If you rostered Kirk Cousins on your dynasty team, you took a major hit when he tore his Achilles tendon in week 8. The injury ends a season that was arguably Cousins’s best, and he was a top 8 performer in most formats.
At 35 years old and productive, if you rostered Cousins, you were likely a contending team but now have a need at quarterback. In 1QB leagues, there may be streaming options on your waiver wire. The focus here will primarily be Superflex or 2QB leagues.
Do Not Panic
The most important thing is not to panic.
Do not make a panic move.
If you have to start a non-quarterback in your Superflex league for a week or two, it is not a disaster. This will give you opportunities for the market to turn more in your favor in the weeks to come.
However, the issue arises in your Superflex or 2QB formats. You can break down the problems into three different solutions.
Small measures include scrubbing the waiver wire for injury-away options. Just this week, Cousins was injured, Will Levis started for an injured Ryan Tannehill, Taylor Heinicke was named the starter in Atlanta, and Josh Dobbs was traded from Arizona to Minnesota, creating a potential spot start opportunity for Clayton Tune before Kyler Murray returns from his ACL injury.
If options like Heinicke or Dobbs are available, look to add them. In the event they are not, look ahead. Injuries have begun to accumulate, and now is the time to plan ahead. Options like Teddy Bridgewater in Detroit, Mike White in Miami, Tyler Huntley in Baltimore, Jameis Winston in New Orleans, and Jacoby Brissett in Washington are all backups with prior starting experience in quality offenses. In the event of an injury to a starter, these players could be the hit pick-up of future weeks. Make sure to add them pre-emptively where you have an open roster spot or you can create an open roster spot by cutting roster fodder.
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Trading Approach
Trading represents half and full measures. If you need to make a trade, be careful with your price. Your half measures are the types of trades that solve this year. Your full measures are the types of trades you make for a long-term solution.
To get a sense of the market, here are some recent actual trades from MyFantasyLeague.com leagues to see what GMs spent on quarterbacks. Every league is different, of course, but these trades in existing real leagues can give you a pretty good feel for the cost and type of trade package it might take to acquire him.
In a Superflex league
- Trade Away: 2024 3rd-round rookie pick
- Trade For: Gardner Minshew
In a Superflex league
- Trade Away: Andrei Iosivas
- Trade For: Taylor Heinicke
In a Superflex league
- Trade Away: Jalin Hyatt
- Trade For: Zach Wilson
These are all low-cost options to give you optionality at the quarterback position. They are not ideal options and have little long-term potential, but in the short run, they can plug a hole. Like a patient entering the emergency room with a major wound, your team may still need surgery, but at least the bandaid stopped the bleeding.
Where teams get in trouble is paying real assets for short-term solutions. These are the types of trades to avoid. Too many trades are aimed at solving a problem and result in overapays.
In a Superflex league
- Trade Away: Kirk Cousins
- Trade For: Zach Wilson
In a Superflex league
- Trade Away: 2024 2nd round rookie pick
- Trade For: Mac Jones
In a Superflex league
- Trade Away: 2024 2nd round rookie pick, 2024 3rd round rookie pick, and Aaron Rodgers
- Trade For: Kenny Pickett
In a Superflex league
- Trade Away: 2024 2nd round rookie pick and 2024 4th round rookie pick
- Trade For: Daniel Jones
All these trades include real assets for no guarantee of a fix for the future of the quarterback position. None of the options are real lineup solutions at present. These trade constructs are the way to permanently pick in the middle of the draft.
If you are going to trade real assets, trade them for a real quarterback.
Do you have to pay up for an elite quarterback?
Yes.
Do the quarterbacks have an outsized impact on your team that can change your team’s reality?
Also yes.
In a Superflex league
- Trade Away: C.J. Stroud, 2024 1st round rookie pick, 2024 2nd round rookie pick
- Trade For: Josh Allen
In a Superflex league
- Trade Away: Justin Fields, D.J. Moore, Sam LaPorta
- Trade For: Jalen Hurts, Hunter Henry, and 2024 2nd-round rookie pick
Additionally, there are trades for high-level quarterbacks that do not require a quarterback in the deal.
In a Superflex league
- Trade Away: George Pickens, Ken Walker III, Jordan Addison, and two 2024 2nd-round rookie picks
- Trade For: Patrick Mahomes II and Mike Gesicki
In a Superflex league
- Trade Away: Garrett Wilson, 2024 1st-round rookie pick, 2024 2nd-round rookie pick, and 2024 4th-round rookie pick
- Trade For: Jalen Hurts
In a Superflex league
- Trade Away: Kyle Pitts, Tank Bigsby, and 2024 1st-round rookie pick
- Trade For: Justin Herbert
These trades are more expensive but are long-term solutions at the quarterback position. Overall, you have options and do not panic by paying meaningful assets for non-difference makers. If you cannot make a trade this week, be patient and see if the market changes after the week while teams are looking to rebuild.