Trade ETN, Chubb, or Barkley?

[Jdawg]

For Team 2 in Signature. It’s a salary cap league ($600 total) and I need to get under the cap before the season starts. To do that I basically have 2 options:

1. Trade one of Chubb ($84, 2yrs) ETN ($41, 5yrs), Barkley ($88, 1yr) to get under the cap while adding a cheaper player and/or picks. Due to the cap in this league I’d likely get a 1st + a prospect.

2. Cut all my fringe players: Wilson, Hines, Jones, Shenault, Taysom Hill, Duvernay, etc. Only downside is that I get a cap hit for next year for the cuts so it limits my roster flexibility moving forward. But I keep all 3 stud RBs and other starters.

Is my team good enough to go all in and cut my bench? Or does it make sense to try and get some value back for one of my RBs to keep the roster flexible moving forward?

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated!

[Gator Sens]

I think you have the pieces in place to make a run if everything comes together and JSN hits early. You never know how the season is going to play out, so the all in questions are always a bit tough to answer. I would shop your RBs and see if there is a really nice return out there for any of them and if not, depending on the cap penalties, I would rather deal with the penalties and cut all the assets unlikely to help you at any point moving forward then move any of the three RBs low.

[Jdawg]

I think you have the pieces in place to make a run if everything comes together and JSN hits early. You never know how the season is going to play out, so the all in questions are always a bit tough to answer. I would shop your RBs and see if there is a really nice return out there for any of them and if not, depending on the cap penalties, I would rather deal with the penalties and cut all the assets unlikely to help you at any point moving forward then move any of the three RBs low.

Appreciate the reply! I’ve shopped the RBs a bit and haven’t found anything too exciting. Basically a random 2024 1st + a flier prospect or two. I could probably get a better return in-season for one of those guys, but again it would come with the cap hit. I’m honestly leaning towards cutting the bench and worrying about the cap again next year when it comes around and keeping my roster as competitive as possible this year.

[Jdawg]

The best offer ended up being Swift, Josh Downs, and a 2nd for Saquon - so not exactly too exciting. But Swift and Downs are on really cheap multi year deals so the extra cap space would help. I’m thinking it makes sense to just hold…

[BigBawseRoss]

id be ok going barkley to swift and gaining years plus cap space ask for someone better than downs or make 2nd a first, thats what id try

[Jdawg]

id be ok going barkley to swift and gaining years plus cap space ask for someone better than downs or make 2nd a first, thats what id try

So he’s got Swift (2yrs, $9), Javonte (3yrs, $10), Downs (5yrs, $3), Jeudy (2yrs, $8), Ridley (2yrs, $13), Levis (5yrs, $4) and no future 1sts. So 2nd rounder is best I can get there.

Would Swift + Jeudy or Ridley be better? It’s really only buying 1 more year but does save me $60+ in cap space.

[TheBelgian]

id be ok going barkley to swift and gaining years plus cap space ask for someone better than downs or make 2nd a first, thats what id try

So he’s got Swift (2yrs, $9), Javonte (3yrs, $10), Downs (5yrs, $3), Jeudy (2yrs, $8), Ridley (2yrs, $13), Levis (5yrs, $4) and no future 1sts. So 2nd rounder is best I can get there.

Would Swift + Jeudy or Ridley be better? It’s really only buying 1 more year but does save me $60+ in cap space.

Hmm, contract/salary cap leagues are soo tricky. Not only are you juggling a player's perceived value, but also their contract value. Yes, this trade gives you flexibility, but has your league already gone through the free agency period or/and rookie draft? If the league has already completed the free agency period this trade doesn't do a whole lot for you except give you flexibility for future trades. You already mentioned the possibility of asking for something better than Downs as the extra piece, but don't be surprised if the other owner declines, as they are already giving up a lot of their cap space in this trade, which is worth quite a bit in these leagues. To be honest, its probably a more than fair offer. You just have to decide if Swift is too much of a downgrade from Barkley to keep you in the championship window.

[Jdawg]

id be ok going barkley to swift and gaining years plus cap space ask for someone better than downs or make 2nd a first, thats what id try

So he’s got Swift (2yrs, $9), Javonte (3yrs, $10), Downs (5yrs, $3), Jeudy (2yrs, $8), Ridley (2yrs, $13), Levis (5yrs, $4) and no future 1sts. So 2nd rounder is best I can get there.

Would Swift + Jeudy or Ridley be better? It’s really only buying 1 more year but does save me $60+ in cap space.

Hmm, contract/salary cap leagues are soo tricky. Not only are you juggling a player's perceived value, but also their contract value. Yes, this trade gives you flexibility, but has your league already gone through the free agency period or/and rookie draft? If the league has already completed the free agency period this trade doesn't do a whole lot for you except give you flexibility for future trades. You already mentioned the possibility of asking for something better than Downs as the extra piece, but don't be surprised if the other owner declines, as they are already giving up a lot of their cap space in this trade, which is worth quite a bit in these leagues. To be honest, its probably a more than fair offer. You just have to decide if Swift is too much of a downgrade from Barkley to keep you in the championship window.

Really appreciate the insight here, this is awesome. We’ve already done our draft but not the Free Agency, that’s next week. So the extra cap would give me space to sign someone or multiple players to fill out depth. Around $50 contract would be someone like McLaurin, Hollywood, Mike Williams, David Montgomery, Evan Engram, etc. Not amazing, but it would add value to the trade vs. keeping Saquon.

And you are right my other offers are Penny + a 2nd or Lockett straight up, so the value here is actually decent. I’m just torn on if I can still compete for a championship without Saquon while adding more assets and flexibility moving forward…

[Jdawg]

One more deal on the table would be ETN for Pittman (2yrs, $8) or Bateman (3yrs, $6) + a 2024 1st.

Would get me under the cap but I wouldn’t have any extra room to sign other Free Agents.

[Gator Sens]

One more deal on the table would be ETN for Pittman (2yrs, $8) or Bateman (3yrs, $6) + a 2024 1st.

Would get me under the cap but I wouldn’t have any extra room to sign other Free Agents.

The value is probably fine with Pittman and the 1st but it's not a great deal. RBs are tougher to come by then this tier of WR. Still the value is fine.

[Jdawg]

One more deal on the table would be ETN for Pittman (2yrs, $8) or Bateman (3yrs, $6) + a 2024 1st.

Would get me under the cap but I wouldn’t have any extra room to sign other Free Agents.

The value is probably fine with Pittman and the 1st but it's not a great deal. RBs are tougher to come by then this tier of WR. Still the value is fine.

Do you think it makes sense to hold here then?

Agree that the Pittman + 1st deal doesn't really help me win. The Barkley for Swift+ would give me the space to sign someone like: Daniel Jones, Goff, Mixon, Kamara, DK, Godwin who are all free agents. Not top talent but another nice piece.

I'm basically weighing keeping the most competitive roster now or trying to still compete will adding some extra pieces for next year and beyond to help extend the contention window... my classic dilemma.

[Gator Sens]

One more deal on the table would be ETN for Pittman (2yrs, $8) or Bateman (3yrs, $6) + a 2024 1st.

Would get me under the cap but I wouldn’t have any extra room to sign other Free Agents.

The value is probably fine with Pittman and the 1st but it's not a great deal. RBs are tougher to come by then this tier of WR. Still the value is fine.

Do you think it makes sense to hold here then?

Agree that the Pittman + 1st deal doesn't really help me win. The Barkley for Swift+ would give me the space to sign someone like: Daniel Jones, Goff, Mixon, Kamara, DK, Godwin who are all free agents. Not top talent but another nice piece.

I'm basically weighing keeping the most competitive roster now or trying to still compete will adding some extra pieces for next year and beyond to help extend the contention window... my classic dilemma.

I would hold Etienne over the current offer in place. Etienne has a better chance of leading you to the promised land than Pittman.

[Jdawg]

The value is probably fine with Pittman and the 1st but it's not a great deal. RBs are tougher to come by then this tier of WR. Still the value is fine.

Do you think it makes sense to hold here then?


Agree that the Pittman + 1st deal doesn't really help me win. The Barkley for Swift+ would give me the space to sign someone like: Daniel Jones, Goff, Mixon, Kamara, DK, Godwin who are all free agents. Not top talent but another nice piece.

I'm basically weighing keeping the most competitive roster now or trying to still compete will adding some extra pieces for next year and beyond to help extend the contention window... my classic dilemma.

I would hold Etienne over the current offer in place. Etienne has a better chance of leading you to the promised land than Pittman.

Appreciate it. Does the Barkley deal make any more sense to you given his potential holdout/final year on his contract (in my league)?

[Gator Sens]

Do you think it makes sense to hold here then?


Agree that the Pittman + 1st deal doesn't really help me win. The Barkley for Swift+ would give me the space to sign someone like: Daniel Jones, Goff, Mixon, Kamara, DK, Godwin who are all free agents. Not top talent but another nice piece.

I'm basically weighing keeping the most competitive roster now or trying to still compete will adding some extra pieces for next year and beyond to help extend the contention window... my classic dilemma.

I would hold Etienne over the current offer in place. Etienne has a better chance of leading you to the promised land than Pittman.

Appreciate it. Does the Barkley deal make any more sense to you given his potential holdout/final year on his contract (in my league)?

I would hold Barkley too. Hopefully he does not hold out/miss a bunch of time, but the return is simply not worth assuming he is going to miss the season.

[TheBelgian]

IF you decide to just cut the fringe players (Wilson, Hines, Jones, Shenault, Taysom Hill, Duvernay) you may want to consider moving as many of those assets for lower than market value. Or package all of them for a 3rd... just an example... you know you're league better than I do... Cap space and roster flexibility is king.