We now have a mix of very experienced owners and those with less than a year. This is a short list of the basics that you should take into consideration when evaluating a trade proposal.

1. Who is sending you the proposal? Is it a team that is very strong, a league champion or continual division winner? Is it a team that you will have to play and/or contend with on your schedule or in the playoffs? You should try to avoid making the strong teams stronger if you can.

2. Never, ever go by the trade meter values. They do not reflect the actual value of the players. OL value is very highly over-inflated. Look at your OL stats for the previous season, you will not see a lot of difference between your starters and your subs. Look at number of pass blocks to sacks allowed.

Also, you need to know the order of value of the positions. Equal player ratings do not mean equal value. An OL rated 80 is not anywhere near as valuable as a secondary player rated 80 or more. The most important positions are in order 1. CB, especially your CB1 and CB2 starting corners. 2. SS/FS 3. WR & LB 4. DE

QB? performance is dependent on several other factors than a QB rating. You can take a QB from a good team that put up an 80 rating or better for the season, and he will go down dramatically on a roster that is not as strong, with a weaker receiving group. Look at the season league stats for QBs, and you will see 90 rated QBs with less than 70 QBRs. RB is speed dependent and can easily be acquired or replaced from the FA pool. If you have a question about position evaluation and need, please PM me before you make a decision on a trade, and you can also message others with experience for an opinion.

3. Common sense, dont jump at the first offer, COUNTER OFFER !! Or shop your player on the trade block or make a proposal to another owner. Same as you would selling anthing. When you see an elite level player available during Early FA, what happens? That player gets bid on and it takes a very high bid to get the player. Do the same if you have an elite level player that you want to trade to get the best value for him that you can.