Today we are rolling out the new waiver/cap trade system for Top Madden’s Madden 21 Cycle. This will put a wrinkle and add some strategy to the way Top conducts current trading and it will introduce a system that will allow for a new kind of trading scenario that is fair and fun for all.
So, lets break this down into a few sections. The Explanation, Why is this necessary, How it affects the current Trade system, and some FAQ.
The Explanation
The Waiver Trade System has the purpose of providing a fair (to both the player and the league) way of trading a player with the sole purpose of cap relief.
Some teams are bound to end up with a regressing veteran who has an absurd cap hit that is crippling their team. In the past the TC would assign that player a lower value in an agreed trade between users and the transaction was completed. While there were no clear examples in Top regarding misuse of this mechanism, the CMs agreed that there is an unfair advantage to getting to essentially choose which team is getting the cheap discount on say, a 85-90 overall player with abilities.
First thing to understand is this, the MOST IMPORTANT REASON to submit a player to this system is for your CAP RELIEF. You will receive a significantly lower value for your player in this compared to the usual trade system.
Lets explain this process start to finish using a scenario.
Donny is the Eagles and has negative cap space. He wants to trade Brandon Graham who is making 17M a year as a superstar player at 84 overall so he can open up cap space to sign his young talent.
Donny submits Brandon Graham’s daddy leagues link to the waiver portal chat in discord. The TC meets and assigns a 3rd round value to Brandon Graham and inform Donny.
Donny then gets a final chance to lock Graham into the waiver portal or to retain his player. If he agrees to the 3rd round value, then Graham is locked in.
Once locked in, an announcement is made that Graham is available for claims for 24 hours. Now users in the league can offer their third round pick for the upcoming draft in a bid by posting in the chat.
“The New Orleans Saints claim this player with their 3.14 pick”
After 24 hours the bids are evaluated starting with the highest pick of the round (3.1) to the lowest (3.32). And the highest claim received the player, they then make the trade of their pick for Brandon Graham.
If you win your claim you must trade for that player.
Why the New System?
Repeating what was said before, the old system factored cap hit in to the value of a player, but we felt that it seemed odd that in the scenario above Donny can effectively send a SS talent to whoever he chooses at a discount rate. While we felt no cases of this have occurred in the past, its an obvious problem that could occur.
We wanted to allow people to cap dump players with bad contracts in a way that kept the league fair. This also introduces a little bit strategy around your 2/3/4 round picks that may not have existed in other maddens. People will be less likely to just tack then onto trades willy nilly knowing that they may have a higher waiver pick.
Also, Madden has no comp pick system so there is little incentive to have players leave your team. This is a way for you to shed some talent without having to drop them to free agency. You can get a little bit of value back by releasing talented players.
How It Affects Current Trades
With this new system, the TC will now approach the standard trade process slightly differently. They will no longer diminish a players value based on their cap hit. Age, Regression, Position, Ratings, will all play a role still in the player evaluation but if, for example, JJ Watt is making 21M a year, the TC will not devalue Watt as a result. They will just see a 34 year old 90 OVR XF edge rusher and value based off of that information.
We have all seen that user, trading FOR JJ trying to get a cheap deal because “he is old and his cap hit is massive.” You don’t get a discount because you KNOW how bad a contract is to start. If you cannot afford it, then you cannot trade for him.
If the Texans user in this example can’t find someone to trade for the true value of Watt, then he either holds onto Watt, or he submits him to the waiver portal for cap relief.
FAQ
What if a locked in waiver player is not claimed?
If not claimed by any of the 31 teams in the league, the player can then be traded to any team in the league for equal the value that the TC assigned him in waivers.
But no one claimed him in waivers at that value so how would he be traded then?
Remember that if the value of a player is a 2 then the waiver teams MUST HAVE a 2nd round pick in the upcoming draft, a future 1 will not suffice for portal trades. BUT, if the player clears the waivers then he can be traded to any user for equal the value of the 2nd round pick, be it a future 1, multiple 3 rounders, etc.
Why not just allow the user to drop the player and do the waiver from FA?
This system still allows for a trade where you get some value back for your players. Maddens lack of a comp pick system hurts us in that regard. Also FA drop trading is a collusion method that can plague a league
If the value of a player is a 3, can I use my future 2 instead?
No, you must use the pick of the upcoming draft that is assigned by TC.
If I am up in the waiver, but I traded a way the pick that is assigned what do I do?
If you do not have the pick available, you will not be eligible to make a bid. The player that has your pick will be able to bid with that pick though.
If I have multiple picks in that round do I get to choose which one I give up?
Yes, if you have multiple picks, for example 2.2 and 2.23 in the round for a player valued at a 2, you can decide which pick to put you claim in for. Keep in mind, if someone bids a pick higher than your pick they will jump you and be able to claim that player.
Why should I use this system versus a normal trade?”
The purpose of this system is to get you a comp value back for a player you are moving solely for cap space. If you are wanting to trade a player and are looking for his value as a football player without cap considered, then a normal trade is the route for you.
If I make a claim and receive the player do I get shuffled to the back of the waiver line?
Yes. So bid carefully.
If the claims are made in discord couldn’t someone make a claim solely to snipe you of a player that would’ve fallen to you?
We are making efforts to make the claim process anonymous as possible to ensure the integrity of the system.
