The Value of Trading a 2025 Rookie Draft Pick for a 2026 Pick

Now that the 2025 NFL Draft is in the books, rookie drafts will soon follow. Dynasty league teams will be re-stocking their rosters for either a rebuild or a shot at a championship with this year’s rookies. But what if you’re not enamored with any of the options? Or maybe you don’t have a spot on your roster for a highly (or lowly) touted rookie?

For many leagues, there is the option of trading picks in next year’s draft. It’s a risk for any team to give up future assets but it may be worth it for the reward of success. Below, we compare rookie picks in 2024 to picks in 2025 to see if there’s a strategy that might work for your team. We’ll use the easy-to-use DLF Trade Analyzer to look at potential deals.

First Round Picks

We’re going to look at the 1.08 in the first round because that’s where the first big tier drop occurs in rookie drafts this year. If I have a top seven pick, I’m not going to be trading out just for future capital because the prospects in this range are just too good to pass up for the unknown the future brings.