Trades & Waivers

Player movement — proposals, claims, priority, and the AI market

Trades and waivers are how rosters change after the draft. They are also where leagues come alive — negotiation, market timing, target prioritization, and bold gambles all happen in this layer. MFL Fantasy supports a full trade system with both human-to-human and human-to-CPU negotiations, plus a structured waiver-wire process for picking up free agents. This page covers how both work.

The Trade System

Trades let two teams swap any number of players in either direction. There is no positional restriction — a team can send three running backs for one elite wide receiver, or trade a star quarterback for two solid starters at flex positions. The only constraint is that both teams must end the trade with valid rosters (correct number of players at each position).

Proposing a Trade

Trade proposals start from a player card. Open any player belonging to another team and tap "Propose Trade." The trade builder opens with the target player already on the receiving side. You then:

1. Pick what you want from them. Add additional players from the target team's roster if you want more than the one player you started with.
2. Pick what you are offering. Browse your own roster and add players to send their way. Trade values update in real time so you can see whether the deal looks balanced.
3. Add an optional message. Explain your reasoning, request a counter-offer, or just say hi. Messages help close deals — silent trades get declined more often.
4. Review and send. The proposal goes to the other team's inbox and shows up in their notifications.

Receiving a Trade Offer

When another team sends you a trade, it appears in your inbox with a clear breakdown:

• Players you would receive (and their current season stats)
• Players you would send (and their current season stats)
• Estimated trade value differential
• Roster impact preview (how your starting lineup would look after the trade)
• The sender's optional message

You can accept, decline, or counter-offer. Counter-offers open the trade builder pre-populated with the original deal so you can tweak it before sending back.

Trading With CPU Teams

CPU teams use the same trade system humans do, but their decision logic is automated. When you propose a trade to a CPU team, an AI evaluator runs through:

• Roster fit. Does the CPU team need the position you are offering? Do they have depth at the position you are asking for?
• Player value. Calculated from position rank, Madden OVR, season stats, and projected remaining production.
• Positional scarcity. Elite players at thin positions (TE, K, RB after the top tier) carry premium value.
• Team needs. If the CPU is weak at a position, they will give up more to acquire help there.
• Untouchable list. Every CPU team has 1-3 "untouchables" — usually their highest-rated players — who they will not trade away under any circumstances.

The CPU will accept, decline, or counter-offer based on this evaluation. Counter-offers from CPUs are usually closer to the value-balanced version of what you asked for. If your initial offer was a clear downgrade for them, they will decline outright with a short message explaining why.

Trade Approval and Veto Voting

By default, trades execute as soon as both teams accept. The commissioner can enable veto voting in league settings, which adds an extra step:

• Trade is proposed and accepted by both teams
• Trade enters a 24-hour pending state
• All other league managers vote yes (allow) or no (veto)
• If majority vote veto, trade is canceled
• If majority approve or 24 hours pass, trade executes

Veto voting is mostly used in leagues with friends to prevent collusion or extreme lopsided trades. In casual public leagues with CPUs, veto voting is usually off.

Trade Deadlines

By default, there is no trade deadline — you can trade right up to the end of the regular season. Commissioners can set a deadline (typically Week 10 or 11) from the league settings tab. After the deadline, the trade builder is locked for all teams.

The Waiver Wire

The waiver wire is where players not currently on any team's roster live. After every MFL game week finalizes, a waiver period opens. During the waiver period, teams submit blind claims on free agents. After waivers clear, remaining free agents become first-come-first-served.

How Waiver Priority Works

MFL Fantasy uses a rolling priority system. At the start of the season, priority is set by reverse draft order — last pick gets first priority. From there:

• When a team successfully claims a player off waivers, that team drops to the bottom of the priority queue.
• Every other team moves up one slot.
• Failed claims (someone else got the player first) do not affect priority.

This system rewards teams that hold waiver priority for the right moment. Burning your top priority on a mid-tier flex pickup means you will not have first crack at next week's breakout player.

Submitting Claims

During the waiver period (default 24-48 hours after the week's games finalize), you can:

1. Browse the free-agent list with full stat history and projections
2. Tap any free agent to submit a claim
3. Choose which player on your roster to drop in exchange
4. Optionally queue multiple claims in priority order (the system processes them top-down, stopping at the first one that succeeds)

Claims process all at once when the waiver period ends. Highest-priority team gets their #1 claim. If that player is unclaimed by anyone else, the claim succeeds. If multiple teams claimed the same player, only the highest-priority team gets them.

First-Come-First-Served After Waivers

Once the waiver period ends, all remaining free agents become FCFS. Anyone can pick them up immediately, no claims, no waiting. This is also when you can drop a player without it counting against your waiver priority — useful for trimming dead weight before the next week's games.

Roster Size Constraints

Every waiver claim and free-agent pickup requires you to drop a player in exchange. You cannot exceed your roster's max size (default 15 players: 9 starters + 6 bench). The drop happens automatically when the claim succeeds — you select the drop target when submitting the claim.

CPU Waiver Behavior

CPU teams participate in waivers just like humans. Their claim logic prioritizes:

• Bye-week fill-ins. If a CPU starter has a bye coming up, the CPU will claim the highest-available player at that position.
• Injured starter replacements. If a CPU starter went out for an extended period, the CPU finds a replacement.
• Position upgrades. If a free agent significantly outperforms a CPU bench player at the same position, the CPU may swap them.
• Trending breakouts. CPUs use recent-form stats to identify hot pickups.

CPU teams are capped at 2 waiver claims per week to prevent a single CPU from dominating the wire. They also will not drop high-OVR players (rank 50 or better) just to clear roster space — protected core players stay protected.

Trade and Waiver Tips

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Pages

For more on the systems around trades and waivers, see the Leagues page for commissioner controls, the CPU AI page for how AI teams evaluate trades, the Draft Guide for the initial roster build, or the Stats Hub page for scouting waiver-wire targets.