Trade Grades 4&5

 Another last minute trade! As usual, I will do my best to grade this based on the knowledge we had Sunday morning and not take into account BTJ's injury. There was another Marco trade too.

Trade Grade 4
Nick receives D'Andre Swift and Brian Thomas Jr.
Levine receives Kenneth Walker III and Cedric Tillman

Levine lives! At first blush I thought this was a home run for Nick. I had no idea who Tillman was, and then he obviously broke out immediately after the trade. These teams are in very different spots right now, so their goals should be different. 

Nick had a devastating RB combo, but holes at WR2 and Flex. Downgrading from KW3 to Swift hurts, but Walker is always banged up, and Nick didn't have Charbs anyway. I hate Swift, but I see the logic there. Pairing BTJ with AJB is a whole lot of upside at WR, even more so now that Kirk is out of the year and Gabe is banged up. I could see him winning the league on the backs of Henry and Walker, but he's got a higher floor now for sure.

Levine had a terrible start to the year, and is not usually one to make trades, so this one was interesting. He just needs wins at this point to stay relevant, and Walker certainly helps there. Not having Charb hurts, but I guess you gotta go big at this point (good luck trying to trade with BMO). I don't hate relying on a Waddle bounceback, and Tillman looked legit, but your team's floor got lower, which is probably the right strategy.

Lots of moving parts, but overall I liked it for both teams.

Grades:
Nick: A-
Levine: B+

Trade Grade 5
Alan receives Kareem Hunt
Marco receives Garrett Wilson

Not to be outdone, Marco got right back on the horse yesterday, flipping a waiver pickup for a top 10 WR by draft value. Things have changed since August, but this trade is no less confusing to me.

Alan's team is off to another great start, and he is well on his way to the playoffs. So he celebrated by trading for an RB that will likely be a backup in 2-3 weeks? And he downgrades his WR2 slot massively to do so? When he already has two legit RBs? I must be missing something here.

It's a little bit more straightforward for Marco. With JT back and looking good (and Jonathan Brooks looming), he could have started Hunt for another couple weeks and hoped that ETN returned to form at that point or Brooks stepped in. He needs wins now more than anything (he's 50 points back in the NiJo race), so that's probably what I would have done. But Marco has never said no to a trade opportunity. I respect the move but I think you end up regretting it, starting when Alan beats you this week.

Grades:
Alan: D
Marco: C+

Trade Grade 3

 A Saturday night trade doesn't give me a lot of time to post before the value of the trade inevitably changes, so I'm grading this as if Sunday did not happen.

Trade Grade 3
Marco receives Jonathan Taylor, Terry McLaurin, and Tre Tucker
Weissbard receives Nick Chubb, Marvin Harrison Jr., and Xavier Worthy

Despite one of the teams being 0-6, this is actually a pretty big trade. Everyone involved is at least flex-worthy at times, and we have some no doubt starters involved at RB and WR. It was obvious that Weiss needed to shake things up (it was obvious a month ago, but whatever), so he had to take some risks. I think Marco probably got the two best players in the trade, but with JT hurt, Weissbard needed someone that can actually help him avoid the first ever B2B Shot Spot. 

I can see the logic in both sides of this trade, as Weiss got some boom/bust options to supplant his insanely boring roster, and Marco positioned himself well for the stretch run. Marco's side is better and more relevant, but I can't fault Dan for taking a swing.

Grades:
Marco: A
Weissbard: B

(Note: Marco likely losing thanks to Jaden's injury and Weissbard waking Levine up means that both teams are off to bad starts, but I stand by the logic of the trade.)

Trade Grade 2

Barnard receives Najee Harris, Davante Adams, and Darnell Mooney
Marco receives Travis Etienne Jr. and Stefon Diggs

While I love trades as a rule, a Barnard-Marco trade always feels a bit like shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic. This one has some legitimately fun elements: Will Davante get traded and to where? Does ETN get benched this week or next week? Can Diggs explode in his Bills revenge game? Does being around Zeke make Najee decide that putting on weight is the answer to his speed issues? Does Barnard know which team Mooney is on?

The big wild card here is where Davante ends up. Staying in Vegas seems like a non-starter, but if he went to the Jets, Mandos, or Saints, those would all seem to be big upgrades. However, when is the last time a receiver traded mid-season did anything during the regular season? Probably Amari to the Cowboys? I would be scared to get anywhere near Davante right now. But that also applies to literally everyone else in this trade, all of whom were on my personal Do Not Draft list.

I guess Diggs and Najee have ceilings while their teammates are injured, and maybe Jacksonville figures something out, but in general I would cue the Celine Dion music on both of these teams.

Grades:
Barnard: C
Marco: C+