future. This same excitement applies to the fantasy side of things.
Every move made has an impact on the fantasy landscape, and your team can go from zero to hero without having to make a single transaction. Today, we’re gonna take a look at some players who could have their values impacted greatly by this offseason, in both positive and negative ways.
Tee Higgins
The most obvious choice is Tee Higgins, who is widely expected to leave Cincinnati this offseason. Higgins has the talent, as shown by his fantastic fantasy performances. However, injury concerns and being 2nd fiddle to Ja’Marr Chase has held his fantasy value back.
Assuming he goes anywhere without a top five receiver, his value should increase. He could also raise the value of the quarterback of the team he goes to, considering they get a top receiver.
Free Agent Running Backs
There are plenty of running backs whose values will change drastically this offseason. Najee Harris, Rico Dowdle, and Javonte Williams are all free agents who will look to sign to a team and be their 1A. While there’s plenty of reason to believe the three of them resign with their respective teams, they could look for a fresh start. Williams and Harris could try to go to a team with less competition.
Other backs like Aaron Jones, JK Dobbins, Jaylen Warren, and Nick Chubb are going to command a larger chunk of the backfield, even if they aren’t RB1. Chubb can be a fantastic goal-line back, and if on the right team, can greatly increase in value while also lowering the values of other backs on that team. Jones and Dobbins will likely try to be the RB1 but are not a guaranteed start. I’d target the RB2 for wherever they go.
2025 Dynasty Rookie Running Backs
The 2025 rookie draft class has a ton of running backs. Ashton Jeanty is already expected to be the 1.01 in rookie drafts, but there are also plenty of other talented backs like TreVeyon Henderson, Omarion Hampton, Quinshon Judkins, Nicholas Singleton. These players are projected to be mid-late firsts whose values can change based on their landing spot.
Chase Brown & Tyrone Tracy
With a loaded draft class and some interesting names in free agency, some starters are bound to lose their role as RB1. Chase Brown and Tyrone Tracy have been guys that people think will be replaced, primarily due to their low draft capital.
I think both of these guys(Brown especially) have done enough to maintain their starting roles for next season. They could both see a bump or loss in value depending on what their respective teams do this offseason.
Cooper Kupp
Right before the trade deadline, there was a lot of talk regarding Cooper Kupp possibly being traded. It makes a lot of sense, considering the Los Angeles Rams are closer to rebuilding than contending, along with the cap savings they gain. By trading Kupp post-June 1st, the Rams save $20 million on their cap, and a post 6/1 cut still saves them $15 million.
The Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills could be potential landing spots for the veteran, but I could also see the Cincinnati Bengals or Baltimore Ravens try to pick him up.
Puka Nacua
Puka Nacua has already been an elite dynasty asset. After finishing as the WR4 last year, he’s had top-15 finishes in 4 of his six games this year. He already demands a lot of targets, and that should increase if Kupp does leave this offseason. This could help set Nacua up for a great 2025 season and boost his value.
Isaiah Likely & Noah Gray
There seems to be a changing of the guard on the horizon for tight ends. Travis Kelce is 35 years old and could retire after the season, and while Mark Andrews has had a solid fantasy season, the Baltimore Ravens save $11 million by trading or cutting him before his age 29 season. Their protégé, Noah Gray and Isaiah Likely, would be expected to take over increased roles in their offense.
Likely has the makings to be a great dynasty tight end, we all thought he was officially breaking out after his insane week 1 where he had over 100 yards and a touchdown. A season on top of the depth chart would give him every opportunity to prove it.
San Francisco 49ers Receivers
The San Francisco 49ers are about to have a salary problem. Brock Purdy is in need of an extension that’ll cost the team at least $40 million annually. This has led to Deebo Samuel possibly becoming a cap casualty. On top of that, they’ve lost their second-best receiver, Brandon Aiyuk, for at least the first half of 2025. If Samuel is cut, they have a ton of targets that are about to open up (Aiyuk and Samuel had a combined 194 targets in the 2023 season).
Who’s going to take over as the WR1? Jauan Jennings has looked the part in some games this year, including a monster 11 reception, 175-yard, three-touchdown performance in week 3. Ricky Pearsall was a first-round pick last year and should look even better next season after a full offseason building chemistry with Purdy. Or do they spend another first-round pick on a receiver, say Emeka Egbuka?
Kirk Cousins & Michael Penix Jr
The Kirk Cousins experiment seems to be a failure in Atlanta right now. That, along with the development of rookie Michael Penix Jr., can lead to some movement this offseason. The Falcons save a whopping $27.5 million if they can trade him after June 1st, and they actually don’t gain or lose any money against their cap if they cut him.
If Cousins gets moved, it’s likely his value will go down. But the beginning of Penix’s tenure as Atlanta’s QB1 would skyrocket his value.