What is your favorite part of fantasy football? Winning? Staying connected with friends or family? Drafting? Trash talking? What about trading? No? Many people seem to avoid fantasy football trades, especially in redraft leagues, but why?
This article is about tips and tricks to encourage more trading for you and your league. Then, each month this season, we’ll have an article to give you players to target in a trade to help you win your league!
I did extensive research to figure out why so many people do not trade in their leagues.
If you do not like to trade in your redraft leagues, why not?
Honest question and no judgement…just want a variety of perspectives for an upcoming article ????#FantasyFootball
— Zach Attack (@FFChalupaBatman) August 30, 2022
These are the reasons why people do not like to trade:
- Afraid to “lose” the trade
- Do not want to make the other team better
- Attached to the players they drafted
- Not sure how to value players
- Think the other manager is trying to screw them over
- Only get “bad” offers
- Everyone else in the league vetoes trades
- Experienced a “bad” trade in the past, so now afraid to trade going forward
- Position limits make it difficult
All of those are valid reasons not to trade. However, trading can be a fun aspect of fantasy football and a great way to improve your team! Let’s address these issues one by one!
Your Guide to Fantasy Football Trades
Don’t stress about “losing” a trade.
The best way to make a trade is to make an offer that helps both teams. For example, if the other team is deep at running back, don’t offer them running backs. Why would the other manager accept a trade that doesn’t make their team better too? None of us can predict the future. We don’t know if a player will be injured or be great after a trade. Accept it if you believe the trade will make your team better. Hopefully, it works out! You won’t trade if you only worry about “losing” a trade.
Don’t get attached to your players.
You probably like the team you drafted because you picked those players. However, that doesn’t mean you chose the right players, or their values may have drastically changed since the draft. I promise the players will not be personally offended if you trade them away. Your goal as a manager should be to do everything you can to have the best roster possible. The draft pick does not matter after the draft. Just because someone drafted a player in the 3rd round, that does not mean they still have a 3rd round draft pick value during the season. Fantasy football should be fun. If he is your favorite player, do not let him go but take advantage of value to make your team better if you receive a good trade offer.
Tools to value players
First, everyone will value players differently, which is why negotiations are essential to seal a trade. There are plenty of free tools out there with player trade values. For example, Dave Richard from CBS Sports has a weekly trade value chart that is extremely helpful. I caution you that trade value calculators should not be treated as gold. They do not capture any nuances of your league or rosters. However, the trade value tools give you a great starting point. If you are intimidated by player values, trade value tools will be your friend to get you in the right ballpark.
Not everyone is trying to screw you over.
Just because someone sends you a trade offer does not mean they are pulling one over on you. Yes, some people always send terrible trade offers. However, those people will not complete any trades, and you will quickly learn who to ignore in your league. If a manager wants to complete a trade, they should make an offer that should benefit both teams. There is too much paranoia out there with trades. If your league is full of that many managers trying to deceive you, then find a new league next season. We need to normalize trading in good faith.
Veto trade vetoes
Do not play in a league that allows you to veto trades. It does not stop collusion like it’s intended. It prevents trading in your league because all the managers will veto since they are jealous of the trade and don’t want to see two teams get better. Your league should not have vetoes and should allow trades to process immediately upon offer acceptance. Your commissioner should have veto authority that should only be used on provable collusion. If collusion occurred, both teams should be kicked out of the league. Fantasy football should be fun, and trading makes it more fun. Your league should encourage trading, but trade vetoes discourage trading. Veto the trade veto!
Move on from “bad” trades.
We always remember the “bad” trades. We cannot predict the future, so some trades will not work out in your favor. Don’t let that stop you from trading. You will make plenty of great trades too. I promise you don’t always make great draft picks, but that doesn’t stop you from drafting every season.
League communication is key.
One of the best ways to encourage trading is to have an easy way for managers to communicate with each other. Most trades require negotiation. It is easier to complete a trade when you and the other manager can talk and figure out how each of you values the players. Plenty of social media platforms are available for your league to keep everyone connected. Instead of sending an offer first, sometimes you should just message the manager to see if they like any player on your team. Then you know who they value more on your team, giving you a starting point to negotiate.
Every month this fantasy football season, I will write an article about players you should target to improve your team. Hopefully, this article encourages you to try to trade more, and my future articles will strengthen your team and lead you to a championship! So be on the lookout for my trade target articles on Club Fantasy FFL’s website in Week 5, Week 9, and Week 13.
With the season less than a week away, this might be your last chance to check our draft rankings. But don’t worry, we’ll have weekly rankings this year too!
Want your trade questions answered live? Every Wednesday at 7 pm, we will be live on Youtube, getting you set for your upcoming fantasy week!