THERE IS NO OFF-SEASON

It was another quiet week in the NFL with off-season workouts wrapping up and players taking a few weeks away from their teams. The Chargers will be the first team to open up their training camp, with rookies reporting on the 12th of July and veterans joining them on the 16th. While this is a period of rest on the NFL calendar, that doesn’t mean nothing can happen. This is the time of year where off-the-field issues tend to occur. This is the last hurrah for them before the long haul of the NFL season, and some of them unwind a bit too much. At this time, it’s important to double-check for breaking news before accepting any trade offers. Even if there are just rumors out there, it’s worth being on the cautious side. 

The big news in the NFL this week comes from Aaron Rodgers. A few weeks after signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers, he told Pat McAfee, “I’m pretty sure this is my last season and that’s why we did the one year deal.” Now, we know Rodgers loves a headline, so just because he is saying this now does not mean that he’ll feel the same way at the end of the season. With that being said, it’s safe to assume that this will be the last year you can use Rodgers as a dynasty quarterback. This puts Rodgers's managers in a unique spot, especially in superflex leagues. You know that his value will go down to 0.0 in January, so if you fall out of contention, you have to move on from him for whatever you can get. Right now, if you don’t think your team can compete this season, he has no business being on your roster. Trade him for whatever you can, or wait for the trade deadline and find the competitor who is most desperate for a QB2. 

With off-season activities wrapping up, we get our first look at some of the most important position battles of the off-season. The Colts quarterback position will be one of the key battles to watch this season. Anthony Richardson has been a bust through his first two seasons in the league, and the team brought in Daniel Jones to compete for the job. James Boyd of The Athletic reports that Jones “has already taken a significant lead” in the competition. Richardson wasn’t able to participate in the off-season program thanks to a shoulder injury, but he said he’s “all good” to be ready for training camp. This will be a key battle to watch, especially for superflex leagues. Jones would probably be the better option for the Colts’ pass catchers, but fantasy managers who invested an early rookie draft pick on Richardson just a few years ago need him to be the starter. Heading into camp, it looks like he’ll need to win the job back from Jones. 

Travis Hunter signed his rookie contract, getting his full $30.57 million signing bonus entirely up front. He’s the first non-quarterback who was not drafted first overall to receive his entire bonus up front, an indicator of how valuable Hunter is to this team. The Jaguars social media team trolled fantasy managers a bit when they announced the deal. They actually announced the deal in two separate posts, one for WR Travis Hunter, and another for CB Travis Hunter. In the pre-draft process, many analysts assumed Hunter would primarily focus on playing defense in the NFL, and he’d mix in on the offensive side of the ball. But, after the Jaguars traded up to take him, they indicated that he’ll primarily focus on wide receiver. Either way, we know Hunter can and will play both sides of the ball.

General Manager James Gladstone said that Hunter has the ability to play an entire game, just like he did in college last season.

Dynasty managers in non-IDP leagues need Hunter to be a top 20 wide receiver for fantasy football, and it may be tough to do that if Hunter is playing a full complement of snaps on the defensive side of the ball. It’s encouraging to see the Jaguars talking up his ability to stay on the field for an entire game, but it’s the offensive side of the game that is the most important for us. 

With a down period in the NFL calendar, there’s plenty of time to prep your team for the 2025 season. The team of contributors at DLF are pumping out content daily to help you win your dynasty fantasy football leagues. We’re updating every rookie’s profile now that we know where they’ve been drafted and you can follow along with the series right here. We’re also going team-by-team and division-by-division analyzing the players who will win or lose dynasty leagues for their managers this season. he recent updates on Shedeur Sanders, Jaydon Blue, and Isaac TeSlaa!

In the past couple of weeks, we learned part of the reason the Steelers decided to move on from George Pickens, trading him to Dallas. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN says the Steelers “made the evaluation” that Pickens and Aaron Rodgers “probably would not hit it off.” He’s entering the final year of his rookie contract, so they’re really only worried about his connection with this year’s quarterback. It makes sense, Pickens has had well-documented maturity issues, and Aaron Rodgers has written off receivers for much less than that. Now that he is in Dallas, Pickens will be a key part of this offense, lining up opposite CeeDee Lamb. The Cowboys have been looking for a quality compliment to Lamb for years now, and Pickens has the talent to be the receiver they’ve been looking for. But, if the Steelers didn’t think Rodgers would be able to put up with Pickens’ “maturity issues,” it stands to reason Dak Prescott could struggle with them too. Now that the trade is almost two months old, the ADP has had a chance to adjust to the change. Let’s take a look to see where Pickens is being valued now that he is on the Cowboys. 

The dynasty value of George Pickens had been freefalling this off-season. He’s coming off an underwhelming season and the Steelers offense didn’t have a viable starting quarterback until recently. After the trade, it rebounded a bit and he’s back up to an ADP of 61 overall. It’s still lower than it’s been since August of 2023, but it’s not too far below what his average ADP has been over the past two years. He’s the WR32 right now in ADP, below Emeka Egbuka and Jerry Jeudy, just ahead of Tyreek Hill and Mike Evans. The DLF Expert Rankings have him in a very similar spot, WR31 and 57th overall. 

Pickens was the poster child of needing a change of scenery. He clashed with coaches and the locker room from day one and never really reached his full potential. Of course, he isn’t blameless in this situation, but the marriage of Pickens and Mike Tomlin seemed destined to fail from day one. In Dallas, he’ll need to take advantage of this opportunity to earn a second contract. When he’s played at his peak, he’s been one of the best wide receivers in the league. But, when it’s going well, you’re just stuck waiting for the other shoe to fall. In Dallas, he won’t have to be the number one. He probably fits better as a down-field Z receiver than an alpha X anyway. Lamb should pull attention away from Pickens in coverage, and give Dak Prescott an explosive second option. Right now, he’s a buy low option, but it’s about as risky an investment as there is in dynasty fantasy football.

EIGHT ROSTER-CLOGGERS TO DROP IN DYNASTY

The term “roster clogger” doesn’t have a universally agreed-upon definition but I think I can succinctly define the idea. Players become roster cloggers if they have little to no trade value while simultaneously having no path to ever hitting your starting lineup. It seems simple, but you’d be surprised how many people cling to players years past their expiration date like a gallon of rotten milk. It’s the middle of the summer, so let’s clean out our fridges and rid ourselves of these expired assets.

I’ve split this article into two sections as both a challenge to myself, and also to create a more interesting discussion for the reader. My list of eight roster cloggers has been split in half by ADP. The first four might be considered spicy by some, while the second four are a bit milder. The way of divided the two lists was by forcing myself to pick four roster cloggers with an ADP of 216 or higher. I chose 216 because that’s how many players would go in a 12-team, 18-round draft. These players might be a bit more controversial, but who’s really here for lukewarm takes?

“Spicy” Roster Cloggers

Jaleel McLaughlin, RB DEN

ADP: 188

Choosing McLaughlin as a “spicy” take may be cheating a bit because this ADP of 188 will not persist throughout the summer thanks to the addition of JK Dobbins, but I didn’t agree with that position to begin with. McLaughlin is just clearly not an NFL-caliber RB, and will never command a large enough percentage of the touches to ever be fantasy-viable on a consistent basis. It seems like all Sean Payton has done since taking over as head coach is look for better running backs: Audric Estime, Tyler Badie, RJ Harvey, and now Dobbins. It’s over for McLaughlin, and he’s worth nothing on the trade market; cut him.

Christian Kirk, WR HOU

ADP: 209

Oh, how far they might have fallen. I guess Kirk would never be categorized as “mighty”, but you get what I’m saying. In March of 2024, Kirk had an ADP of 86th overall. Just 15 months later, he’s outside the top 200. It makes sense; he got hurt, was cut, and is now fighting for a complementary role with two rookies his new team invested heavily in. He’s more likely to be out of the league this time next year than be a fantasy-relevant player. It’s time to move on.