Draft Waiver

Waiver Room

How to win the waiver wire and the trade market

In-season value moves faster than draft value. These are the rules the Waiver Room applies to your league every week.

Bid on role changes, not on box scores

A 90-yard game from a rotational back is noise. A backfield where the starter left on a cart is a role change, and role changes are what FAAB is for. Spend up to 25-35% of your remaining budget on a player who inherits a full workload, and single digits on a spike-week receiver.

Value FAAB against weeks remaining

Budget left divided by weeks left is the wrong frame late in the season. Once you are inside the playoff race, a starter for the next six games is worth nearly your entire remaining budget, because unspent FAAB is worth nothing in week 17.

Trade from surplus at a scarce position

Two startable tight ends is a surplus only if the second one is startable for the team you are trading with. Price trades against each roster's actual starting lineup gap, not against a generic trade chart.

Common questions

How much FAAB should a top waiver add cost?
A true league-winning add — a workhorse back inheriting the whole backfield — regularly clears 40% of a starting budget in the first month. Streaming defenses and kickers should never cost more than 1-2%.
Should I drop a bench player for a streaming defense?
Only if that bench player has no path to a starting role. Streaming units are replaceable every week; contingency value is not.

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