Thanks for the help, guys. After posting, it occured to me to look at the free agent drafts in some of the 99 RT leagues. It helped me put everything into perspective.

The fact that you can unload all of your recently drafted rookies straight into the free agent draft is good to know. That's essentially like electing to not participate in the mid-to-late rounds of the rookie draft, just like you can do in the monthly FA drafts. I was worried that you might have to keep all of your rookie picks as part of your 27 protected players.

In the end, I pulled the trigger on the deal, landing two players while only giving up draft picks.