Fantasy Football: Sleeper dynasty trade targets for 2025

Don't forget about Roman Wilson: The Steelers' third-round pick last year missed almost all of the season and will have an opportunity to earn a major starting role in a new-look wide receiver room.

Now is the time to buy low: Strike before camp buzz kicks in, as injuries, depth chart changes and coaching tactics will rapidly shift players' fantasy stocks.

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Small moves add up in dynasty fantasy football, whether it be taking a chance on the waiver wire or stashing a late-round rookie with the potential to blossom into a star.

Winning managers should always be looking at buy-low candidates who are either set to overcome poor performances or who have yet to grow into full-time roles. Consider targeting these four players for cheap this offseason, all of whom have intriguing ceilings.

WR Roman Wilson, Pittsburgh Steelers

The wheeling-and-dealing Steelers will feature a remolded receiver room in 2025. The team’s several offseason trades, one of which brought in D.K. Metcalf and another that sent George Pickens packing, have muddied the waters for fantasy football purposes.

For dynasty leagues, there is no better player on the depth chart to take a shot on than Wilson. He missed nearly all of his rookie campaign after suffering ankle and hamstring injuries, putting him off the radar as fantasy managers fixate on the 2025 rookie class.

Wilson, in a sense, is still a promising “rookie.” The third-round pick racked up 12 touchdowns and averaged 2.68 yards per route run — top-20 marks in the Power Five — in 2023 at Michigan. He dropped just one pass in his final season as a reliable target for J.J. McCarthy, now the Vikings’ starting quarterback.

The Steelers’ WR2 role is an open competition, and Wilson will be firmly in the mix alongside Ben Skowronek, Robert Woods and Calvin Austin III. Take a flier on the former Day 2 draft pick if the trade capital makes sense.

Roman Wilson's Stable-Metric Percentiles in 2023 at Michigan

Metric	Percentile
Receiving Grade	98th
Receiving Grade vs. Single Coverage	98th
Receiving Grade vs. Zone, Underneath, Top	83rd
Separation Rate	90th
Separation Rate vs. Single Coverage	94th
Yards per Route Run	80th
Average Depth of Target	72nd
Yards After the Catch per Reception	27th

TE Michael Mayer, Las Vegas Raiders

Lest we forget that the Raiders were shopping Mayer early this offseason, according to The Athletic. The 2023 second-round pick was originally touted as the future of Las Vegas’ tight end room, but an underwhelming rookie campaign and Brock Bowers’ stardom in 2024 pushed him into a depth role.

Trading for Mayer in dynasty at this stage is likely only valuable if the Raiders deal him, and it’s not a bad idea to try and get ahead of it. That said, he is expected to take on a larger role in Chip Kelly’s offense, which seems set to be a slower, more methodical setup compared to Kelly’s previous NFL stints.

“You have to look at what is available to you, whether it’s through the draft or through free agency, or on the current roster. And then, what are their strengths and how do we design our offense around their strengths?” Kelly told The Athletic.

That’s not a ground-breaking statement, but it speaks to a shift in philosophy from his prior attempts to take the NFL by storm. Kelly utilized 12 personnel (two tight ends) at top-10 rates in each year of his stint as the Eagles’ head coach (2013-2015) and his lone season at the helm for the 49ers (2016). With Bowers and Mayer in tow, he may mold his offense to get Mayer more involved with similarly high rates of 12 personnel. Mayer recently discussed the Raiders’ potential use of more 12 and 13 personnel in a team interview.

Mayer is still only 24 years old with a sterling college résumé, albeit one he hasn’t yet been able to reproduce in the NFL. Don’t be afraid to take a chance on him at a lower value before we know more about his situation once the season kicks off.

TE Brenton Strange, Jacksonville Jaguars

Strange is quietly the only viable option to lead the Jaguars’ tight end room in 2025. He takes over for the departed Evan Engram, who used that role to finish as the PPR TE5 in 2022 and the TE2 in 2023, before hamstring and shoulder injuries thwarted his bid to remain a top-tier fantasy asset in 2024.

There are some caveats. The Jaguars are ushering in a brand-new coaching staff, with former Vikings assistant coordinator Grant Udinski now helming the offense. Strange has also hauled in five or more passes in only two of 31 career games.

It’s hard to say how Udinski will utilize Strange, but the 2023 second-rounder showed some promise as the PPR TE17 in a starting role over the final four weeks of the 2024 campaign. We know he will be utilized in some way, though, as none of Johnny Mundt, Hunter Long and Quintin Morris behind him have logged 175 receiving yards or more than two touchdowns in a season.

Strange will be more difficult to acquire from a dynasty manager who understands his potential role in 2025. Still, look to pounce if someone is selling at a discount due to his limited fantasy production thus far.

RB Trey Benson, Arizona Cardinals

Benson profiles as one of the top fantasy handcuffs for 2025, sitting firmly behind James Conner on the Cardinals’ depth chart. He didn’t explode onto the scene as a rookie, but that was expected as he took a backseat to Conner, a fantasy mainstay who ranked as 2024’s RB11.

His floor trajectory may mirror that of a young Tony Pollard, who continued to ramp up in a backup role to Ezekiel Elliott in Dallas for three years before turning in multiple 1,000-yard seasons. Benson’s ceiling trajectory is that of a soon-to-be starter who can fill in seamlessly should Conner suffer an injury.

Among 13 rookie running backs who tallied at least 25 carries in 2024, Benson ranked fourth in yards after contact per attempt (3.3) and third in stuff rate (11.1%). In other words, on his few attempts, he proved capable of producing positive gains and pushing past initial contact. He saw only six targets but brought in all of them and averaged 13.3 yards after the catch per reception.

While any shrewd dynasty manager should be declining low-ball offers for Benson at the speed of light, now is the time to capitalize on his lower value if anyone is willing to sell.