The 2024 NFL Trade Deadline is quickly approaching, and it’s already brought a bevy of fantasy football-relevant moves. We’ve seen several wide receivers switch teams, including Diontae Johnson, Davante Adams, Amari Cooper, and DeAndre Hopkins. We’ve had a running back trade early on Tuesday, and there figures to be more to come on both sides of the ball. We’ll be here throughout the day to provide the trades and our rapid reactions as they relate to fantasy football.

2024 NFL Trade Deadline: Fantasy Football Reactions

Pat Fitzmaurice and Derek Brown provide their takeaways from the day’s 2024 NFL Trade Deadline deals.

Bears Trade Khalil Herbert to Bengals

The Bengals have acquired RB Khalil Herbert from the Bears in exchange for a seventh-round draft pick, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

Herbert had become the odd man out in the Chicago backfield and hadn’t gotten a carry since Week 2. The Bears’ willingness to deal Herbert underscores the team’s commitment to the current RB hierarchy, with D’Andre Swift as the lead back and second-year man Roschon Johnson as the backup.

The move signals that the Bengals have concerns about the health of Zack Moss, who’s out indefinitely with a neck issue. With Moss sidelined in Week 9, Chase Brown logged an 80% snap share and had 32 touches in the Bengals’ 41-24 win over the Raiders. Although Brown averaged 27.3 carries a game and 29.6 touches a game in his final college season at Illinois, the Bengals clearly need to lighten his load if Moss won’t be back for a while.

Herbert now has handcuff value for fantasy but probably not stand-alone value. Without Moss cutting into his workload, the explosive Brown should return high-end RB2 value going forward — maybe even low-end RB1 value. Fantasy managers can probably let go of Moss, who isn’t likely to be back soon and had seen his role diminished by Brown anyway.

The Bengals’ trade for Herbert can also be interpreted as a vote of no-confidence for backups Trayveon Williams and Kendall Milton, who can be released from dynasty rosters.

– Pat Fitzmaurice

Panthers Trade Jonathan Mingo to Cowboys

The Cowboys traded for WR Jonathan Mingo, giving the Panthers a fourth-round pick for Mingo plus a seventh-rounder.

It’s a curious acquisition for the Cowboys, who would seem to have greater needs at running back and at other positions. At 3-5. The Cowboys’ playoff hopes are growing faint, and they’re facing a multi-week absence for QB Dak Prescott, who has a hamstring injury.

As a rookie last season, Mingo had 43 catches for 418 yards and zero touchdowns in 15 games. He has 12 catches for 121 yards so far this season and has fallen behind rookies Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker on the depth chart. Mingo played just 28% of Carolina’s offensive snaps in Week 9.

Mingo would seem to offer no fantasy value on his new team. The Cowboys have CeeDee Lamb, one of the NFL’s most prolific pass catchers. Lamb sustained a shoulder injury on Sunday and could conceivably miss a game or two. But Mingo has to get acclimated to a new system and will likely be playing limited snaps in the coming weeks. Whatever targets he gets in the next week or two will probably be coming from backup QB Cooper Rush.

Young WR Jalen Tolbert has shown promise for Dallas this season. Veteran WR Brandin Cooks is expected back from a knee injury soon. And the Cowboys have a high-volume TE in Jake Ferguson.

Fantasy managers in redraft leagues shouldn’t be rushing out to add Mingo. But Mingo is signed through 2026, and the Cowboys apparently see something in him, so the 2022 second-round draft pick from Ole Miss is worth holding in dynasty.

For the Panthers, the Mingo trade signals a commitment to young WRs Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker. The Panthers clearly have big plans for Legette after trading into the first round to land him with the 32nd overall pick in this draft. But the big winner here is Coker, who had split snaps with Mingo in Week 9. An undrafted rookie free agent from Holy Cross, Coker is a big (6-1, 208) slot receiver with intriguing upside. He could provide WR4 value this year and is an attractive young dynasty asset.

– Pat Fitzmaurice