How to Propose Fair Fantasy Football Trades

Fantasy football is a hobby that has taken the United States by storm over the past 10 years. What was once considered a game for a minority of statistic-obsessed fans, fantasy football is now so popular there are fantasy football drafts on television. After the draft, there are only two ways to for a fantasy team owner to change his or her roster. These are by picking up free agents, and by making trades. Making a fair trade offer in fantasy football is a skill. A team owner should make a trade offer that improves his or her team, but does not insult the intelligence of his or her potential trading partner.

Instructions

1. Examine your own fantasy football team and determine the strengths and weaknesses of the team. Chances are you have several players on your bench that are good performers. These are players you should look to involve in possible trades.

2. Look at other teams' rosters in your fantasy football league. Determine their strengths and weaknesses position by position.

3. Determine good potential trading partners. A good trading partner is a team that has a weakness in an area that you have strong bench players which you are willing to trade, and has a strength at a position where your team has a weakness.

4. Contact the owner of the other team and make a preliminary trade offer. Start by making an offer of swapping one player for another player. Offer that owner a player at a position where he or she has a weakness, and seek a player from a position which that owner has an excess of productive players.

5. Offer to trade players with similar abilities. Offering a weak player in exchange for a strong player based on statistics will insult the other owner and end the trade discussions immediately.

6. Prepare for counter offers and negotiations. Any time you enter a Fantasy Football trade proposal, anticipate the possiblity the other owner will reject your first offer. If you did not insult the owner with an unfair offer though, this will open the possibility to negotiate a trade with minor changes to the original offer. Before making your first offer, make sure you know which players you would possibly consider in a trade, and which ones you would never trade. This will help you when negotiating a new trade offer. Do not be insulted by the rejection of your first trade offer; instead think of it as starting a negotiation.

7. Confirm the trade details with the other owner. Allow him to have 24 to 48 hours to think the trade over if he is hesitating about making the trade.

Tips & Warnings

• Fantasy football trade offers are about developing working relationships with other owners in your league. A good trade offer can help pave the road for future trades later in the season.

• Making ridiculous trade offers will get you a reputation as an owner who tries to take advantage of other owners in your fantasy football League. Word will spread quickly, and result in you having no potential trading partners later in the season when you need to make trades to improve.