DeVante Parker Traded to the New England Patriots: The Dynasty Fantasy Football Impact

DeVante Parker

Jeff Smith Posted On April 4, 2022

On the weekend, we saw a rare interdivisional trade between the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots. Former first-round pick DeVante Parker was shipped up north along with a fifth-round pick in return for a third-rounder.

It seems like a win for Miami. Parker is 29 years old and may have been a roster cut casualty come training camp time. The veteran was due $6 million each of the next two seasons and could have been released because none of that money was guaranteed. Chris Grier and the Miami front office did well to get something in return.

We will take a look at how Parker fits in with the new look Patriots offense and how it will impact the pass-catchers already on the roster.

DeVante Parker, WR NE

The biggest problem for Parker throughout his career has been staying on the field. The first-round pick from 2015 has played one full season just once over his seven-year career and has missed a total of 20 games over that span.

Data Courtesy of Sports Reference.

In the one season he did participate in all 16 games, he had his only 1,000-yard season and set a career-high in touchdowns with nine. Perhaps a change of scenery and a new quarterback will be just what he needs. Parker never seemed to gel with Tua Tagovailoa while in Miami and did his best work with Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Data Courtesy of DLF Player Splits App.

Parker had his best season in 2019 with “Fitzmagic” spinning him the ball and was just as good over the past two years with the journeyman being the signal-caller than Tagovailoa. The big question is what will the offense look like post-Josh McDaniels and how much of a target share will he earn with youngsters Jakobi Meyers and Kendrick Bourne already playing heavy snaps on offense. More on those two in a bit.

Data Courtesy of DLF Trade Analyzer.

Looking at the DLF trade analyzer, Parker’s value was almost nil before the trade. His value really should not change much given the run-heavy approach the Patriots seem to favor and the competition for the few targets that are there. New England ranked 26th in pass attempts in 2021 with just 535. To put that in perspective, Tampa Bay was number one with 731, a difference of nearly 200 attempts (11.5 per contest) across 17 games.

Take advantage of the buzz and sell if you are a manager who has Parker on their roster. We would prefer just about anyone on the screenshot above from the trade analyzer not named Robby Anderson over Parker. In the words of Jim Cramer: “SELL, SELL, SELL.”

Jakobi Meyers/Kendrick Bourne/Nelson Agholor, WRs NE

Meyers and Bourne paced the Patriots receiving attack behind Mac Jones in 2021. Meyers outscored Bourne by just 16.7 PPR points despite seeing 52 fewer targets. You read that right. We did a double and triple-take at the data. It checks out.

Data Courtesy of DraftBuddy.

Agholor also crossed the century mark but not one of the wideouts cracked the top 20 overall in fantasy points. All three of the “starters” are under contract for 2022 as are N’Keal Harry, Tre Nixon, Matthew Slater, and Christian Wilkerson. If Parker is going to take a share of targets from anyone, it will likely be Hunter Henry in the red zone and the end-of-the-roster players listed above who do not see a ton of snaps as it is.

Data Courtesy of DLF Coaching History App.

Also working against Parker (and the other Patriot receivers) is the fact that the last time a Bill Belichick/Josh McDaniels coached offense has produced a WR1 or WR2 not named Julian Edelman (slot) or Brandin Cooks was back in 2016 when Brandon LaFell was the WR21. Parker and LaFell have similar builds as they are both 6’3” tall and weigh around 215 pounds. A WR21 finish from the former Dolphin seems highly unlikely. Do not adjust your rankings or projections much on the three receivers highlighted here. Parker’s arrival should not impact them much.

Hunter Henry/Jonnu Smith, TE NE

These two players are perhaps impacted the most by this deal. The duo compiled 28 of the 42 red-zone targets from Jones in 2021. Meyers was sandwiched between the two with 14 of his own and surprisingly running back Brandon Bolden (now in Las Vegas) had nine. Henry turned his 18 looks into ten receptions for nine touchdowns, a ridiculous rate that likely will not be repeated in 2022.

Data Courtesy of NFL Savant.

If you roster Henry, you should be a little concerned, but were you counting on consistent production from him anyway? Smith is potentially not rostered in many leagues and there is some talk of a potential second-year (with the Patriots) breakout for the former Titan.

Conclusion

Summing this all up, if you roster Parker, take advantage of the increase in the buzz surrounding the disappointing wideout. If you have Meyers or Bourne on your team, do not sweat. However, as is always the case with Belichick, you never know what he is up to. Parker could go out and put up 15 touchdowns on 30 receptions in 2022. The Kansas City Chiefs could also trade Tyreek Hill… oh, wait. They did.

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Jeff Smith

Contributor at Dynasty League Football

Jeff is a “jack of all trades” type fantasy player. He specializes in dynasty but also dabbles in redraft and DFS. Baseball and golf are other fantasy formats he partakes in regularly. Family, sports and IT are his biggest passions.

He graduated from SUNY Alfred State in 2015 with a bachelor's degree in Technology Management. When he is not writing or playing video games, Jeff spends time with his wife Naomi and their Bichon Poo, Daisy.