The value of a z buck

The Zealots free agency madness continues. There’s nothing compelling about getting in a bidding war for Cameron Wake or bumping people’s bids up a few hundred zbucks. It’s a way to pass the time.

I thought one transaction in z17 was particularly interesting. Zbucks generally have no real value. It’s a waivers/draft league for the most part except for this free agent period. For the most part you’re dealing with the long-shots and the backups in the NFL. What’s the real value of zbucks? One team decided to find out. The deal was z5000 for a fourth-round pick. At first I thought that the team who netted the draft pick came out a winner. Did they really?

In my league we have one auction that finished at z5050 for Devin Aromashodu. Maybe Mike Martz makes him a viable WR3. Let’s not get too carried away. The other 21 players went for 11,600 zbucks. That’s about z550 per player. So this team could get nine players for their z5000. It’s a little like what the Patriots did prior to the 2001 season. Sign a ton of low-level free agents and hope for the best.
In exchange, the 4.12 pick doesn’t usually end up well. You’re reaching for a low-end wide receiver or a decent IDP guy. The best player I saw in the rookie drafts from my two leagues at that slot was Lofa Tatupu. I drafted Jared Cook at 4.12 last year but the return so far has been nothing.

Ultimately the trade isn’t going to be a league-winner for either team. It’s interesting, and in this slow time of the offseason we’ll take interesting. We’ll take this over news that the Raiders are paying their kicker and punter a combined $8 million a year.