This is also a sticky in the regular league forum, but will post again here.

An unbalanced or questionable trade happens usually due to 2 situations:

1. an owner with less than a few months experience, less than 2 seasons experience, and less than 2 teams owned or an owner that does not consider true player values, key attributes, & position importance, is taken advantage of by a much more experienced, knowledgeable, and/or successful owner. It takes a while to get a grasp on true player value and not rely on the AI values, especially default ratings. Having your own player weights instead of the standard AI weights is important, if you have not customized your player weights yet you can find threads on the subject in the General Forum. Trade meter values can be very deceiving. Its a good idea to check the FA pool before you make a trade for a player that you might be able to replace with a better one from FA. Key attributes are the most important factor for evaluating players.

2. A dummy or dupe account is used that is under the influence and/or control of the owner who is the beneficiary of the trade. This also includes "favor" trades, you help me in this league, and I'll help you in another. "Cheat" or "questionable" trades do not happen near as much in leagues with active league admins, they happen mostly in standard/public leagues.

There are degrees of both, variations, and other circumstances, but those are the two most common trade abuse situations that I have observed so far.

So here are what I consider the "basics" to trading, there is more to consider, so please add to the list if there is anything that you feel is important when trading, this overview is a "work in progress".

1. Do not base your trade decision on the trade meter. The trade meter values do not consider or put enough value on things like player performance (stats), position value (DB vs FB or OL for example), players age/exp, or key/primary attributes (speed/strength/pass rush for a DE for example). As an example, there are RBs that the AI has worth over 800 on the trade meter, but have not averaged better than 3 yds per carry and have less than 80 speed. Keep in mind that the trade meter values are based on the AI player weights and AI default value, weights that are not used by experienced and successful owners. The trade meter often undervalues picks, especially first round picks valued under 700, and 2nd round picks valued under 350. Obviously it matters where in the round the pick is, like 1.32 vs 1.15, but in general, the trade meter undervalues picks and overvalues players based on the AI weights.

2. Consider who it is that is making the trade offer, how strong their team is, is it a team in your division or conference that you may be making stronger by the trade. Is it an owner that wins 90% or more of their games. There are owners who are "predators", and they go after new owners and less successful owners for first, second, third, and fourth round picks. After a few seasons they will have a roster that is filled with first and second round picks, and will basically be creating a "stacked" team (one with a majority of 80+ rated starters).

3. Consider the importance of the position. The two most important position groups in MFN are WRs and CBs, followed by DEs & Safeties ( a very close second). From there its TE, LBs, DTs, OL, FB, Kickers. QB & RB are separate from the rest of the position groups. QB is also dependent on the receivers & OL that you have, and play selection. Good RBs can be found in the FA pool on a regular basis, speed being the primary attribute. Good DBs and WRs are much harder to come by.

3. Consider the age/exp of the player, at 9 years a player starts to lose physical attribute ratings, speed - acceleration - strength. That is why you see a lot of players with 8 yrs exp or more on the trade board.

4. Are you getting the most value you can out of the deal? Did you make a counter-offer or just accept the offer w/o trying to improve it? Can you do a lot better by "shopping" your player/picks? These are questions you should be asking yourself when considering a trade.

Bad trades are and have been an ongoing problem in MFN, as one very experienced owner put it " The bigger problem is the aftermath, these noobs end up with crappy players and no draft picks, then get bored and either leave MFN or abandon the team, it then affects the rest of the league, sadly".

There is a lot of information in the General Forum about player attributes, position importance, and other topics that are of value to you concerning trading, along with all the other aspects of the game. You can also PM other owners for a second or third opinion to compare with your own if you are not sure. Be careful with your trades, especially those that involve your high draft picks.

Here is a link to the Community Help Forum, where you will find several threads about player evaluation, make sure you review the "Threads for New Users", if you havnt already.
https://dfl.myfootballnow.com/community/3