Dynasty Football Sells: Quarterbacks

When considering a quarterback in a standard redraft league, there are different strategies that have proven to work over the years. Late-Round Quarterback, Streaming Quarterbacks, Drafting a Stud Quarterback, and Mid-Round Value Quarterbacks. All of these have their merits and all of these have their downsides. But in the end, it’s relatively easy to find a quarterback in a standard 12-team league that will let you compete each and every week. Here are a few quarterbacks I’m considering selling in Dynasty Football Sells: Quarterbacks. Dynasty? Well, that’s a horse of a different color. There are so many other variables to consider when thinking about where to invest for a dynasty quarterback. What’s his age? What about contract status? What kind of weapons does he have now and should he have in the future? What about the offensive scheme or the offensive line? Lastly, and more importantly, will he help me win? Team context and competitiveness matter of course, but below are three quarterbacks that I believe will fall into the “sell” category in 2021.

Ryan Tannehill

Do me a favor and take a quick gander over to the Tennessee Titans contracts by year page at Sportrac. Look at the money they have committed in 2023 and think about what stands out. To me, it’s $15.5 million to Derrick Henry (age 30), $11.5 million to Julio Jones (age 34), $20.2 million to Bud Dupree (age 30), $17.4 million to Kevin Byard (age 30), and a whopping $36 million to Ryan Tannehill (age 35). Notice a name who is not on this list? AJ Brown. He becomes an unrestricted free agent after 2022. But the Titans have over $100,000,000 tied up in five players who will be over 30 by the time Brown wants to get paid. What will the Titans do and how will it impact Tannehill if Brown isn’t on the team anymore? After career highs in touchdowns and touchdown rate and career lows in interception rate in 2020, a hot start in 2021 for Tannehill might net you a king’s ransom for a quarterback-needy team. But no matter what you decide to do with him in 2021, be assured he and his supporting cast will be quite expensive and quite old within two years. Tannehill lost several of his prime years thanks to the Adam Gase offensive black hole, so be sure you follow the same path Ryan did and get out before it’s too late. He may very well end up being a QB1 this year and he’s absolutely set up to succeed. You should be able to sell Tannehill very high right now to a win-now team. Not on DraftKings Sportsbook yet? This one is literally free money.

Kirk Cousins

You can make a case that the fantasy value for Kirk Cousins has never been higher. Coming off a career-high 35 touchdowns in a year when the Minnesota Vikings were the sixth-heaviest rush team in the league, Cousins has some real late-round appeal in drafts. Combine that with the fact that he has two dynamic receivers at his disposal in Adam Thielen and the young stud Justin Jefferson, and the arrow seems to be pointing up for Cousins. But facts are facts, and we must face them in dynasty when we make our quarterback decisions. Cousins is playing in his age 33 season and has made his thoughts on the NFL’s COVID and vaccine protocols clearly known, putting him at higher risk for quarantine. But beyond the health risk of a quarterback with almost 7,000 snaps and more than 200 sacks in his ledger is the gauntlet of a schedule the Vikings will face this year. FF Toolbox ranks Minnesota’s full fantasy season as the ninth-toughest on the year for quarterbacks, but that looks downright easy when you see that their strength of schedule in the playoff Weeks (15-17) ranks 32nd. That’s right, Cousins will face the toughest schedule of any NFL quarterback in the money weeks this year. If Cousins and company can put up some strong fantasy performances in early games against Cincinnati, Arizona, and Detroit, it will be time to update your trade block. [pickup_prop id=”5454″]

Aaron Rodgers

Would you be surprised if one year from today, Aaron Rodgers is doing any of these things:

• Preparing for another NFL season
• Enjoying retired life
• Joining a network’s NFL programming
• Hosting a game show
• Coaching Junior Varsity football in Alameda, California

After the rocky ride he took us on in the 2021 offseason, I really don’t put anything past him at this point. All I do know is that he, Davante Adams, and Aaron Jones are going to lead an offense one more time that was second in the NFL in yards per play and net yards per attempt last season. Apparently, Rodgers and the Packers have a handshake agreement that says Rodgers will be traded if he wants to keep playing but doesn’t want to play in Green Bay after this season. That means he might be back with Adams, but who knows what situation he could be in for 2022, or if he is tired of the grind and decides to hang it up at age 38. Borrowing a phrase from the late philosopher Donald Rumsfeld, “There are unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.” There is so much we don’t know about Rodgers’ future. If you feel like you can predict Rodgers’ path after this season, feel free to use that power for good. As for me, I’m cashing out this season unless Rodgers can realistically deliver a fantasy title to my dynasty squad with one last ride.

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