Football is back which means trade offers — both good and bad — are back too. As any veteran fantasy player knows, trades are essential to winning a championship. No one has a perfect draft and rides 100% of the players they drafted for the whole season.

Luckily, FantasyPros has you covered. Not only is there the ‘Who Should I Trade?’ tool where you can get instant feedback, but every week in this space, we’ll dig even deeper into players that should be moved. There will be the classic one-for-one deals but also deals where multiple pieces would equate to one piece, which will be indicated next to a player’s name.

Without further ado, below is the first batch of trades to offer as we kick off the 2022 season.

And be sure to check out our weekly trade value chart with updated values for all players

If you want to dive deeper into fantasy football, be sure to check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Football Tools as you navigate your season. From our Start/Sit Assistant – which provides your optimal lineup, based on accurate consensus projections – to our Waiver Wire Assistant – that allows you to quickly see which available players will improve your team and by how much – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.

The Trade: Cam Akers (RB – LAR) for AJ Dillon (RB – GB)-plus

The Reasoning: Cam Akers is a popular choice in 2022 fantasy drafts. While not a first-round running back this year, he was poised to be that in 2021 drafts before he tore his Achilles in the off-season. It was a long road back but he managed to see action in the Rams’ last regular season game before joining them for their Super Bowl run. Now with a full off-season, Akers is back to being a starting running back for fantasy teams. But will he score more points than AJ Dillon, the 1B running back in Green Bay?

After a quiet rookie season that saw Dillon see less than 50 touches, he had a mini-breakout season in 2021 where he led the Packers in carries (187), rushing yards (803) and rushing touchdowns (five). There is the presence of the 1A running back in Green Bay — Aaron Jones — but consider that Green Bay was adept at rolling both of them out there last year when they both saw over 1,000 total yards. Green Bay did lose their offensive coordinator to a head coaching job in Denver, but the coach that took over — Adam Stenavich — was the run-game coordinator last year. You can say Stenavich is pretty familiar with both Dillon and Jones.

The perception that Akers was the 1A in his backfield to Darrell Henderson’s 1B no doubt played a role in Akers being taken where he was all off-season. That’s certainly in question after Thursday’s opener. Dillon is healthy and has the track record to outperform him.

The Trade: Justin Herbert (QB – LAC) for Jalen Hurts (QB – PHI)-plus

The Reasoning: While both Justin Herbert and Jalen Hurts were drafted in the same year and have become starting-caliber fantasy quarterbacks, they got there in very different ways.

Herbert was hot from the jump. Drafted fifth overall in the 2020 NFL Draft and replacing Chargers legend Philip Rivers, Herbert ended his rookie season with over 4,000 passing yards and 30-plus touchdowns. He topped it his sophomore year throwing for 5,000-plus yards and nearly 40 touchdowns. He has firmly cemented himself as a top-five fantasy quarterback.

We did not see this coming from Hurts. Drafted in the second round of the same draft as Herbert, Hurts took over for the Eagles down the stretch of his rookie season before becoming the full-time starter in 2021. In his sophomore season, Hurts threw for 3,000-plus yards and just 16 touchdowns but made up for his average passing numbers with over 700 yards rushing and 10 more touchdowns on the ground.

When considering these two, the one thing Hurts had room to improve was the passing stats. But not only has Hurts, by all accounts, improved his accuracy, but the Eagles went out and got a Pro Bowl receiver in A.J. Brown to pair with 2021 first-round pick DeVonta Smith.

If your team is still lacking depth and/or a starter or two, you could flip Herbert for Hurts and then some and come out ahead this season.

The Trade: Kadarius Toney (WR – NYG) for George Pickens (WR – PIT)-plus

The Reasoning: Kadarius Toney has always teased his massive potential. In college, he totaled less than 100 touches in his first three years at Florida before breaking out his senior season. He teased again in that senior season, seeing just 89 touches but scoring 11 times for an average of scoring every eight times he had the ball. That efficiency led the Giants to take him in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft.

He teased again as a pro, having exactly two games with more than 40 receiving yards after being hurt most of the season. But there was one spectacular game that the Toney reputation has seemingly lived off of during that rookie year. In Week Five against Dallas, he saw 13 targets and caught 10 of them for 189 yards. It’s that flash that is driving his ADP.

Which is exactly why you should trade him for someone like George Pickens. Pickens has also flashed in his brief career but, unlike Toney, has been healthy. Drafted in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Pickens fell after character issues and just an influx of talented receivers entering this draft. But he’s just as talented as them and put on a show this training camp. Current Steelers receiver Diontae Johnson is hurt, and Chase Claypool is quickly playing his way out of Pittsburgh, which means Pickens will have ample opportunity.

Michael Moore is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Michael, check out his archive and follow him @DLF_Moore.