Much of fantasy football's in-season team strategy centers around which players to pick up from the waiver wire or to target in the trade market. However, roster spots are a premium (and finite) resource. Cutting a player - or adding them to a trade - opens a roster spot for a key waiver wire addition or the flexibility to keep a currently injured player through a missed game or two. Here are the key players to cut or trade after Week 9:
Roster Rate references data collected from myfantasyleague.com leagues.
Shallow Formats
15-18 roster spots
QB Kirk Cousins, Raiders
Why: Easily Cousins' worst game of the season came in Week 9. With each loss mounting, Fernando Mendoza looms as an outlet for the Raiders to begin to groom the rookie for 2027. The difficult stretch of the Raiders' schedule started with the 49ers in Week 9, with Seattle, then at Denver and Cleveland before their Week 13 bye. At a minimum, have a secondary plan rostered if Cousins is your QB1 in case the Raiders make a transition any given week.
Of course, this might need to be revisited if Cousins is sent to Minnesota.
WR Devaughn Vele, Saints
Why: Jordyn Tyson made his debut for the Saints. While WR4 in the rotation, Tyson had 0.25 targets per route run and collected five targets. Expect his involvement and routes to rise by the week, and Vele to be one of the declining options in the offense as a result. Vele had his worst fantasy game of the season and was more of a streamer or floor play than a difference maker at his core. At WR42 in Roster Rate, Vele should be lower in appeal for deeper leagues.