The 2025 NFL trade deadline was absolutely wild. With 10 deals agreed upon on Nov. 4, this was tied for the most active trade deadline in history. A lot of the big-name players who were moved were defensive players, such as Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams. Obviously, those moves don't have a huge impact on fantasy football. The trade involving Rashid Shaheed certainly will, though.
The receiver was traded from the New Orleans Saints to the Seattle Seahawks for 2026 fourth and fifth-round picks. So, what is the fantasy football fallout from the trade?
Does Rashid Shaheed's fantasy value go up or down?
The Seahawks clearly value Shaheed, considering they gave up two draft picks to acquire him. He was actually added for even more than Jakobi Meyers in the Las Vegas Raiders-Jacksonville Jaguars trade. Therefore, many fantasy football managers are predicting Shaheed to break out in Seattle.
He has Sam Darnold throwing him the football. With another great season underway, Darnold has established himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, and he is a definitive upgrade over either Spencer Rattler or Tyler Shough. Darnold also has a cannon for an arm, which benefits a receiver like Shaheed.
The Weber State product is one of the best deep threats in the NFL. He will certainly be on the receiving end of a few Darnold long bombs going forward. However, Shaheed has always been best in best ball formats, and he is a tough start in standard fantasy leagues. While he can go for a huge play at any given time, it is hard to predict when he will do so. Fantasy managers risk a dud of a performance anytime they play him in their starting lineup.
This likely won't change with the Seahawks. Not only does Shaheed not thrive in the short and intermediate parts of the field like he does deep down the field, but he has tons of competition for targets. Jaxon Smith-Njigba currently leads the NFL in targets, and Tory Horton is really breaking onto the scene. Horton, who was a training camp standout, had two touchdowns in the Seahawks' most recent game. Seattle has Cooper Kupp in their receiving corps, too. Kupp isn't the player he was when he won the triple crown, but he is still a solid receiver who can rack up the receptions when healthy.
Seattle's offense is impressive, but it also has to support a running back tandem of Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet, both of whom need plenty of carries. The Shaheed trade will do much more to help the Seahawks roster than it will to help fantasy managers. Shaheed is averaging 11.6 ppr points per game. That made him a fringe flex option who made fantasy managers grimace in concern anytime they had to start him with the Saints. His fantasy stock doesn't improve much, if at all, with the Seahawks.
Shaheed's departure from the Saints will make life harder on Shough, though. The rookie is already dealing with the struggles of being a first-year starter, and now he won't have his deep threat to huck the ball to. Shough is on the waivers in most leagues, and he most definitely is not worth picking up now. Chris Olave's production may improve, though, as there aren't many other players to throw the football to in New Orleans.
