Let me set the stage: It’s week 15, fantasy championships, your team didn’t make the playoffs and is in the toilet bowl. This game decides who finishes last in the league with unknown consequences. It’s a 2 QB league and Marcus Mariota got hurt last week and needs to be replaced. Do you put in a waiver wire bid for a QB?
Some Schools of Thought
- No. You are out of the playoffs and should not potentially disrupt the championship game that actually matters.
- Yes. You know that other people who are out of it are going to do the same and if the rules don’t apply to everyone, they don’t apply to me. It’s always a competitive league.
- Yes. Waiver wire is open all season to anyone and everyone. Fuck em.
My Thoughts
By nature, I don’t like to give up. Even if I’m out of the playoffs, I don’t lay down. If there were end of year consequences for last place, there is 0 chance I’m laying down which I believe would be agreed by everyone. I don’t like the idea of being told that I can’t pick up players even though I understand what I’m doing serves 0 purpose. If I see ODB in my lineup this week, and I have no one on my roster to substitute him with, I don’t like giving the other person I’m playing the satisfaction of playing me against a lineup that isn’t set. Am I the only one who thinks like this?
This starts to truly come into play when the bid system is in place. In the playoff round of 4, I had 18 dollars, Bud had 9, Evan had 4, and Big Jer had 0. Guys who weren’t still in it had 30+ dollars and I had no idea if I should bid 18 or 10. I would have had to strategize differently if there was a chance other people would bid. People don’t talk about this but it’s a rule that is non-existent and shouldn’t be. What do you think?

Finishing 5th in a league instead of 7th seems like awful justification for potentially screwing someone out of hundreds of dollars. If ODB is suspended, just put someone in who is already on your roster-I do not think it is a good look to bid on people if you have zero shot to make any money. Only situation where it makes sense is exactly what you mentioned- if there is a league bet for whoever finishes in last place, and you have the potential to finish last. In that case, bid away.
Should the commissioner state this before the season starts?
– Do final seedings have any bearing on the following season (draft, waiver order, etc.) – if this is a rolling, yearly league?
– Can you bet on other teams winning?
The inverse of the scenario would be if you have quality players on your team (for a single season), are out of the playoffs – but drop players into the Waiver Pool – allowing more competitive teams to obtain high-impact players late in the season.
I don’t fully understand the case for not attempting to have the greatest impact on the league while you are still a viable player in it. Otherwise, the parity of the league is essentially determined by the draft almost solely.
A solution would be to close waiver adds/drops for teams eliminated from the playoffs. This way, no team not in contention could impact the other teams available player pools.
Play for pride!