Owning a fantasy football team is fun and is a great way to learn about strategy and negotiation. Today we received a call during our radio show that highlights the lessons to be learned while playing fantasy football.

The caller mentioned that they had been offered a trade today. The caller was offered Maurice Jones-Drew (RB) in exchange for Chad Ochocinco(WR) and Greg Jennings (WR). Obviously every player in fantasy sports values players differently and their decisions on trades will depend on their entire roster and their specific needs. But there is a lot to learn from the trade offer above.

Jones-Drew's big Week 3 increased his value in the trade market

The owner of Jones-Drew was trying to take advantage of the huge week that he just had during Week 3 in order to get a better than normal deal. Jones-Drew is a great player, but his performance during Week 3 more than doubled his average of Week’s 1 & 2.

Ochocinco is averaging about 10 points a week so far and Jennings is averaging about 14.4. Both players are off to slower starts this year.

On the other hand, Jones-Drew is averaging 19.7 per game and performing at a higher level than his past few seasons. So you see how the Jones-Drew owner is trying take advantage and trade a hot player for players that are currently mediocre compared to their traditional values.

This is similar to selling gold when the price is high or trying to sell the rookie baseball card of a player 2nd year player who is breaking records and being compared to Derek Jeter. The trade offer with Jones-Drew highlights how a owners of valuable items can try to take advantage of their improved standing to pick up items that are currently at lower values.