TRADE GRADE! Pollard/Freiermuth for Kraft/Tyson

At 7:15am this morning, I received a text from a member of this league who was, let’s say, DISTRAUGHT over the state of the waiver wire. No available WRs had more than 3 catches or 57 yards. Moments later, I was then informed that the RB crop was no better.

While morning terrors like this are something we should all start getting used to as this league saunters toward senility, these texts filled me with joy because when the waiver wire starts getting thin that’s when the trade action begins. And right on cue, we have our first trade of the season.

Early rumblings were that this was a panic trade by Nico. Word on the street was that Nico, coming off of his first two loss week and having lost three games in the last two weeks and fallen from first place, got antsy and forced a move. Another expert chimed in that Nico was clearly shocked when he saw all of the byes he had to deal with this week and felt like something had to be done. A more optimistic voice chirped that this was a perfect sell high moment because when was Tony Pollard ever going to score three TDs in a game again?! When will then Titans offense score that many in a game? In fact, Pollard could get traded in real life and perhaps not be the bell cow that he is in Tennessee.

It was around this time when I realized that my omelet was burning because I had been talking to myself for the last 15 minutes so I decided to throw out the eggs and just have a Cherry Coke for the day’s most important meal.

Anyway, let’s break down the deal.

ELI: Google’s top three Trade Analyzers - “top” at least in terms of search results - all say that this was a fair trade but Eli came out on top. Tony Pollard is the best player in the trade and plays a position of need as Eli is currently starting Omarion Hampton and RJ Harvey. Pat Freiermuth is currently the #10 TE but that’s based mostly off of two big games. That being said, the outgoing Tucker Kraft (TE #7) similarly has been boom or bust and only has 12 point more than the Pride of Brooks School in North Andover, MA. (Although, despite what commentators say, Freiermuth is not FROM North Andover so has not surpassed Rob Konrad as the town’s best football player.)
The only red flag is that I believe Tony Pollard played a key part of Eli’s infamous collapse a few years ago. I could be wrong about the year but I did have it confirmed by the Commish that there was a season when he was cursing poor Pollard and calling him a bum.
Still, this is a tough trade to turn down even though I do think we’re going to see Tucker Kraft turn it on a bit (although right after I type that I looked up TE strength of schedule and Kraft’s sitting a 30th - not that strength of schedule is all that reliable.)
ELI - A+
Because this deal will either work out for Eli’s team or work out for the rest of us and our enjoyment of watching him get enraged by his players.

NICO: There was some shrewd thinking here on Nico’s part. He has a lot of bye weeks to deal with and Jordyn Tyson is on the IR so instead of having to choose between Freiermuth and Juwan Johnson - he lands a set-it-and-forget-it TE in Kraft and opens up a roster spot this week as Tyson can be placed on the IR (assuming that Deebo is off of it this week.) And Tyson does have a ton of upside although his main pre-draft red flag was injuries, notably his hamstrings, and well, that’s what took him out in the preseason. One has to wonder if there might not have been a better deal to be made with Pollard and one of Nico’s other WRs for an upgrade at WR rather than TE.
Tony Pollard was absolutely in a sell high position but I’m not sure if Tucker Kraft counts as selling high. Pollard was ranked ahead of him before his big day this past week. And Nico’s once vaunted depth takes a hit; Yes, he was probably never going to play Pollard over Kyren Williams or Jahmyr Gibbs but if Williams gets hurt, now Nico has to choose from a pu pu platter of wideouts to fill the FLEX spot.
Still, I think the return of Josh Jacobs should open up more play action passing, which could help Tucker and I think that Jordan Love has to eventually start to tire of Matthew Golden’s drops and look more towards Kraft. (Although Kraft himself has been dropping passes left and right so he might not be on Love’s good side right now either.)
Ultimately, if things keep going well for Nico, Kraft shores up his TE position and all he lost was a backup RB and a TE he might have dropped this week anyway. And I can attest that making trades in this league isn’t always the easiest thing so he might not have been able to wait for a better deal to come along because Pollard’s upcoming schedule isn’t the best.
NICO: B-/C+
I am a fan of Kraft but I’m not seeing him as a difference maker this season and Nico just gave up his best trade asset for him. Jordyn Tyson could swing this trade massively but he has a lot to learn and will be, at best, the third option on most plays. I’m just not sure if this deal moves the needle either way.