Fantasy Football Waiver Wire – NFL Pickups & Adds
Winning your fantasy league is a week-to-week process, which means picking up those crucial free agents throughout the season is extremely important. We have you covered from shallow leagues to leagues where the waiver wire is quite thin. It is more than just picking up a backup for when a starter is injured. Throughout the season, players are getting new roles, or are seeing more or less volume. Our analysts key into each team to see who is the best option to pick up for the future, looking ahead at matchups and projected volume. While we may highlight the more obvious waiver targets, you can count on us to bring single-digit owned players that can help you win your fantasy league. Keep tabs each week during the regular season for the top waiver wire options.
Week 11 Waiver Wire Top Pickups & Adds: Team-Changing Receivers Available
Week 10 brought plenty of surprises, including an unlikely tie between the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers, the return of…
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Week 10 Waiver Wire Top Pickups & Adds: Pats Backfield Banged Up, Target Bolden
We are officially halfway through the 2021 NFL season, and there have been many surprises and disappointments for fans and…
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Week 9 Fantasy Football Streamers: Plenty of Streaming Options in Jets vs. Colts Game
Week 8 brought a ton of huge fantasy catalysts, including injuries to Jameis Winston and Derrick Henry. Henry could potentially…
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Week 9 Waiver Wire Top Pickups & Adds: Making Sense Of Eagles Backfield
Week 8 was absolutely crazy: Mike White led the New York Jets over the Cincinnati Bengals while Derrick Henry, Danielle…
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Week 8 Waiver Wire Top Pickups & Adds: Increased Work For Gainwell
Week 7 saw several teams with byes and not many breakout performances except for D’Ernest Johnson, who is unfortunately already…
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Week 7 Waiver Wire Top Pickups & Adds: McKissic The Favorite Back In Washington
Week 6 had a lot in store for fantasy managers with some shocking breakout games from Donovan Peoples-Jones, who scored…
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Week 6 Fantasy Football Streamers: Target Chiefs vs. Football Team Players
Bye weeks are upon us, so streaming becomes all the more valuable every week now. Wentz is my favorite streamer…
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Week 6 Waiver Wire Top Pickups & Adds: Toney Could Be A League-Winner
There were some Herculean fantasy performances this week from players like Davante Adams, Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, Tom Brady, Mike…
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Week 5 Waiver Wire Top Pickups & Adds: Damien Williams Has Lead-Back Potential
The injury bug still runs rampant! There are several injuries that fantasy managers will want to keep an eye on…
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Week 4 Waiver Wire Top Pickups & Adds: Target RB Handcuffs Hubbard and Barber
Several handcuffs for injured starting running backs highlight our “waiver wire pickups” article this week, including Chuba Hubbard and Peyton…
Read Full ArticleBreaking Down How The Waiver Wire Works
There are a few different ways waivers can be set up for a fantasy football league. You can have something called continuous waivers, which means all unclaimed players are on the waiver wire at all times. The downside to this is that if you pick up someone Saturday, they will not be available for that Sunday. The positive is that everyone will have a shot at a back up running back that is now going to start. It won’t be first come first serve. The other setting is that waiver wires can be set up where dropped players are the ones on the waiver wire for the week, and are frozen. Free agents are out there to be picked up instantly, and they have cleared the waiver wire already to get to this point or were never picked up, to begin with.
Determining the waiver wire is going to usually go with how the league standings are. This means the owner with the worst record will have the first priority and so on. Now the order is not changed, as a successful waiver claim doesn’t knock you down to 12th in priority. This doesn’t mean you get every claim you put in, as it still rolls through the order and does one pick at a time. If a player you chose passes through the waiver order once without being claimed, he will come back to you in round two, or be listed as a free agent depending on league settings. If you are curious as to how this is determined before the start of the season, it will go based on the draft order.
When you put in one claim, that player will be your only target to be the one selected once the window closes. If you choose multiple claims, make sure you have them properly ranked in order of how you want them. The player you want the most should be priority number one. You will also need to make sure for multiple claims that the same player is not being dropped as the others, otherwise, it won’t go through. The windows are going to vary based on the league, but Tuesday usually the starting day for when waivers are put in. This gives up until Thursday before things will clear.
Waiver Wire Strategy
Having a plan on the waiver wires throughout the season seems small and maybe even unnecessary to learn, but those add drops throughout the whole season are going to make a difference. The most simple rule to get out of the way first is to understand how your waiver wire setting works for your league. It might be different from other leagues you play in and also leagues from the past. Understanding when those waiver wire windows open and close are important. You also need to know how the order is determined, and if those orders will change throughout the season. A league being continuous waivers over standard is also of importance. If your waiver wire has no window and is first come first serve, then there is going to be a battle at times to get players.
When very clear opportunities come out, like a backup running back filling in, or a WR2 moving up to a WR1, the obvious is going to be clear to everyone and if you are down in the order then you are likely out of luck. However not everything is this clear, and it is best not to overreact and grab the guy listed immediately behind that player on the depth chart. Paying attention to the scenario is going to give you an edge. Analyze the situation and look at who else has the potential to get more looks, and it may even be a non-fantasy friendly scenario that comes out of it. If you can take chances on other options outside of the popular names who still have upside, do so. Just always be sure to know what you are taking chances on, but don’t rush into decisions just because an injury occurs or the coach has a change of heart.
If you are desperate for a fill-in option, and need him for the current week, having options is going to be needed. You can’t bank on your priority being there unless you have the top few spots in the order. Being stuck with limited options is something that happens, and can be out of your control at times, but if you can avoid creating those situations yourself, then that will go a long way. If you see a few wide receivers out there, be sure to prioritize them correctly in the order you want them. It happens often when an owner forgets to prioritize and ends up with the wrong guy.
Don’t be afraid to bolster depth throughout the season, even if you don’t necessarily need it right away. Stashing those upside players or players that can help give you some depth can be a lifesaver down the line. There is a ton of waiver wire information around the industry, and this will generally point in the direction of who will be picked up by sheer popularity. Use this to your advantage and look for deeper waiver wire adds. Pay attention to team schedules as well, picking up a player that has a bye week and tough schedule on the horizon isn’t going to be helpful, and can be a waste of a waiver pick up.
How FAAB Works
First things first, FAAB stands for Free Agent Acquisition Budget. Each fantasy owner is given a budget at the start of the season to bid on unclaimed players. Budgets are going to vary based on the league, so there are no real set ones, but $100 to $200 is usually where they sit. All unclaimed players will go through a FAAB system unless they are free agents and can be picked up without using any sort of money from your budget. However, this still has to do with league settings.
All bids are going to be hidden from other owners, so nobody will know what the bids exactly will be. The highest bid at the end of the waiver wire window wins the player. If you lost the bid, your money will stay put, but if you won that money will be taken out of your budget. If there is a tie, the league settings will factor in but it will usually go to the team with the worst record. FAAB has many advantages over a basic waiver wire system, and the biggest is that it gives everyone a chance to put in a bid despite having to worry about having a lower record. Because who should be punished for having a good team right?
FAAB Strategy
Much like above, you are going to want to understand how FAAB works within your league. FAAB leaves little room for error when going about your bidding, but it gives a fair playing field for all to get a player that they want. There is not a preference for bidding heavily early or bidding heavily late. The roster you have is going to dictate your ability to make moves in FAAB throughout the season. One of the more important rules here is accurately gauging the worth of a waiver wire add. There will be cases where you want to go all-in on a guy if they are in for a full load of touches throughout the rest of the season. If a running back goes down and there is a cloudy view of who will be stepping in, you might want to temper the bids and let others deal with a potential headache.
You can be more conservative in terms of bidding, which means taking your chances, but not blowing through your budget. This gives you chances later on in the season for a possible strike while others have blown through. If you find yourself wanting a player but won’t be upset if he doesn’t fall to you, then bid a bit lower. You are going to do this when you are already happy with your roster. If you drafted and have holes within your roster, then you are going to be a bit more aggressive. While there is no guarantee when those potential league-winning names will be on the market, but they do occur with no window in particular. Holding off on spending and waiting for the right move is another strategy to go with.
Using The Waiver Wire For Streaming
You can stream just any position within a fantasy football roster, and that is your plan, then you are going to need to be active on the waiver wire. To recap what streaming is, this is when you spend most of your draft capital on positions like RB and WR and take a week by week approach with the rest of your lineup or positions that have more flexibility. This gives you an edge if you can work it right because you are getting the top running backs and wide receivers while others are drafting other positions. Now you still fill out your lineup towards the end and draft positions, but moves are more frequent.
There are a few general rules you should keep in mind when playing the waiver wire for your streaming options. One is to plan things out. You are going to want to see the best matchups for the position or positions you are streaming. If you can also find players that have a string of good matchups, this makes things easier because you don’t have to worry about that position each week. I would opt to take the string of strong matchups over a player who has just one coming up and then has to deal with tougher matchups or a bye week. Build out a schedule where you can flip through two players at a position based on their matchups.
Building depth within your bench is extremely smart. Having options and flexibility already within your team is going to go a long way regardless of streaming. This is a way where you can stream between a few options without having to work the waiver wire often. Now when those waiver wire windows open and close, you better have some options ready. That way if you don’t get your first or even second prioritized option, you are not left out in the cold with no other options outside of the scraps left behind.
FAQ
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What Is Waiver Wire In Fantasy Football?
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How Is The Waiver Wire Order Determined?
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What Is FAAB?
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What Is The Difference Between Waivers And Free Agents?
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What Is An Undroppable Player?
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What Is Waiver Priority?
Frequently Asked Questions
A waiver wire is a set order of league members that have a priority for putting in a claim for a player in fantasy football. They are frozen to get everyone in the league a chance to have a shot at the player.
The waiver wire order is usually determined by record, meaning the team with the worst record will have the highest priority. Each round will move based on priority and restart over. One player can only be picked up each cycle through.
FAAB stands for free agent acquisition budget. Before the season starts you have a set budget where you can bid on free agents throughout the year. You will bid against your league members, and the highest bid gets the free agent. A losing bid will go back into your budget.
Depending on league settings, there is a window where dropped players and players not on a team are on waivers. This means they require a waiver wire bid to pick up and will be determined by waiver order. Free agents are free to be instantly picked up.
Sites will implement a rule to help promote fair play where teams can’t drop star fantasy players. Yahoo and ESPN will have a list of players deemed undroppable, and this is a setting that is on default. I can be turned off by the league commissioner.
Each week there will be a waiver priority list, which is often based on the worst record. It will rank who has the highest priority when picking up players off the waiver wire. If you have first priority, you will get your first pick.
