With three weeks of the NFL season over, is now a good time to make a fantasy football trade? Trick question — it’s always a good time to make a fantasy football trade. However, this might actually be a better time than most.
Enough time has passed since drafts that only the most stubborn managers will still be holding onto draft-day values. Three weeks is also enough of a sample size for savvy players to identify trends worth targeting. Without further ado, here are my top three trades to propose as we head into Week 4.
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3 Fantasy Football Trades to Propose Week 4 (2025)
Trey Benson (RB — ARI) for Chris Olave (WR — NO)
As always, this week’s article will rely heavily on FantasyCalc.com, which scrapes data from real leagues to provide both trade values and a list of the most commonly traded players. This week, that list is unsurprisingly led by Trey Benson, who is on the move in over 6% of leagues. This makes tons of sense. Not only did Benson see a huge spike in his value when James Conner unfortunately suffered a knee injury, but, because of his late-round average draft position (ADP), there’s a good chance that plenty of Benson managers are already set at running back.
If you’re one of those managers, Chris Olave is the player I recommend you target when cashing in your now-golden handcuff. Three weeks into the season, Olave is the WR32 with 9.3 half-PPR points per game. That’s solid, but his price shouldn’t be exorbitant — he ranks seven spots below Benson in FantasyCalc’s rankings, which, again, are based on real trades.
However, Olave has far higher potential than his current stats would indicate. The Saints’ offense is playing fast, and they’re almost always playing from behind. This means that Olave’s 30% target share, which would be excellent on any team, translates to a league-high 37 targets. He is averaging over 12 targets per game — only 13 players have reached that mark even once this season. Even if his per-target efficiency remains below-average (which it might, with Spencer Rattler under center), he is almost guaranteed to positively regress into the WR2 range … at least.
As for Benson himself, I’m not too out on him — he’s not a must-sell. The 2024 third-rounder has looked solid this season and saw clear RB1 usage on Thursday night without Conner. But his workload wasn’t as elite as we sometimes see from handcuffs when a team’s RB1 goes down. He handled just eight carries and played only 55% of the Cardinals’ offensive snaps. Especially if you’re set at running back, turning him into a weekly starter at receiver in Olave is a no-brainer.
Kenneth Walker III (RB — SEA) for Brian Thomas Jr. (WR — JAC)
Brian Thomas Jr. is the second most-traded player after Benson. In fact, thanks to his much-publicized struggles to start the season, the sophomore WR has been one of the most-traded players for three straight weeks now. I featured him back heading into Week 2, in a trade that has aged very well if you managed to pull it off. I actually also included Kenneth Walker III (who at the time was coming off a brutal Week 1) in that article, suggesting you attempt to acquire him in exchange for David Montgomery — that’s another move that has aged well according to FantasyCalc rankings.
But that’s enough (arguably too much) tooting my own horn for now. If I recommended trading away Thomas and for Walker in Week 2, why have I changed my mind two weeks later? The answer is as simple as it is unsurprising: Their values have changed. Walker’s stock is back up after three solid games, while Thomas’ just keeps falling. They are now back-to-back as players 35 and 36 overall in FantasyCalc’s rankings.
Both of these moves are slight overreactions to current production, not taking into account usage and context. Yes, Thomas’ results have been awful. But he still easily leads the Jaguars with a 21% target share (eight targets per game) and a 37% air yards share. And, although his struggles with drops and apparent fear of contact are concerning, he’s still an explosively talented player.
Meanwhile, Walker has averaged an excellent 15.8 half-PPR points over his last three games. But one of those games came with Zach Charbonnet sidelined with an injury. Across the other two, Walker only saw five more carries and played eight fewer snaps than Charbonnet. Walker has been much more efficient in recent weeks, but he has still arguably been the Seahawks’ RB2 in terms of usage … just like he was when everyone was panicking after Week 1.
Looking forward, I’m not unconcerned about Thomas. But his red flags are being blown out of proportion, while Walker’s are being swept under the rug. This move would definitely have been easier before last night, in which Walker ceded plenty of work to Charbonnet in prime time. But the trending sentiment still seems to be more “Why is Charbonnet seeing so much work? Hopefully that changes,” and less “Uh oh, this is a clear committee.” As long as that is the case, there is a chance here to turn a committee RB into a theoretically elite young WR1 who just had a few bad games. If BTJ bounces back, that could be a league-winning move by the end of the season.
Chase Brown (RB — CIN) for Javonte Williams (RB — DAL)
If we look at FantasyCalc’s rankings, we can see exactly what kind of move this is. Brown is just ahead of Williams in value, the RB22 to his RB23. But the Bengals’ RB has a little red arrow pointing down next to his name, while Dallas’ RB1 has a green one headed up. We’re selling low and buying high here, which is the opposite of traditional trade wisdom.
However, sometimes you have to see the writing on the wall. Coming into the year, Chase Brown was more of a bet on situation than talent. Meanwhile, Williams was in a potentially excellent situation, but no one believed he had the talent to hold onto his job.
Three weeks in, Williams has shown no signs of being replaced. Miles Sanders is just a change of pace back, and fantasy darling rookie Jaydon Blue hasn’t even been active. Williams, for his part, has looked good, ranking eighth among qualified RBs in PFF Rushing Grade en route to 17.0 half-PPR points per game. Meanwhile, Brown’s excellent situation has vanished into thin air. Losing Joe Burrow is obviously a massive blow to Cincinnati’s offense, and the Bengals’ O-line is somehow even worse than anticipated. He doesn’t have any room to run, and he’s not an elite talent or volume pass-catcher to make up for it.
The key to this deal is to realize that, despite the massive gap in their preseason ADPs, these two players aren’t that different. Like most fantasy running backs, their production will mainly be determined by their respective situations. And for the foreseeable future, Javonte is in a far superior situation to Brown. If you can find someone who thinks they are getting one over on you by “selling high” and “buying low,” this move is an excellent way to salvage some value from an early-round pick that is looking like a massive bust.
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Ted Chmyz is a fantasy football contributor for FantasyPros.com. Find him on Twitter and Bluesky @Tchmyz for more fantasy content or to ask questions.
