OK, so your fantasy football draft is in the rearview mirror. Your team looks great. There's no way you're losing this title. Your work here is done, right? Wrong.
I'm in a lot of leagues, and most are against industry experts, but I'm also in a few long-running, casual leagues with college friends, family and neighbors. In both situations, there are extremely active managers and there are extremely lax managers. Some (like me) are rarely content and are tinkering with trade offers and waivers often in an attempt to get one step closer to a title. Others attack waivers only when needed (injuries and bye weeks) and are the strongest bet to commit the most heinous act of all: ignoring trade proposals (more on this later!).
As you might imagine, the active managers win at a much higher rate than the casual ones. Is it possible to simply hit on nearly every draft pick and compete for a league title? Of course. In a high-variance game like fantasy football, it happens.
In fact, that reminds me of the infamous 2007 season in my long-running 16-team, family and friends dynasty league. With zero fantasy football acumen and only Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots and Miami Hurricanes fandom at his disposal (the perfect storm, as it would turn out), my 13-year-old brother Matt drafted Patriots Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Stephen Gostkowski, as well as Adrian Peterson and Kellen Winslow II. So, yeah, the top-scoring QB, WR and K, as well as the WR11 (Welker) and top-5 finishers at RB and TE. Matt never (or, at least, very rarely) checked his team and still started 9-0. The funny part of the story was Week 10 when the Patriots were on a bye: Matt, whose team otherwise averaged 105.3 points per week, didn't check his lineup and lost 69-9. Having relied only on his draft while failing to add complementary producers during the season, he went on to lose in the semifinals.
On the other hand, my team (this was before my fantasy analyst days, by the way) started 0-7, leading me to shake up my roster with a few trades. I won six in a row, somehow made the playoffs and went on to win the league title. His team was way better, but (A) It's a weekly game, and (B) fantasy points come in all shapes and sizes.
Matthew "lucked" himself into a stacked roster, but post-draft negligence cost him what should've been a surefire league title. How do you avoid a similar fate? Let's take a look at strategies you can use on the trade and waiver market.
Working the trade market
Team building. Whether it's a season-long, dynasty or keeper league, it's an ongoing process. Many fantasy managers don't maximize their chances at a league title because they are too content with their roster and afraid to shake things up with a trade.
Trading in fantasy is one of the most polarizing aspects of the game, as most managers seem to either be extremely aggressive or extremely quiet in the department. If you've been playing against the same leaguemates for a long time, I imagine you could place each of them in one of those two categories within seconds of contemplation. Understanding the philosophies, tendencies, skill levels, etc. of your leaguemates is an edge you can use when evaluating the trade market. This could be as simple as getting a Lions fan (like Daniel Dopp) to overpay for Detroit players, or as thorough as noticing that a leaguemate consistently overreacts to Week 1 and agrees to ill-advised trades.
There are countless ways in which knowing your competition can help your cause, and sometimes it's as simple as identifying which ones respond and which ones don't. Or which ones are open to trading and which ones are afraid to make a move with a crippling fear of the possibility that it won't work out. This is very real, and these managers overvalue their players so much that it's not worth your time to even negotiate.
I mentioned that managers are generally either aggressive/active or conservative/quiet on the trade market, and I'm, without question, the former. I love trading. I love throwing out offers. I love fielding offers. The only thing better than a trade proposal alert is a trade accepted alert. Perhaps my offer gets declined, but now that manager is on the league page and maybe he/she counters, makes a waiver move or makes an offer to someone else. An active league is a great league.
One drawback to throwing out trade offers is that you're sure to rub some people the wrong way. The fun of fantasy is that we don't all value players the same way. Unfortunately, it's very easy for managers to become offended -- sometimes infuriated -- if they believe you're trying to rip them off. Sometimes this person will simply ignore the offer, others will reply with an "LOL," and others will lose their cool and go on an expletive-laden tirade in the group chat. We've all seen it, and I'm asking you right now -- please don't be that person.
Look, if someone keeps sending you "Antonio Gibson and Brenton Strange for Nico Collins" offers, fine, I get the irritation. But in most scenarios, even if you don't like the offer, it's not hard to understand where the other person is coming from. Even if I get an offer I'm not considering, I'm excited by the idea of someone being open for business. If someone is higher than I am on a player on my roster, perhaps I can take advantage with a counteroffer and improve my squad. Also, the first offer is rarely the best offer. I mean, why would it be? That's Negotiating 101. Your first offer should be fair and sensible, but it can also be a starting point. How many of you have thrown out an initial trade offer that gets accepted within minutes? Your reaction is almost always: "Oh no! What have I done? Did I just rip myself off?" We've all been there.
In conclusion, here are a couple tricks I use when making/considering offers:
1. When making an offer, don't just consider what the other manager can do for you. Look closely at their roster and see if there is a void you can help them fill. Strong at wide receiver, but you need a quarterback? Instead of randomly offering deals for Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson, scroll through each league roster until you find a team with two decent QBs that has a need at receiver. It makes that manager a natural trade partner and a deal significantly more likely.
2. Put yourself in the other manager's shoes. This next one relates to my first point but focuses more on the "fairness" of your offer. Once you have a trade proposal in mind, flip the script, imagine you're on the other side of it and think about whether you'd accept it, consider it or laugh off the offer. If it's the latter, adjust the deal. If you think you'd at least consider it, hit that "send" button!
3. Pick your spots. A beat writer tweets that "Player X" is unstoppable in camp and looks like he's in line for a breakout. The initial inclination will almost always be to make a trade offer for that player, but now is not the time. Even if you're buying the hype, wait a week or so until the industry is buzzing about someone else before making the move. On the other hand, if there's a negative report on a player and you're not buying it, that is the perfect opportunity to make an offer.
4. In terms of accepting offers, cure crippling trade fear with this simple trick: If someone offers you "Player A" for your "Player B" and you can't decide what to do, imagine you already had "Player A" and were being offered "Player B." Would you accept the deal now? I realize how simple and obvious this might seem, but it's no secret that we're all guilty of overrating our own players. In fact, it's human nature. Specifically, it's a cognitive bias called the endowment effect, in which we value an asset more when it's in our possession than we would if it wasn't.
5. Don't get mad about trade offers! Even if you don't like the offer, just be happy you have someone in your league unafraid to keep the league active by making offers.
Making the most of waivers
Waivers can be a tedious process when you manage 15 or so fantasy football teams like I have for the past decade. And yet, I still put the time into making claims in every single league.
Why? Because if I don't, I'm putting myself at a disadvantage. Every single week, there is at least a player or two on waivers who is well worth adding to your roster, if not your starting lineup (one big injury can really shake things up in a hurry). And that goes for the weeks leading up to the season as well.
The 2024 season was actually a bit of a down year for league-winning waiver adds, but there were still plenty of needle-movers, including Jordan Mason, Bo Nix, Sam Darnold, Jauan Jennings, Wan'Dale Robinson and Zach Ertz, as well as Baker Mayfield (47.0% of teams with him on their roster made the playoffs), Jonnu Smith (42.7%) and Tyrone Tracy Jr. (41.8%). Some of you also scooped up Chase Brown (48.5%) following his extremely slow start to the season. It's those types of players who give you a gigantic edge in your league, and you're simply playing at a disadvantage if you fail to remain active on waivers.
Besides the common-sense "drop my worst player and add the best available player" waiver strategy, one trick you can use during the season is to drop your kicker and/or D/ST and instead hold a skill position player for a few extra days. In fact, as someone who often streams both positions, I'll just drop my kicker and D/ST when the week is complete so they are added to the available player pool, which slightly increases my chances of getting who I want off the wire.
For example, let's say I use the Denver Broncos D/ST in Weeks 1-2 against the Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts this season but have no interest in using it against the Los Angeles Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals and Philadelphia Eagles the following three weeks. I'll cut bait right away on Tuesday. This way, one of my leaguemates might place a claim on the Broncos D/ST instead of a free agent I have on my radar.
In this scenario, unless there is an available D/ST with a terrific short-term matchup, I'd likely use the roster spot on a skill position player in an uncertain situation heading into the week. Let's say Saquon Barkley hurt his toe two days earlier and is questionable for the upcoming week. Instead of grabbing a dime-a-dozen D/ST, I'll go after backup Will Shipley. If Barkley plays, I just cut Shipley for a defense on Sunday. If Barkley is ruled out, I just found myself a potential starter and can place him in an IR spot (if there is room) or cut someone else for a D/ST. I most certainly use this hack more often with my kicker slot, since we know there is a ton of randomness with that position. As long as you remember to check your lineup Sunday morning, the strategy is a no-brainer.
I recommend this during the period between your draft and the start of the season, too. Even if forced to draft a kicker and D/ST, I'll just drop them immediately afterward (assuming league rules allow it) and instead grab a high-upside insurance RB or other skill position player to keep rostered until closer to Week 1. There's little to lose and a lot to gain (speaking as someone who fondly recalls dropping Chris Boswell and adding the legend that is James Robinson in the week leading up to Week 1 back in 2020). By the way, guys like Robinson in 2020 and Kyren Williams in 2023 are not alone: There are players like them available late in drafts or on preseason and early-season waivers every single year. If you're active, you can butcher your draft and still claw your way to a title.
Final thoughts
Once your draft concludes, be active. Monitor NFL news and be ready to make savvy waiver moves and trade offers to load up your bench with upside. The reality is that you can do it all in 15 or so minutes per week. That might sound overly simplified, but like almost anything else in life, hard work will pay off in the long run.