Are you OK with having players retire on your team?

[Dookmarriot]

I'm thinking primarily of two scenarios (although more than happy to discuss others below):

1) You're a contender, and the vet on your roster is past the point where you'll get full trade value for him, but is still providing you with production worthy of a starting/flex spot (thinking current players like Brady, Fitz, Shady, Witten, Gore, etc.)

2) You have such a love/attachment to the player that letting them go is inconceivable (cue Wallace Shawn). Steve Smith hung up his cleats on at least two of my teams.

I know future planning is a key part of dynasty, and all those Father Time is undefeated cliches are certainly true. But is it such a bad thing to run some players to the end? I'm sure there are some owners who gave up on Fitz even before his short production dip, and that would have been a lot of potential points off the table.

I mean, if you're savvy/lucky enough, you should be working towards a succession plan while the old guys are still scoring for your roster, right?

Thoughts?

[Phaded]

I think it depends.

For example - with the way Gronk's value has depreciated just due to the retirement rumours, he is probably going to retire on my team. I acquired Brady last year, he is probably going to retire on my team.

Due to how quickly people are fading Julio - he will retire on my team.
AB is going to retire on my team because I'm not looking to trade him.

Basically - if I can get great value for an aging player I'll take it; if not, I'm gonna trade him.

On that note - this community treats aging players almost like a cancer and it gets pretty out of control sometimes. I wish my leagues valued aging players the same way this community does because I would be buying them left right and center.

I typically like to have a mix of young and old players on my team, "succession plan" as you mentioned.

[Mjvb5]

I'm perfectly fine doing it as long as I'm contending,
for example had Fitz for two years now on a team that lost in the 'ship and plan on holding him the rest of the way unless an offer of a 2nd comes in, to me he should still be able to produce as a WR2 which is worth more than a third a team that's only hole is WR depth.

[Syd12356]

I'm fine with it. If you look at team one in my sig I may be too fine with it. Half of my thinking though is that if I offload any of these guys they might end up beating me, especially since there are only 3 or 4 really strong teams that would buy them.

[Big Al]

Over the years I've had many players retire on my team. For the poor value you are only able to get, it's better value hanging on. Larry Fitzgerald was a great example last year. You were lucky to get a 3rd for him when the retirement talk was going on. His value this season should exceed that. You almost have to move them mid career or ride them out as everyone seems to only want youth these days.

[gausec]

I'm okay with it if I am contending. However, if I think I can make playoffs but will lose first round I'm open to trading them (hopefully to a contender for a little above market value). However, in my experience the older guys are better off on my team than whatever I could recoup. On the rare occasion I do make a trade I usually ask for a future pick which would be more than the pick they're offering.

[mullmania]

I wasn't. I traded Larry Fitz and a 2016 1.08 for Mike Floyd.

It was the year Michael Thomas came out and thankfully he got drafted 1.07 or it would have radically compounded an already terrible decision.

[Blackout]

I will hold on Brady until his NFL death. Sometimes i regret for Fitz. I chose a guy with the 1st received 3-4 years ago who is underperforming compare to what Fitz brings today yet.

[Goddard]

I typically try to trade players when they begin to decline in value. But I also don't mind buying low on them and having them on my roster as long as they're helping me win. I'd rather have a guy like Fitz produce on my team one more year and help me compete rather than trade him for a late 2nd or 3rd and end up dropping whoever I use that pick on at some point anyway.

[DLF3000]

I regret trading Fitz last year, hindsight 20/20, for sentimental reasons only.

With his expected retirement in '18, especially with his coach and QB now officially gone, I'm surprised he's coming back. Never mind the Cardinals are on the edge of dumpster fire now, which doesn't help his Super Bowl chances.

Larry was on my team for 10 years, since the original startup draft. Great player, reliable, stand up guy, loved watching him play. His Super Bowl was pure magic. But the Steelers ruined that storyline...

Yet for fantasy football reasons, my team was and still is trash and I felt like I needed to move a lot of players including Larry to get a year ahead on my rebuild - which including a ton of extra draft picks in '17 and moving up my 3rd to an extra 2nd in '18.

My personal grade on that decision so far is fair/ok - depends how my RBs from last year and this year's draft work out, as I feel pretty good at my non-RB positions.

[Cameron Giles]

I'm fine with it. You can't turn everyone into value. It's even tougher when a player is helping you win like Brady or Fitz. They're too old to have significant dynasty value, so you're better off keeping them in your lineup and winning games.

[DLF3000]

I'm fine with it. You can't turn everyone into value. It's even tougher when a player is helping you win like Brady or Fitz. They're too old to have significant dynasty value, so you're better off keeping them in your lineup and winning games.

Perfectly put - I was going nowhere last season, so it was so hard to trade him for so little value. But when you're in the cellar, well... feels like it's all gotta go to start over.

[nathanq42]

Haven't been in the game very long but I held Danny Woodhead until the end. But to be fair in his last two healthy seasons he was top 5 ppr...

I would like to have Julio on my team still, but I shipped him and Chris Thompson for DJ after half or my guys went down and DJ was on a contending team's IR.

Pretty happy with the decision especially because Matt Ryan and the Falcons were sabotaging Julio... But I will always love and appreciate julio

I'm fine with a guy retiring on my team as long as he is helping me win and there is no better option on the WW/trade. But if I'm not winning and they are declining I'm out

[James McGhee]

I'm fine with it. You can't turn everyone into value. It's even tougher when a player is helping you win like Brady or Fitz. They're too old to have significant dynasty value, so you're better off keeping them in your lineup and winning games.

Perfectly put - I was going nowhere last season, so it was so hard to trade him for so little value. But when you're in the cellar, well... feels like it's all gotta go to start over.

I agree with this. My roster is full of guys who will recoup much less in a trade than their production value so I hold them. Brady, McCoy, Gronk, AJG now, even Ingram. It's not a sexy dynasty team but it won me the ship. They'll probably all retire on my roster.

[jordanzs]

In one of my key leagues, I traded for Fitgerald mid-2016. I basically gave a 1.12 for Fitzgerald. He won me money though in back to back years. $700 for league champ, and I repeated. Good business decision. I will keep him until he retires.

In another league I traded him away for a mid 2nd round pick a few years ago. My team sure could use him. Bad business decision, although I did draft Jordan Howard with that pick.

In another league of mine, my 2016 campaign started out bad. So a few weeks in, I traded Blount & Bilal Powell for a 2017 2nd round pick, which ended up being the 2.4. Good business decision, although the guy who received Blount (my friend) would text me every Sunday to let me know that he scored another TD. Still didn't help him though, LOL.