I am asking a question today relating to the psychology of MFN coaches.

The Week 8 trade deadline passes quietly in many leagues of which I have been a member. Conspicuously absent are the "go for it" trades. By this, I mean a team that believes it is on the verge of a title trades away young players and draft picks for highly rated but older veterans who can offer immediate help at a particular position. A rebuilding team can stock up for the future. A team that is contending can add the pieces it needs.

But you rarely see midseason "go fot it" trades, or at least that has been my experience. Why? And, even as a general rule, why are coaches of contenders seemingly more reluctant to "go for it" in MFN than in "real life?"

because there are rarely veteran players available that help you and does not come at absurd prices.

I am sick and tired discussing with new players that his 85 rated veteran is so slow, I would not even offer him a minimum contract, so I will not offer a 1st round pick for him.

Some of those noobs come back and teach me, that he would have been the best at his position on my team...

I had forgotten about the "absurd prices" problem in leagues where they still use the trade meter to govern trades. That is precisely why so many user-created leagues have turned off the trade meter and let trades instead be governed by the commissioner or a trade committee to prevent a shady deal.

I enjoy the trading aspect here in MFN but often I have found myself looking for a veteran at the twilight of his career that would turn into a 1-2 season rental but with unrealistic player value such that I just cannot make a legit offer so we are forced away very often.

I haven't thought to petition the league admin to turn that off, but even when turned off the trades would look so lopsided if you are offering a later round pick for a player at 30% retire

Experienced veterans of this game understand that the trade meter is terrible & that "actual value" seems lopsided in most cases.

I think for most people, and this is true in every management game, the most entertaining part of the season is the offseason. The gamble effect of drafting players, the anxiety and excitement that comes with the reveal after training camp etc. It makes players very reluctant to trade in general as they don't want to give up those dopamine hits via draft picks. With what you are saying, its more exciting to keep that early round pick and gamble on scoring a star in the draft than it is to make a trade and push with a team that isn't the obvious favorite.

Interesting concept, and I am not disagreeing with what you've said here. But (talking to an imaginary coach here) wouldn't you want to take the steps to MAKE your team the obvious favorite? When you have built a contender isn't becoming the obvious favorite the next objective? Does a solid draft pick provide a bigger thrill than a league championship?

I am talking about a logical progression, but I've seen a lot of decisions in MFN that are based on flawed logic. Some of them mine.

To take a playoff contending team that isn't favorite and make a trade(s) to make them the favorite means one thing....speed

Thats speed at RB, WR, CB or possibly MLB to make a significant impact on an already good team.

That means trading for one of those players in his 4th, 5th or 6th season most likely to get the high end speed you are looking for.

Most bad teams are looking to dump aging vets in there 8th, 9th or 10th season which means they have already begun the decline in the one area you are looking to add.

I would seriously consider trading for a 90 speed RB, WR, CB or 80 speed MLB in year 5 or 6 but most teams with that type of playing have already committed a huge contract to that player.

Anyone else would be of minimal help to pushing a team "over the top". Sure I would trade for a 9th year LT in his 90s but owners want too high a pick for a player that old and its not worth it.

To add to fred's point above, the few positions where speed isn't a premium, like CB1, are easy to fill through FA because those veterans are still available (often deep into the season).

The only position I would consider making an all in trade for during the season is RB or WR, and even then, it would have to be a good deal.

I was away from this game for nearly two years.
It's amazing to me (and pretty disappointing) to see how basically nothing has changed.
The draft classes ****.
There are literally NO new features (that I've seen).
Position related skills seem to still have NO impact on a player's performance.
etc, etc.

As it was way back then, speed is the only thing that matters. The only way to get speed at the important positions is to get very lucky in the draft, or pay outrageous amounts to a FA that becomes available because the team is managed by the AI or a non-active owner.