NFL Fantasy Trade Analyzer
Put both sides of a trade in, get a verdict out. Values are built from points above replacement, position scarcity, your own risk discount and the roster slots the trade actually costs you.
Why raw projected points are the wrong way to grade a trade
The most common trade mistake is adding up projected points on each side and taking the bigger number. It fails because positions are not interchangeable. In a 12-team full PPR league, a quarterback you can claim off waivers today is worth roughly 15.5 points a game. A tight end off the same waiver wire is worth about 7. So a quarterback projected for 18 gives you 2.5 points of real advantage, while a tight end projected for 14 gives you 7.
On raw points the quarterback looks four points better. Measured against what you could get for nothing, the tight end is worth nearly three times as much. That gap is what this calculator measures, and it is where most lopsided trades in a league are won and lost.
What the calculator weighs
Points above replacement
Projected points per game minus what a waiver pickup at the same position gives you. This is the only number that makes a tight end and a quarterback comparable.
Positional scarcity
Baked into replacement level. Quarterback is the deepest position in a one-QB league, so a good quarterback is worth less in trade than his raw points suggest. Tight end is the shallowest, so the top few are worth more.
Injury and role risk
A discount you set per player, from 0 to 50 percent. Use it for injury recovery, a suspension, a committee backfield or a rookie whose snap share is not settled.
Roster slot cost
Each extra player on a side is weighted down, at 1.00, 0.87, 0.77 and 0.69. You cannot start four flex players, so depth pieces are worth less than their projections imply.
The replacement levels it uses
These are the points-per-game baselines for a 12-team league. Pick 10 teams and every baseline rises by 10 percent, because a shallower league leaves better players unrostered. Pick 14 and every baseline drops by 8 percent for the opposite reason. They are this site's published defaults rather than a live measurement, and they are here so you can check the arithmetic rather than trust it.
| Position | Full PPR | Half-PPR | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| QB | 15.5 | 15.5 | 15.5 |
| RB | 9.5 | 8.0 | 6.5 |
| WR | 10.0 | 8.0 | 6.0 |
| TE | 7.0 | 5.5 | 4.0 |
| K | 7.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 |
| DST | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 |
Quarterback, kicker and defence baselines do not move between formats because none of the three earns points for receptions. Running back, receiver and tight end all do, which is why their baselines fall as you move from full PPR to standard.
How to read the verdict
- Under 5 percent. Even. Projections are not precise enough for a gap this small to mean anything, so decide it on bye weeks, playoff schedule and which position your starting lineup actually needs.
- 5 to 15 percent. A slight edge. Worth taking if the smaller side fits your roster better, worth countering if it does not.
- 15 to 30 percent. A clear win for one side. If you are on the wrong end of it, ask for another piece rather than accepting.
- Over 30 percent. Lopsided. Check your inputs first, because a gap that size usually means a projection was typed wrong, then reject it if the numbers are right.
What this tool deliberately does not do
It does not pull live projections, rankings or injury reports. This site is a static calculator, so everything it knows comes from what you type into it. That is a limitation worth stating plainly rather than hiding behind a number that looks authoritative.
The upside is that it grades the trade against your view of the players rather than someone else's. If you rate a player two points a game higher than the consensus, put your number in and the verdict reflects your read. Pair it with the keeper value calculator when a trade has next season attached to it, and the start/sit calculator once you have to actually play the pieces you traded for.
Fantasy trade analyzer FAQs
How does a fantasy trade analyzer work?
A trade analyzer converts each player into a single number, then compares the totals on both sides. This one measures each player against replacement level, the points per game a freely available waiver player at the same position produces, because a running back scoring 12 points a game is worth far more than a quarterback scoring 12. It then discounts each player for risk and applies a roster slot weighting, since the third and fourth player coming back in a trade has to displace someone you already start.
Why does position matter so much in a fantasy trade?
Because replacement level differs wildly by position. In a 12-team PPR league you can stream a quarterback who scores about 15.5 points a game off waivers, but the equivalent tight end is worth about 7. A tight end at 14 points a game is therefore a genuine weekly advantage, while a quarterback at 14 is below what you could pick up for free. Raw projected points hide that entirely, which is why trades that look even on points are often not close.
Who wins a 2-for-1 fantasy trade?
Usually the side receiving the single best player. You only start one player per slot, so the second and third pieces coming back have to beat what is already on your roster before they add anything. This calculator applies a declining weight to each extra player on a side, which is why consolidating two good players into one great one comes out ahead unless the two are close in value.
Should I trade for a player coming back from injury?
Only at a discount that matches the uncertainty. Use the risk percentage field to knock a player down for injury, suspension or an unstable role. A player you rate at 16 points a game but who you think misses a quarter of the season is closer to 12 in practice, and the price you pay should reflect the version you will actually get, not the healthy one.
What projections should I put into the trade analyzer?
Rest-of-season points per game in your league's scoring format, from whichever source you trust. This site does not pull live projections, so the numbers you enter are the numbers it judges. Use the same source for every player in the trade, because mixing projections from two sites introduces a bias larger than most of the gaps you are trying to measure.
Is a 5 percent gap enough to reject a trade?
No. Anything inside about 5 percent is noise given how imprecise projections are, so decide those trades on roster fit, bye weeks and schedule instead. A gap above 15 percent is worth taking seriously, and above 30 percent one side is being fleeced.
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