Trade for Saints QB Jameis Winston

By: Keith James

Down But Not Out

The NFL season is upon us and with that, we are aiming to improve our fantasy teams. In redraft, we are scrambling to make trades that will set us up for the current season. In dynasty leagues, managers should focus on setting up their teams for the next three years. No matter where a team is in the dynasty process, whether a team is rebuilding, in contention, or somewhere in between, there is always room to improve. In this article, I will give managers three sleeper quarterbacks to trade for in your dynasty league.

Jameis Winston

Now that Jameis Winston has won the quarterback job for the Saints, he is primed to revitalize his career. Winston of course was the top overall pick in 2016 and had an up and down career with the Bucs before leaving for New Orleans last year. Winston has the talent. There have always been questions about his character, his maturity level, and his leadership skills. There have also been questions about his turnover problem.

Winston is in the rare company becoming the first player to ever throw for 30 touchdowns and throw for 30 interceptions in one year. That is hard to do. Most quarterbacks would have been benched well before hitting 20 interceptions let alone 30 but Bruce Arians had few options other than play Winston and hope for the best. That lead to a 7-9 season and Winston was bounced from the Bay.

Going to New Orleans, Winston wanted to revitalize his career. Studying under Sean Payton and Drew Brees for a year, I believe Winston will once again show he is able to deliver. The Saints might have found gold. With reports that Jameis had eye surgery to correct his vision, paired with his big arm and his ability to move around in the pocket, Winston will be primed for fantasy gold once again. Remember, even though Winston threw 30 picks in 2019, he was still QB4 that year with over 5,000 yards passing and 33 touchdowns. Winston can play, the question is has he grown up? Can he hit deep shots and not turn the ball over? Can he lead an offense with suddenly few playmakers down in the bayou? I say yes.

Winston is worth a 2nd round pick in either 2022 or 2023. I would try to pair a player and a 2nd round pick for Winston and another player. Get Jameis on your squad and watch fantasy goodness for a cheap price for the next 3-5 years.

Zach Wilson

I will be the first to admit, I was not a Zach Wilson fan. I didn’t think he could play outside of the MAC where BYU was able to dominate. When I watched Wilson, I saw a talented kid that had all day to throw. He was fairly exposed by Coastal Carolina in the one game where BYU played top-level competition and he looked extraordinarily ordinary.

Wilson has the arm talent to succeed in the NFL. Chris Simms is right, he can throw from any platform and he throws a beautiful deep ball. I was fairly biased in my evaluation and not knowing the kid personally, I thought a rich kid from Utah would struggle in the big apple. I was wrong.

Wilson will not be dominant out of the gates but I love the coaching staff with the Jets. They hit a home run with coach Saleh and I think Mike LaFleur will be able to maximize Wilson’s talents. He will not wow folks in the beginning and this is when you strike. Most fantasy teams were able to get Wilson as a low-round first-round pick or a high second-round pick so he is not seen as a top-level asset. Wait until Wilson struggles a bit out of the gates and then offer a player and a 2nd round pick for Wilson. He may even be worth a later first-round pick if you believe your team is in contention. The kid can play and he will be worth investing a lower-valued asset in exchange for a franchise QB, able to put up big numbers by year two or three in NYC.

Jordan Love

As a Bears fan, it pains me to say this but Jordan Love isn’t bad. He may not be Favre or Rodgers good, but Jordan Love has talent. He reminds me a lot of Trey Lance. Both players are big, strong, lanky QB’s that can throw the ball a mile. Love is raw but comes next year, he could be a top 15 fantasy asset.

The game is changing. Running QB’s are indeed a Konami cheat code. If a QB can pick up 400 yards on the ground that is a 35 point advantage they have over passing QBs. That means that passing QB’s would have to throw either 6 more touchdowns than the running QB or 800 yards more passing than a running QB. Or some combination of the two. The point is more would have to go right for passing QB’s to be successful in fantasy than for running QB’s. This is where Jordan Love’s skillset makes sense.

He is all but forgotten about and he can definitely be an asset to your team. He shouldn’t cost much these days. There isn’t a lot of hype around Jordan Love. Dynasty players know he is playing next year when Aaron Rodgers inevitably leaves but the talk around the NFL is that Love is far from ready. This means it’s time to pounce. By acquiring Love now for a 2nd round pick, a fantasy manager can lock up a starting NFL QB for the next 2-3 years minimum. Love would still have an offense with Davante Adams, Aaron Jones, and Robert Tonyan and a great offensive line. Matt LaFleur is a solid NFL coach and he will put together a scheme for Love to succeed.

Love having the luxury of sitting for two years and learning from one of the best QB’s to ever play the game in Aaron Rodgers will absolutely allow Jordan Love to thrive day one under center in 2022. This is where patience in dynasty leagues plays out. For a struggling team, you may be able to offer a 2nd round pick as they load up on picks for their rookie drafts next year and steal away a potential top 12-15 NFL QB that gives you downfield passing and the ability to chew up yardage on the ground. Go get yourself some love and love your dynasty team!