When Trade Winds Blow ...

When the trade winds finally start blowing, the trades come in bunches and, gee whiz, boys and girls, we had a gaggle full of them in the last week.

The trade season finally got some headwind as the Tirades sent (clockwise, from top left) Jonathan Taylor, Brock Purdy and Emeka Egbuka to the Spread Beaters, and the Invaiders sent Travis Swift (bottom left) to the Packers.

The final trade watch focuses on three pieces of the puzzle – where will Bijan Robinson, CeeDee Lamb and Josh Allen end up come Thanksgiving Day? Or, will any of them be moved at all?

As this is being written, we are under 7 days until the midnight trade deadline on November 26 (Happy Birthday, Mom). As the book was closing on the Week 11 action, three notable trades were announced as the Spread Beaters and Packers beefed up their postseason rosters and WTNE joined the Tirades and Band Aids in the “fire sale” announcements.

The biggest move of the week was the six-player swap between Ron’s Tirades and Matt Pringle’s Spread Beaters. The Beaters lost two more key players to injuries in Week 11 and boosted their roster by adding RB Jonathan Taylor, WR Emeka Egbuka and the San Francisco QBs (Go Niners!) in exchange for RB Rachaad White, WR Keenan Allen and the Washington Commanders QBs along with two draft picks. The Beaters send a 9th-rounder to the Tirades along with a 5th-rounder that escalates to a 4th if the Beaters lose in the finals. It escalates to a 2nd if the Beaters win. So, we all hope Pringle’s boys get bounced in the first round of the playoffs.

The second trade of the week was a swap of tight ends and a draft pick between the Packers and the Invaiders. The Packers add Travis Kelce for some schmo (Dalton Schultz) he picked off the waiver wire Wednesday morning and a conditional pick that starts with a 9th-rounder in 2026 and escalates to a 7th-rounder if the Packers win it all. Sorry, I still can’t root for the Packers, even in this scenario. I feel dirty enough already.

Breece Hall is headed to the Gerbils.

The third and last (for now) trade also involved the Tirades, who sent RB2 Breece Hall to the currently fourth-seeded Gerbils for a 10th and Nick Chubb.

The scenario still waiting to unfold is where Bijan, CeeDee and Josh Allen land, or if their owners – Chris, me and John – keep them and let them become free agents next season. Chris still leads his division, and I have a one-in-a-million shot of reaching the postseason, and John is well out of it and has no reason to keep Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts. Many have argued he never should have wasted his first-round pick on Allen after protecting Hurts. Just sayin’. You don’t do that unless there is intent to trade one along the way. And, now we have Jordan Garcia entering the “fire sale” mode with the bulk of his roster on the block while he still is tied for the fourth and final playoff spot with the Gerbils.

Week 12 Schedule

Four more teams take this week off – the Denver Broncos, the Los Angeles Chargers, the Miami Dolphins and the Washington Commanders – leading up to the full slate of games scheduled next week. This week’s slate starts Thursday with Buffalo traveling to Houston. The biggest line of the week is the 50 points expected between the New York Giants playing at Detroit. The Sunday night game features Tampa Bay traveling to Sofi Stadium to take on the Rams. The week concludes with the Carolina Panthers taking on San Francisco (Go Niners!). For those looking ahead to the Week 13 Thanksgiving week, there are three games on the holiday Thursday (Packers at Lions, Chiefs at Cowboys and finally the Bengals at Ravens) and a fourth game on Black Friday (Bears at Eagles).

Game of the Week

Recliners (8-3) vs. Gerbils (6-5), Recliners favored by 7: Chris could take a big step to clinching the second Golden Ticket to the playoffs with a win this week. And, Chuck could be sucked into a vortex of shame of having to hold off the WTNE and the fighting Invaiders for the last spot in the playoffs. It is clear, at this point in the season, that Chris plans to max out his use of Bijan Robinson by keeping him on the roster through Week 12. There is a chance he could eat Bijan and keep him on the roster for a hope of winning it all with one of the best running backs in the league. But, if Bijan is still a Recliner at this time next week, he loses him to free agency once the season ends and hands him to someone like Bob Garcia, the likely first pick next season, a gift of biblical proportions. And with Bijan drawing the New Orleans defense this week, who would not want to keep him for one more fun ride? And even with Bijan on the roster, Chuck still gets the advantage at RB1 as Jahmyr Gibbs hosts the New York Giants. The Gerbils also get the nod at QB with Patrick Mahomes against the Colts, while Chris’ QB (the Rams) takes on Tampa Bay. The Recliners get the edge at RB2 with Rico Dowdle at the frequently gashed 49ers defense (ugh, 9ers), WR2 Stephon Diggs, tight end Trey McBride and flex (WR Puka Nacua) and the Baltimore kickers. The Gerbils get the edge at WR1 with Davante Adams and the Detroit defense. The Swami says take the Recliners and 3.

Best of the Rest

Packers (9-2) vs. Band Aids (3-8), Packers favored by 10: The Packers could clinch the first spot in the playoffs with a win and a Gerbils’ loss this weekend. And with Chuck taking on the Recliners (see above), this could be one of those fun prop bets this week. The initial line, before the trade for Kelce, was only 4 points. With Kelce added to the fold, this one should fall Jeff’s way. He gets the edge at QB (Drake Maye), and both RBs (Christian McCaffrey and James Cook III). Kelce will have a 1-point edge over Mark Andrews at tight end. The Band Aids get the edge at both WRs (Tee Higgins and Rashee Rice), flex (RB David Montgomery) and the Patriots defense. The Swami says never bet against the Pack when $ is on the line. Take the Packers and 5.

Invaiders (5-6) vs. WTNE (6-5), Invaiders favored by 5: This might be one of the more entertaining games on the slate this week as the Invaiders make an improbable late-season push for playoff contention. Jordan Garcia announced his intention to toss in the towel earlier this week and join the “fire sale” even though he is still tied with the Gerbils for the final playoff spot. Go figure. There have been no announced trades of WTNE players as of this writing so we proceed with prognostications based on those still on the WTNE roster. The Invaiders are 2 games back of both the Gerbils and WTNE and has to post more wins than both of those teams as they get smoked in the “points-for” category. WTNE gets the positional edge at QB with Jacoby Brissett (Cardinals) and RB1 Saquon Barkley and tight end Brock Bowers. The Invaiders get the edge at RB2 (free agent Emanuel Wilson of Green Bay), both WRs (CeeDee Lamb and Tetairoa McMillan), flex (RB TreVoyon Henderson and the Cleveland defense. What the heck. The Swami says feel the urge and take the Invaiders and 1.

Dog(s) of the Week

Beaters (7-4) vs. Rangers (3-8), Beaters favored by 20+: We have two “woofs” candidates this week. One for being a potential blowout, and the other (see below) for a potential scarcity of points. The blowout features the Beaters, who are favored at every position before he added Jonathan Taylor, Emeka Egbucka and the 49ers QB. Woof. This could be a blowout of historical proportions. Projecting a final score is brutal as John as one player likely out (Josh Jacobs) and two more starters (Kimani Vidal and Troy Franklin) on byes this week. The Swami says the Beaters win this one by at least 20.

Tirades (4-7) vs. Who Dey (4-7), Who Dey favored by 2: The only interesting development will be who will be racing against the Rangers for the second pick in the 2026 draft. The line on this one will move substantially after the trade with the Beaters processes, but who cares? It also will move substantially when Matty realizes he has two starters on bye (RJ Harvey and Deebo Samuel). The Swami says Who Dey stumbles into a win because he can’t stomach playing two starters on a bye.