Guest Author - Kori Ellis

Last week, we talked about which fantasy football players to trade for because their value is lower than their expected value in the future. One of those three players was Donovan McNabb, who exploded for four touchdowns and 381 yards against the Detroit Lions. If you were lucky enough to trade for him, you received instant gratification on your deal.

On the other side of the coin, this week we’ll discuss players who should be traded now because their value will likely not increase. These type of deals are dangerous because you can end up selling off a player that actually keeps his current value for the rest of the season. The trick is to find players whose stats are artificially high and trade them before the mirage is apparent to all.

These three players should be traded due to their current value and not as high expected value down the line:

Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota Vikings
While Adrian Peterson has been fantastic story so far this season, there are a lot of reasons why now is the time to trade him. First of all, he’s had a schedule that has allowed him to get off to a fast start. So far this season, Peterson has faced the Atlanta Falcons, Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs. None of those three teams are known for their defense.

Another reason to sell high on Peterson is the fact that he has a history of injuries in college. At the University of Oklahoma, Peterson was an amazing talent but missed a good chunk of games due to injury. If he couldn’t be counted on to stay healthy in the college game, fantasy football owners shouldn’t be confident that he’ll stay healthy in the NFL.

A third reason to move Peterson now is the other running back on the Vikings has been limited with injuries. Chester Taylor, who played rather well for the Vikings last season, has been unhealthy for much of the first three weeks of the season. However, Taylor is getting healthy and should start to take a bigger chunk of carries away from Peterson soon.

Plaxico Burress, WR, New York Giants
Burress has started the 2007 NFL season by putting up fantastic stats. He’s one of the top handful of wide receivers in fantasy football in virtually all formats. However, it might be time to sell high on this wide receiver.

First of all, Burress has a nagging ankle injury. While he was able to play last weekend against the Washington Redskins, he still experienced pain during the game. He has had his ankle looked at by a specialist and it’s uncertain how much longer his ankle will last.

Secondly, Burress will never be rated this highly again this season. Currently, he’s a top three wide receiver. However, his expected future value lands him closer to 15 than the top spot.

Brett Favre, QB, Green Bay Packers
The Packers have been a great story so far this season. At 3-0, Green Bay has surpassed all expectations. That said, it’s likely time to send Favre packing.

Favre has had a great start. However in the last few seasons in fantasy football, he’s been a decent backup quarterback at best. There is no reason to believe he’ll be able to keep up his current production for the whole season. If you can trade him for a quarterback hungry team in a deal that brings you back value, you should definitely consider such a move.