Solving Your WR Issue by Adding RB’s & TE’s

          If you’re not content with your WR corps, then the simple answer is to add free agent WR’s to your bench and hope that one of them hits. But, there’s another way to go about it – a better way, especially if you’re in a league with willing traders.

          In competitive and active leagues, particularly with 12 teams or more, it can make more sense to add high-upside RB’s & TE’s to your bench to try and solve your WR issue. WR’s are more durable than RB’s and TE’s because they touch the ball less than RB’s and are involved in less heavy contact than TE’s, which means you’re more likely to “hit” on a backup RB or TE than you are to “hit” on a backup WR.

          Plus, a RB or TE that hits is a far more valuable trade asset than a WR that hits – if you pick up a WR and they hit, they aren’t likely to be as good as a WR that you could trade for with a RB or TE that hits.

          Obviously, if there’s a WR available who has the potential to become a stable set-it-and-forget-it WR2, or is just one injury away, it makes sense to add him to your roster. But, if you look at the free agent WR’s, and none of them are just one injury away from set-it-and-forget-it status, why not add a high-upside backup RB or TE who is one injury away from becoming valuable enough to trade for a set-it-and-forget-it WR2? Wouldn’t that make more sense?

Saving a Lost Season: The Art of the 3 For 1

          Pick your best player – the one everyone wants – the one you thought you’d never trade. Now give that player a pat on the back, a kiss on the cheek, and wave his ass goodbye. At 2-4 or 1-5, your playoff chances are dwindling. Lose this week and drop to 2-5 or 1-6, and you can pretty much pack it in. It’s like the little girl in Remember the Titans says to her dad (Bill Yoast), the defensive coordinator – “Now’s not the time to be proud, Pa..” (or something like that, you get the point.)

          One guy doesn’t make a team in real-life football, nor does it in fantasy. There’s a good chance you are 1-5 for a reason – likely because you have multiple holes on your roster.

          Don’t get me wrong, having a superstar player on your team like Julio, D-Hop, Nick Chubb, or Le’Veon is great. You know what else is great? Having a team that isn’t full of holes and actually wins the imaginary games we play. And seriously, if you’re 2-4, or 1-5, and your team legitimately has problems, what do you really have to lose? Take a chance, see what people are willing to give up for your stud. People will overpay. They always do.

          This doesn’t mean that every team with a poor record should trade their stud. Some teams with poor records are in legitimately good shape, with their slow start being a result of random chance and unlucky scheduling. There’s no need to blow up that kind of team just because the record doesn’t reflect the team’s talent. Hold tight, and be patient in the process.

          But, for every team that has a poor record without any real holes on their roster, there are five others whose poor records are a direct reflection of their lack of across-the-board production. These are the teams that need to let go of their best player. These are the teams that would benefit from a 3-for-1.

          There’s someone out there who will give up 3 good players for just one great one in return. Every year, in every league, there always is – you just have to find them.

          You should target the teams at the top – the teams who are sitting pretty at 4-2, 5-1, or 6-0. Those are the teams who are feeling overly cocky and are most likely to overpay.

          The idea is to give up your stud in return for a player who’s almost as good as your stud plus two other players who will fill holes on your roster. For example, let’s say you have a top-5 RB, but your WR2 and TE production is terrible. If you can acquire a top-15 RB in return for your top-5 back, plus a top-20 WR and a decent TE, that would probably make sense, wouldn’t it? You may lose a little bit of production by going from a top-5 RB to a top-15 one, but the extra WR & TE production should more than make up for that loss.

          This isn’t the only way to turn around a lost season, but it’s probably your best bet because people will usually overpay to acquire a stud. The stud you give up will still have his blow-up weeks for the team that you trade him to, but the guy you get in return will be just as good most weeks, and you will benefit from the added production across the other slots on your roster. Who knows, it might even allow you to make a run and sneak into the playoffs as an 8 seed.

          Conversely, if you’re on the other end of the spectrum –sitting pretty at 4-2, 5-1, or even 6-0, with extra assets just sitting on your bench, don’t be afraid to package ‘em up and go after that superstar languishing away on a 1-5 team. You are going to have to overpay, but don’t be afraid to sacrifice some of your middle-tier bench options to upgrade a starting slot. With a solid record, you’re likely already looking at a playoff appearance. The goal as a team with a winning record at this point should be to acquire as much top-level talent as possible – such players are rare commodities. You will be able to replenish your bench options that you trade away with guys that you find off waivers. Such middle-tier players are far more readily available. Your depth will absolutely take a hit, but sacrificing your depth in order to acquire studs is the kind of strategy championship teams are made of.

Using Waiver Claim Priority in Trade Negotiations

          When your low waiver priority prevents you from being able to add some of the top free agents, you don’t have to just give up on trying to acquire those players. You can treat the teams with the highest waiver priorities as an extension of the waiver pool.

          You yourself may not have a high enough claim to acquire the top available free agents each week, but you can still negotiate with someone who does. It’s as simple as approaching one of the teams with the top claims and saying to them, “If you pick up that guy for me, I’ll trade you this guy for him.”

          Being proactive in this way gives you a chance at acquiring free agent targets that you wouldn’t be able to otherwise claim. If you wait for the claims to go through first, and then try to find a trade partner, you run the risk of the free agent that you are targeting ending up on a team that isn’t a trade fit. It’s a better bet to manipulate which players the top teams claim by agreeing to a deal beforehand.

          There is significant risk in this strategy, however, so you need to be calculated when applying it. You need to be sure that the deal you’re offering is going to be accepted, otherwise you’re just telling another team which free agent you want for no reason. You also need to be fairly certain that the team you’re approaching has a high chance at claiming the agreed upon to-be-traded player. If you approach the team with the second highest waiver priority and strike an agreement, but then the team with the highest waiver priority claims the player you had agreed to trade for, now another team has information about you (like which positions on your team you feel weak at and which players you like) while you’re left without the player you were targeting. Not to mention, it’s a “soft” agreement, considering you’re agreeing to trade for a player who isn’t even yet on their team – so there’s always the potential that you could just end up selling them on the value of the available free agent to the point where they claim that player and decide to keep them for themselves, so you also need to be confident that the player you are offering is more valuable to them than the player you want them to pick up and trade to you.

          This especially works if you have a handcuff RB that you can push on the team with the starter. If you value a free agent more than the handcuff, and the team with the starter has a high waiver priority, it’s worth exploring whether or not they are willing to pick up your free agent target and trade them to you for the handcuff. By negotiating the deal before the claims go through, you can possibly acquire a player that you would have otherwise had no chance at claiming.

          An example would be if you had the 10^th out of 12^th waiver priority. Let’s say you’re willing to drop Malcolm Brown for Gardner Minshew, but you feel as if you have no chance at claiming Minshew with such a low waiver priority. You could just give up on acquiring Minshew. Or, you could always approach the team with a top claim – let’s say, the team with Todd Gurley and no need for a QB – and tell them that if they pick up Minshew for you, you’ll trade them Malcolm Brown for him. They might say yes. By using waivers in your trade negotiations, you can give yourself a chance at the top claims each week, regardless of your own personal waiver priority.

Trade Like an Expert: Manage Your Opponents' Teams

Too many of us only manage our own team. It’s easier that way. We focus on filling the holes on our own team instead of worrying about the holes on others’ – and we avoid offering trades involving players that we want to keep. The problem occurs when you need to upgrade your team but nobody is accepting those offers. What do you do then?

You need to take a minute to put aside your own team’s needs and put yourself in your leaguemates’ shoes. Don’t go into trades with the idea that certain players on your team are off limits. Be willing to negotiate a trade involving anyone. Figure out what other teams need most, what you have to offer as a solution, and what price it would take for them to acquire that solution.

In that way, you can open the door to a whole new world of trade opportunities, involving any of the players on your team – as long as the other teams are willing to pay the price that you set.