How do y'all feel about lying or fabricating info in trade talks?

[Mephistopheles]

So this is a topic that I've been meaning to post for some time. It's in regards to people fabricating information to induce owners to enter into trades. I'm not talking about annoying little bullshit like "I value X player as a late 1st" when they would be willing to pay a mid-1st (although that's stupid to me as well). I'm talking about whoppers like saying that David Johnson blew out his knee in 2017 (BTW, @Cameron Giles, that's not directed in any way at you, I actually had someone say that to me in a trade offer recently).

I'm not sure if it's something that always existed or if I'm much more attuned to it in recent years. It really just seems that a lot of owners tell a lot of real whoppers of late.

What really brought this out for me was last night when an owner was trying to trade Stafford to me. I expressed concern about Stafford's injury likely causing him to miss the next 3 weeks (which my research indicated was the case), and asked to modify the trade for that risk. Other owner responded that "Stafford is fine, nothing to worry about see the attached" and sent a link to an article that stated within the article that "Stafford could play this week but a very likely scenario is that he misses up to 3 weeks". I immediately shut down discussions with the owner.

Of course, the all-time greatest whopper was nearly 4 years ago when an owner, 4 hours after Calvin retired, tried to trade Calvin to me for two first round picks, one of which turned out to be Zeke, the other of which turned out to be Michael Thomas. Owner claimed to have "inside information" from Calvin himself that he was not really retiring but was just saying that to get the Lions to release him. He really had a fantastic storyline built up about how Calvin was going to posterize the league, etc. etc.

I remember around the same time someone claiming to have seen Michael Thomas at a bar in Columbus with his arm in a sling from a broken collarbone.

The funniest one ever was an owner in a devy league who tried to tell me that I should sell him Jonathan Taylor last year because JT had a fracture in his ankle and might be out for a year...this was less than a day after I was in Madison for a game and met JT in a social setting afterwards. I think that was the time that I really started noticing how badly owners are willing to lie.

I think this really hampers getting trades completed and impacts the ability to build trading relationships with people. I always try to deal straight with people and this kind of unethical behavior just doesn't usually work out.

Any thoughts on this? How do you all combat this type of crap? I've called owners out on their lies but most just don't seem to care.

[Ray Finkle]

It’s bush league. I’ve never taken offense to a trade offer. I love getting any offer but I can’t stand any kind of justification in trade negotiations. Just send the offer. I know what’s up. You know what’s up. Don’t need anybody puking Roto blurbs at me or fabricating crap.

[Mjvb5]

If someone has a blatant lie, "inside information", etc I tell them to hold onto the guy then I only trust information if I see it from multiple public sources I trust

There are, numerous, cases though where myself or others in my trade talks have had honest mistakes regarding something and that rarely if ever hurts trade talks. I didn't wanna sell AJG in one league in week 5 because the reports I read said he was coming back. I've whiffed numerous times on who's going to be taking over the depth chart on various teams from an RB injury and said my thoughts in talks that X should be the lead back andddd they weren't, then finally age I'm off by +/- 2 years on guys soo regularly. These don't bother me, in a game like this where we try to keep track of 100-500 players depending on your settings and all of there associated stats, depth chart positions, age, etc people are gonna make mistakes often.

[WhatWouldDitkaDo]

I have heard in quite a few places that Stafford could play as soon as this week because the back injury sounds back but actually isn't that severe, and I could see it happening based on Stafford's personality and history of playing through injuries. I don't think that owner was making anything up.

However, I've never had any owner in all my leagues claim to know personal inside info because that's ridiculously far-fetched. I'm not sure I'd even recognize a lot of players off the field at a bar or wherever.

[Mjvb5]

I have heard in quite a few places that Stafford could play as soon as this week because the back injury sounds back but actually isn't that severe, and I could see it happening based on Stafford's personality and history of playing through injuries. I don't think that owner was making anything up.

However, I've never had any owner in all my leagues claim to know personal inside info because that's ridiculously far-fetched. I'm not sure I'd even recognize a lot of players off the field at a bar or wherever.

Unless it was Quenten Nelson

[Prison_Mike]

You had someone tell you that they spoke with Calvin Johnson personally about his retirement? Yikes

I did this to a buddy of mine as a joke. During Week 1 of the NFL season, I knew he was at work and unable to watch any games.

So I texted him "Davante Adams just tore his ACL, 1st drive of the game" - He said "eff me"
I told him I'd give him A-Rob & Pettis for Adams. He said "possibly, send it over. I'll think about it"

(I never actually sent the trade & I would have rejected it had he sent it to me). I just let him go on thinking a little bit that he'd torn his ACL. A few other leaguemates even got in on it in the group chat lol

But I didn't realize that people legitimately do this and try to trick others into making a bad trade. That's not a league I'd want to play in. As others have mentioned, I hate when there's an attachment that comes along with a trade.

I'll send an explanation of why I thought a trade worked for both sides if an owner is seemingly insulted by an offer, just to clear things up. But it's annoying for someone to send a "here's why you should take this trade" - especially if the information thereafter is inaccurate

I would just immediately dismiss anything like that and do my own research if there are concerns with injury, suspension, etc.

[ebsteelers]

listen I know a guy who knows a guy who has inside info.. calvin is coming back

[Mjvb5]

You had someone tell you that they spoke with Calvin Johnson personally about his retirement? Yikes

I did this to a buddy of mine as a joke. During Week 1 of the NFL season, I knew he was at work and unable to watch any games.

So I texted him "Davante Adams just tore his ACL, 1st drive of the game" - He said "eff me"
I told him I'd give him A-Rob & Pettis for Adams. He said "possibly, send it over. I'll think about it"

(I never actually sent the trade & I would have rejected it had he sent it to me). I just let him go on thinking a little bit that he'd torn his ACL. A few other leaguemates even got in on it in the group chat lol

But I didn't realize that people legitimately do this and try to trick others into making a bad trade. That's not a league I'd want to play in. As others have mentioned, I hate when there's an attachment that comes along with a trade.

I'll send an explanation of why I thought a trade worked for both sides if an owner is seemingly insulted by an offer, just to clear things up. But it's annoying for someone to send a "here's why you should take this trade" - especially if the information thereafter is inaccurate

I would just immediately dismiss anything like that and do my own research if there are concerns with injury, suspension, etc.

Exactly done in good fun then its all good, I remember one of my leaguemates found a fake news article format and made the heading Kittle with a torn ACL, got half the league in on it and posted it.

Similar but different last night our mixon owner said that its crazy how mixon has less points than Rojo, so of course me as the resident rojo owner sent rojo for mixon straight up with a comment in the public chat that I did. I had absolutely 0 intention of him accepting it and told him that, I just got a good laugh outta it.

[jomaed]

Just ask....."Why do or dont you want him then"

[killer_of_giants]

i'd rather get lies than stats!

[MrUbuto]

Wow. You have some serious clowns in your league. Some of that stuff is gross.

But always do your own research.

[Wolfepack28]

I really don't care what they say in negotiations. I always assume they're not telling me what they think anyway. If someone is trying to unload someone to me but they claim to have good inside info about them that will be favorable for the player I'm getting, I ask why they're trying to unload them on me then. They'd be wise to sell when the news breaks and he has more buyers for that player, ultimately increasing the value without him having to persuade anyone.

It's almost 2020. There's plenty of public information out there about players which you can find within seconds at your fingertips. This isn't 1995. It's your job as an owner to be resourceful and know what's going on with players you have or are trying to acquire. I'm not relying on someone I'm competing against to feed me favorable info about someone they're looking to unload on me.

Not to be rude in any way but how stupid are we if this happens? No sympathy.

[CGW]

It's pretty shady to lie to get a trade done, but it's also partially on the person accepting as well. If you make trades without any of your own research you will get burnt regardless of someone lying to you. I send trades with a minimal description of why it might be beneficial. Rarely do I ever get deep into discussions and never would i take someone's word for anything.

[abloom]

I never believe any "inside information" and I always look up news on any player involved in a trade. People should say whatever they want to say about the trade. The only thing I can't stand is... "Here is why you should do this trade" and convincing me that the players I'm receiving are all stars, and the players I'm trading away are just bench warmers.

[jordanzs]

I wouldn't be bothered if an owner tries to fabricate info while negotiating a trade. But I will make a mental note of it and be cognizant in future dealings with them. Friends and I jokingly fabricate info from time to time on trade talks, but we know that it's not real.