Today is a day that ends in “Y,” which means it’s a great day to propose a fantasy football trade. Whether you’re 0-4 and desperately trying to stay alive or 4-0 and already looking toward the playoffs, you should always be looking to improve your roster.
Proposing a trade costs nothing, so you might as well shoot your shot… just don’t be that manager who offers bench scrubs for superstars. Keeping that in mind, here are three relatively balanced trades I recommend you propose as we head into Week 5.
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3 Fantasy Football Trades to Propose Week 5 (2025)
Emeka Egbuka (WR – TB) for A.J. Brown (WR – PHI) & A Little Extra
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, the most commonly traded player is A.J. Brown. Brown has actually been a hot commodity all season, probably because frustrated managers can’t wait to get him off their teams.
As someone who is heavily invested in Brown myself, I get wanting to move on from him. The Eagles’ offense, which was already annoyingly run-heavy, is now also frustratingly ineffective. New Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo seems incapable of making the most of the absurd wealth of talent on Philly’s roster.
But the two most important things in fantasy football are talent and usage, and Brown still has both on his side. His 28% target share ranks ninth in the NFL, and his 46% air yards share ranks sixth. His second-half performance against the Rams in Week 2 proved he is still capable of absolutely dominating a game. If the manager in your league is willing to sell low, I want to be buying.
As for the other side of this trade, Egbuka’s value has simply gotten out of hand. Trading him for Brown straight up isn’t a no-brainer, but the rookie is valued nearly 10 spots higher than the veteran, so you shouldn’t have to. Egbuka has been undeniably excellent to start the season, ranking as the WR7 in half-PPR leagues. But his usage — a 22% target share and a 34% air yards share — is more like that of a No. 2 WR than a legit No. 1 WR. Especially with Chris Godwin now back and Mike Evans returning eventually, it’s hard to see how he can keep this up all season.
It doesn’t feel good to trade a productive, exciting rookie for a frustrating, lyric-tweeting vet. But, as long as you can get an extra real asset in the deal, this is a move worth making. Egbuka is overproducing his peripherals, while Brown is massively underperforming his. If they both regress, you could end up with the better fantasy receiver and an additional asset on top.
Ja’Marr Chase (WR – CIN) for The Best Package You Can Get
Second to A.J. Brown in terms of trade volume this week is another disappointing superstar receiver in Ja’Marr Chase. Unfortunately, I’m not willing to buy the dip in this case. So far this season, Chase has scored fewer than 6.5 half-PPR points in three out of four contests. In two games with Jake Browning under center, he’s averaging a miserable 5.6 points.
This would be one thing if Chase were at least still seeing elite volume… but he isn’t. With Browning under center, he is seeing a 27% target share (that’s still excellent) and a 27% air yards share (that’s not). The Bengals are trying to scheme him the ball — he has five designed targets and 12 of his 14 total targets were first-read looks. But those designed looks are lowering his average depth of target (aDOT) — 5.1 yards over the last two weeks — and he isn’t being targeted in other situations.
With that said, this title is a bit of hyperbole. Chase is still one of the most talented receivers in the league. He’s not going to be kept in check forever, and I wouldn’t trade him if you can’t get a real offer. But, given the value his name carries, I bet most leagues will have at least one manager willing to fork over a substantial package for Chase. He’s still valued as a top-20 overall asset on FantasyCalc and the 10th overall player in FantasyPros’ rest-of-season expert consensus rankings (ECR). Both of those rankings are too rich for my blood, which is why I recommend testing the waters to trade away the reigning Triple Crown winner.
Jordan Mason (RB – MIN) for Ladd McConkey (WR – LAC)
This is actually a two-for-one deal of two hot trade assets, as both Jordan Mason (sixth) and Ladd McConkey (third) are currently in the top 10 most traded players according to FantasyCalc. This works out great, as we are currently in a sell-high window for the Vikings running back and a buy-low window for the Chargers wide receiver.
I’m out on Mason at his current price for a few reasons. For one, Aaron Jones will be back eventually, and certainly in time for the most important part of the fantasy football season. Obviously, Mason’s ceiling and value will be capped when Jones returns to compete for valuable touches.
Meanwhile, even while Jones is sidelined, Mason’s role isn’t actually all that fantasy-friendly. He is dominating touches on the ground, but the Vikings are using former Colts undrafted free agent Zavier Scott over him in receiving situations — Scott has nine targets to Mason’s three over the last two weeks. I also want to note that the Vikings’ offense has clearly taken a step back with Sam Darnold‘s departure. In 2024, Minnesota was 14th in expected points added (EPA) per play. So far this season, they’re 28th. With non-elite usage on a non-elite offense, Mason isn’t as valuable as he may seem.
Meanwhile, McConkey is such an obvious buy-low candidate that he’s actually become un-obvious again. The sophomore wideout is being massively outperformed by both Quentin Johnston and Keenan Allen, but his own usage is still fine. He leads L.A. in routes run and has an 18% target share (6.8 targets per game) and a 20% air yards share.
At this point, McConkey is not going to be the WR2 he was drafted as, but he should at least bounce back to provide WR3 or Flex numbers in the Chargers’ pass-happy new offense. He also has contingent upside if either Johnston or Allen (who is 33 years old) were to be injured. If you can get him for Mason, a low-ceiling back with both long- and short-term question marks, pull the trigger.
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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.
