4 IDP Players to Trade Away

Photo: Jeff Curry, USA Today Sports

The 2021 NFL season provided fantasy football with some surprise IDP performers. Some players seemed to break out, while others reappeared to relevancy after a slight hiatus. What this did, though, was create a value facade for some of these players. Some maintain a high perceived value based on their current situations. Either way, there are players you should jump at the chance to trade away, or disinvest in, to get the best value on return to bulk up your dynasty rosters. It is time to cash in on them before their perceived value drops. Here are some top options to disinvest in for the upcoming 2022 NFL season.

DE/EDGE Robert Quinn, Chicago

2021 Stats: 49 tackles (38 solos), 17 tackles for a loss, 18.5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, and 47 pressures.

Nobody is going to deny that Robert Quinn had an unbelievable 2021 season. He was just a half of a sack short of his career high of 19 that he set back in 2013 and was just eight tackles short of his career-high which he set in that same year. Quinn had a sack conversion rate of 39.5% of his pressures which is a completely unsustainable percentage. Though he had 18.5 sacks in 2021, he has been wildly inconsistent throughout his career. He has had 8.5 sacks or more in six of his eleven seasons but 6.5 or less in five of his eleven seasons.

Quinn is not getting any younger, either. He turns 33 years old this season and has shown some signs of slowing down. He had a missed tackle rate of 23.1% in 2021, which was the worst mark of his entire career. The Bears also traded away Khalil Mack, the team's premier pass-rusher. With Quinn now as the team's top pass-rusher and the Bears adding little talent to play across from Quinn, opposing lines will be giving Quinn added attention. 2021 was likely Quinn's last all-pro season, and it is time to move on from him. If you have the opportunity to trade Quinn for rookie picks, jump at the opportunity, his value will never be higher.

LB Shaq Thompson, Carolina

2021 Stats: 104 tackles (65 solos), 9 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks, 5 passes defended, 2 interceptions, and 12 pressures.

Shaq Thompson has been drafted as a low-end LB1 since he put up 109 tackles and three sacks in 2019 while playing next to Luke Kuechly. Kuechly retired after the 2019 season, vacating an average of 136.5 tackles per season. After the seemingly apparent breakout of Thompson, matched with Kuechly's retirement, Thompson was supposed to become a high-end LB1. The two seasons following Kuechly's departure have been far from high-end LB1 territory. Thompson has failed to eclipse 114 tackles at any point in his career and has averaged only 109 tackles per season since Kuechly retired, which is astonishing considering how many vacated tackles there were on the roster.

His playmaking ability has never really become what it was in college. He has never eclipsed 3.5 sacks, never eclipsed two interceptions, or eclipsed five passes defended in any of his seven seasons. If he has not done it by now, I do not foresee him doing it in the future. Add that the Panthers added Cory Littleton, and Thompson could fall back in line as the team's LB2. Littleton was a top 5 LB in 2018 and 2019. Even though he was highly inefficient with the Raiders, he has shown enough in the past that it makes me worry dearly about Thompson's value. Thompson is consistently banged up as well. Though he has not suffered season-ending injuries, he has missed two games in six of his seven seasons. He is still drafted as a low-end LB1. Cash in on that value and draft his replacement.