Values. Even in a league comprised of the RSO founders and writers, there are plenty of players that sign for below their projected values. Many factors contribute to this, including the timing of player nominations, each team’s roster construction, and each team’s remaining room under the salary cap.
As the auction progresses, owners throughout the league felt regret as several players slipped through the cracks for reasonable, team-friendly deals. After the draft, several owners shared with me which players they felt were the best values in the auction.
Quarterbacks
Aaron Rodgers (4 years, $72 million) Ice Cold Bruschis
“Didn’t realize it during the action, but after the fact this looks like a steal. He’s still the 5th highest paid QB on a per year basis and the 6th highest in 2016, but he’s almost 9M/yr cheaper than the #1 QB Wilson and a solid 3-4M/yr lower than the other top tier QBs of Luck, Cam, and Brees. Add in the fact that he’s the only QB locked in for 4 years in this superflex league and this buy looks great. I personally went into the auction with the strategy of not wanting to target the top QBs, but in hindsight I should have gone after Rodgers at this value.” -Kyle English
“A-Rod also really good to have locked up for 4 years. He will probably have a huge year this year now that Nelson is back in the fold.” -Stephen Wendell
Ben Roethlisberger (2 years, $25 million) Bro-lo El Cuñado
“Ben at 2/$25M was my favorite multi-year QB deal” -Matt Papson
Derek Carr (3 years, $21.5 million) Like The Language
“Derek Carr is a nice flyer at $7.2M per year for the next 3 years. I was already set at QB by the time he came available so I could not get involved.” -Matt Papson
“I am big on Carr and love that contract as well. He will be able to use or trade that at some point this year.” -Stephen Wendell
Blake Bortles (2 years, $18 million) Like The Language
Love the Blake Bortles contract. In a 2 QB league, he is going to be a valuable starter for Kyle’s squad for many many weeks. -Stephen Wendell
Running Backs
Le’Veon Bell (3 years, $45.5 million) New York Knightmare
“Bell was unbelievably cheap, even with his recovery. I wasn’t prepared to absorb the risk that comes with him, but this has the chance to be the best overall deal signed at the end of the year.” -Matt Papson
LeSean McCoy (2 years, $22 million) BallinOnABudget
“I fully expect McCoy to deliver big value on this contract. He is the lead back in a run-heavy Buffalo offense and a dangerous receiving option out of the backfield on a team without many receiving weapons. McCoy missed some time last year and was one of the first running backs nominated in the auction, which probably explains his low valuation in our league as owners were waiting on the running back position.” -Bernard Faller
“Matt’s Shady contract could prove to be really good…in a PPR league, I just think he is so undervalued. I bowed out of that signing too early…as an Eagles fan, the whole Shady thing is tough to get through.” -Stephen Wendell
“I’m not a huge McCoy fan in general but given the turmoil his backups are going through, I think it’s safe to say McCoy is looking at 300+ touches this year if he can stay healthy (which he did in 2013 and 2014 don’t forget). McCoy’s 2016 salary is lower than guys like Ryan Mathews, Danny Woodhead and Matt Forte – all three have their own injury histories and I would argue neither has as high a ceiling as McCoy.” -Bob Cowper
Devonta Freeman (2 years, $26 million) New York Knightmare
“Freeman and Bell are both on solid contracts, though I like Freeman signing more than Bell. The discount was there for Bell for obvious reasons but 4 years is a lot to commit to him given his off the field issues and the age of Big Ben…he goes down and that offense really changes.” -Stephen Wendell
Jeremy Langford (1 year, $4.5 million) $7 Worth of Hoobastank
“Jeremy Langford signing could prove to be a great bang for the buck this season at $4.5mm. Forte was not just a fluke catching dump off passes in the freezing cold all those years in Chicago. Langford will score a bunch of fantasy points…don’t get me wrong, I hate the Bears and Cutler, but this is a good singing I think.” -Stephen Wendell
Thomas Rawls (1 year, $5 million) $7 Worth of Hoobastank
“Rawls at $5MM looks like great value in retrospect. I remember being upset he went for that little.” -Stephen Wendell
Wide Receivers
Josh Doctson (3 years, $3.5 million) Suck It Trebek
“My favorite contract in this league is Suck It Trebek’s (Bernard’s) signing of Josh Doctson for 3 years, $3.5m. Basically, even if Doctson sat out the entire season in 2016, he has the potential to be a superstar and runs the entire route tree. Doctson can win against all types of coverage, especially in the air on a Washington offense full of weapons. Bernard will benefit from this late-auction deal big time in the future years and potentially in OBJ type form if Doctson comes back to full health at some point this season. I personally would have bid higher and had the money to do it or even price enforce a bit, but I was saving my last multi-year deal (only had my 2 year deal left) for Sterling Shepard with OBJ already in tow and being fairly receiver heavy.” -Matt Goodwin
“At the point in the draft where he was selected, many of us were low on salary cap room and/or multi-year contracts. Still, this is incredible value given the contracts many of the other high-upside wide receivers and was a lesson in patience for my trigger-happy bidding style.” -Jaron Foster
Kelvin Benjamin (3 years, $50.5 million) Save Us Carson Wendtz & Kevin White (3 years, $34 million) $7 Worth of Hoobastank
“The receivers got the bulk of the multi-year deals in this league, which is to be expected, but there was some craaaaaazy cash flying around in Free Agency. In the end, I think Kelvin Benjamin and Kevin White have a chance to be really special players for a while.” -Matt Papson
Jeremy Maclin (4 years, $24 million) BallinOnABudget
“I mean just look at this numbers last year to know how good this signing was by Papson – don’t love the length but it is an easy cut decision in 2 years if need be.” -Stephen Wendell
“My value pick has to go to Matt “Papi” Papson and his Jeremy Maclin $26M/4years contract. As his team name would suggest (BallinOnABudget) Matt seemed to be looking for value rather than bidding wars and he definitely found one here. Maclin was quietly one of the most consistent WRs last season and looks comfortable as Andy Reid’s number one option. We will see what his value holds in the fourth year of the contract, he’ll be 31, but at an average salary of just over $6 million he is a significant discount to some of his other WR2 brethren.” -Nick Andrews
Laquon Treadwell (2 years, $6 million) Like The Language
“Treadwell’s contract looks pretty good for that amount of time. He is going to be good.” -Stephen Wendell
Marvin Jones (1 year, $3 million) Bro-lo El Cuñado
“Jones at that value has a chance for a special year in a Megatronless Detroit.” -Stephen Wendell
Tight ends
Zach Ertz (2 years, $8 million) Bro-lo El Cuñado
“The Ertz contract was easily the TE value of the night. I must have been asleep at the controls for this one.” -Matt Papson
Let us know on Twitter about some of the best/worst contracts in your RSO league.
Bio: An avid fan of all things NFL, Dave has been playing fantasy football since 1999. Though Dave participates in all types of fantasy football including redraft and daily, he prefers keeper and dynasty leagues as talent evaluation and scouting are integral components of each. Follow him on Twitter @DaveSanders_RSO
