RFA Winners & Losers
by Caden
May 2, 2021
I finally left my room the other day after recovering from my Victor Bowl defeat and figured I might as well write an article to put Stefon Digg’s heroics further in the rearview mirror. So here goes nothing. So look, we don’t give out participation trophies in this league, either you get better or you get worse. That means RFA has ended with 6 winners and 6 losers. So, where did you fall?
Winners
The Bronx Dominion
Barnes lived up to his aggressive style in April. A little different than usual is that he didn’t seem to ridiculously overpay. After tearing things doesn’t last year, he had some change to work with and he undoubtedly improved his squad. I think he got the biggest steal in the entire month in getting Joe Mixon for a nice value for $47. Mixon paired with Henry has a chance to be one of the best RB duos in the FCS. He also managed to get a high upside WR in Cooper Kupp. On top of that, the Dominion were really the only progressive Eastern team during the RFA. He got better, while his division foes largely got worse or stayed the same. Depending on how things go during the summer trading period, Barnes “A+” RFA may put himself in the thick of things next year in the division. I don’t think anyone could be happier after this thing than Barnes and the Dominion.
Reno Cutthroats
If you got it, flaunt it. Gairhan came into the RFA with a big wad of cash from the lottery and is leaving without much cash, but with a lot more talent. Headlining this new direction is CMC. Most thought he was done at RB after that but the Cutthroats’ owner hit us with a “not so fast” as he also added Aaron Jones. Reno, without question got better. He had to empty the pockets to do it, but he did. What keeps him out of the top spot is the fact that he already had an expensive in Melvin Gordon. An eye-popping $194 invested in RBs is asanine, but as far as talent is concerned, he got it. WR and depth may be a question going forward, but with guys like Christian McCaffrey and Aaron Jones on the roster, the flyin’ trout will be far from a bye week in 2021.
BSC Jacks
A fresh new brand and hopefully a fresh new start in Big Sky Country. There really was nowhere to go but up for the Jacks, but up they went. They kicked things off with the return of a familiar face in Travis Kelce and finished it off with the addition of some high quality WRs in Adam Theilen and Tyler Lockett. There will be no shortage of good pass-catchers for the Jacks in 2021. Now the Mayor’s focus shifts to his backfield. Things are looking brighter for BSC. Whether or not it will be enough to compete in a loaded Western Division remains to be seen.
Portland Rippers
I can’t put myself any higher than this because I didn’t gain any players. What I feel good about is how much cash I’m leaving with. Having Dalvin Cook up for for bid first terrified me, but it ended up proving to be the best spot he could have gone. There were 6 RBs that went higher than him. I feel pretty good about that. Bracing myself for something in the mid 70s made it a dream. I didn’t get quite the deal for Keenan Allen because of the Mayor, but he probably went for about what he is worth. Leaving with my two guys that led me to a Western Division Title with more money in my pockets than I expected is a win.
Little Rock Capitals
“Whoa whoa whoa, but the Caps didn’t do didly squat during the RFA?” True, but what they did do was set themselves up for a nice summer and draft. Miller stayed the course and didn’t over-bid for anyone. I think a lot of that is because he didn’t have to. His roster is built on cheap, young, high upside talent and now he progresses through the offseason with a lot of cash. A LOT of cash. As things stand, he has $212 to work with. While some of that will go toward current players’ contracts, he will still likely be way ahead of the pack in regards to cash. It safe to say a good deal of the top end talent in the August draft will be leaving in red and blue.
Colorado IceCats
I think the jury’s still out on whether or not the IceCats are a winner or loser, but since I didn’t have conviction either way, they fall here as my last winner. The good thing is that they matched their WR1 Tyreek Hill at a more-than-fair price. The RB add of Kamara for $70 seems like a push when looking at the loss of Barkley. I think I would probably rather have a $70 Kamara over a $72 Barkley, but it’s really splitting hairs. Overall though, I think Webb has to feel Okay about his April.
Losers
Charleston Bombers
Look, there’s no other way to slice it. The Bombers dropped the ball on RFA. Putting yourself in Enloe’s shoes makes it a little more understandable, because $82 is a tough bid to match even for Christian McCaffrey. However, when looking at it as simply “Did the Bombers get better?” There’s no question they did not. Losing the consensus best player in fantasy is a huge subtraction. What’s even worse is that there was no addition at RB. The #BombSquad also parted ways with Tyler Locket. They did manage to snag Chris Godwin late, but I wouldn’t call a $32 contract a steal by any means. I spoke to Enloe recently, and he seems to be in good spirits despite how things went. Hopefully Charleston will be flying through clearer skies during the summer trading period, but I have a feeling his decision to cut ties with McCaffrey will haunt him for quite some time.
Austin Outlaws
Man, the Outlaws had a rough couple of days. To be fair, Sam Blankenship had his back against the wall going into the RFA with so many stars’ contract expiring. Having said that, you gotta think he was hoping to walk away with more than just a Hopkins resign. I think one of the more surprising declines was the Outlaws passing on what seemed to be a very affordable $47 bid on Joe Mixon. Salt was poured in the wound the next day when Aaron Jones went for $70. Now Blankenship goes into the summer with no competent RBs on his roster. Oof.
Nashville Riflemen
Nashville fell victim to having his RB being nominated at a really bad time. The value apparently was at the beginning of thr RFA because Ezekiel Elliot went $76. That was good for the 2nd priciest check for the RFA. Unfortunately for Brown Elliott was not the 2nd best player in this RFA. So, it hurts. Hurts a lot worse looking at players like Aaron Jones, Alvin Kamara, Dalvin Cook, and Saquon Barkley all going for less. Having said that, the positives are that Brown retained him and Boyd at $5. Still thkeeping them came at a much higher cumulative cost than Brown likely expected.
Virginia Beach
To be frank, just the fact that the Rovers were able to put a bid on a player, let alone win a player in RFA, may be seen as a win. So why does he fall here? Well because that means he had to have lost some star power in some agreed upon trades. While the details have not been released, I think it’s safe to assume that Michael Thomas is not going to make up for what he had to ship away. Hey at least the burden of debt isn’t weighing Neese down. With Virginia Beach’s problem of Cap Hell in the rearview mirror another problem arises—having less talent.
Tucson Javelinas
It feels really unfair to put the Javies here. When looking at expectations going into this thing, then they definitely outperformed that. If you would have told Daniel that he was going to walk away with a top RB and still manage to keep Adams in Arizona then we would have taken that in a heartbeat. However, when looking at the big picture of the additions and subtractions, than he lost one more player than he gained--Travis Kelce. All things considered, though, there was no way to go but down for the Javies from their loaded 2020 roster. The Javies leaving with Barkley and Adams means they don’t fall near as much as expected.
DC Anarchy
Really Massey and the Anarchy stayed pretty stagnant throughout RFA. His typical aggressive managerial style seems to have slept through the month. Maybe he was still coming off that Victor Bowl hangover. I was surprised that Massey didn’t win a bid. However, he did manage to retain his star WR Stefon Diggs for a decent price. Downside is that Adam Theilen went west. We’ll see if that old Massey aggressiveness comes out in the summer trading period, but Massey leaves RFA with his Victor Bowl champ core intact, but without that depth. He may even consider that a win.