CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – SEPTEMBER 08: Justin Jefferson #18 of the Minnesota Vikings celebrates a touchdown reception during the fourth quarter against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on September 08, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
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Not many dynasty fantasy football managers have been willing to trade Justin Jefferson for quite some time. With Jefferson scoring just 11.9 PPG (PPR) last year, the door is at least slightly open.
That down year is not necessarily an indication of Jefferson as a talent. Among the entire quarterback room, there were just 3,208 passing yards to go around, and Jefferson still had 1,048 yards.
Expectations for J.J. McCarthy were much different from what played out. Over 10 games, McCarthy had just 1,623 passing yards, 11 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.
That ultimately led the Minnesota Vikings to sign Kyler Murray, who’s more of a veteran but has questions himself. The bottom line question we’ll be answering here is whether Jefferson is a player you should trade for, avoid, or trade away right now.
Justin Jefferson 2025 Recap
For these rankings and overall value reference, we’ll be looking at Keep Trade Cut.
Looking back to September 1st, Jefferson was ranked as the WR2 in all of dynasty fantasy football. On that same date, Jefferson had an overall value of 9,082.
There was plenty of reason for this, as Jefferson had scored at least 17 PPG every season prior to 2025 since he was a rookie. That included him scoring at least 20 points in 2022 and 2023.
Unfortunately for Jefferson, he had a down year by his standards with 84 catches for 1,048 yards and also only two touchdowns in 2025.
Should You Trade for Justin Jefferson?
After that 2025 season, Jefferson has seen his value drop quite a bit, but he’s still one of the highest ranked players in dynasty fantasy football.
Jefferson is the WR5, with an overall value of 7,685. Although that value would indicate that his price has dropped a ton, he’s still the 12th ranked player in superflex leagues and 8th in a 1QB format.
Even though Jefferson isn’t old, at 27 years old, it’s tough to classify him as a young talent to build around. If your team is in a rebuild where you don’t plan to be competitive until 2028, actively looking to move Jefferson makes sense.
As for how this applies to teams thinking about trading for Jefferson, he appeals to one kind of archetype, which is someone in a retool. The hope is that by then, either one of the Vikings’ current quarterbacks will work out or they can select someone in the 2027 NFL Draft.
If your team is a contender, I’d advise against trading for Jefferson. The cost is still extremely high, and it’s tough to see him getting back to that 17 plus PPG range.
Even if Jefferson can still take a step up to around 14 PPG, and it still won’t look like a great deal with how high the price to trade for him is.
There’s no doubt that Jefferson is a great talent, and if the Vikings can get him the ball efficiently, he should have have a big year. It’s that the situation makes it so Jefferson might struggle compared to his value, making the idea of trading for him in dynasty fantasy football risky.
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