What is FAAB in Fantasy Football? How Free Agent Budgets Actually Work

Most competitive fantasy football leagues use a waiver/free agency acquisition model called FAAB (Free Agent Acquisition Budget). This model requires teams to bid each week on players they want to acquire during the waiver period. Players on the wire go to the team with the highest legal bid.

Making smart waiver wire decisions and managing FAAB appropriately is probably the number one skill a team owner can leverage to win their league. We monitor what real leagues are bidding on players in our weekly FAAB Price Tool to help inform how aggressive you might want to be. It's always helpful to know exactly what your team needs, how long a player might be relevant, and how competitive/aggressive other team owners in your league are.

Below, you'll find more information about the ins-and-outs of FAAB. It's always worth checking your league and platform settings to make sure you know the specifics for your situation.

What does FAAB stand for?

FAAB, in fantasy football, stands for Free Agent Acquisition Budget. This is a budget set at the league-level that is available to each team starting from the beginning of the season. Most leagues use a budget of $100 or $200 (usually not real money), and this budget is use-it-or-lose-it.

How Does FAAB bidding work?

FAAB Bidding takes place during the traditional waiver period. Leagues set their waiver clear day of the week (and some leagues clear every day), which is usually Wednesday morning. Any player on Free Agency at the end of the weekend of football is available for acquisition. Teams can acquire players they are interested in by placing a bid, and the highest bid for a player goes to the highest bidding team (assuming that team also has roster space for the player).

What happens when two teams bid the same amount?

Most leagues use Waiver Priority to break ties in the event that the highest bid was made by multiple teams. Waiver Priority is usually a queue based on the last time your team made a waiver pickup (make a pick, drop to the bottom of the queue). Sometimes this priority is reset each week based on league standings, but most FAAB leagues use a season-long rolling priority. Check your league settings to be sure.

Can you bid $0 in FAAB?

In most leagues, it's perfectly legal and normal to bid $0 for players in FAAB. If you think this is a player that may have little impact and you don't feel like you NEED to have (or waste budget on), or if you're targeting a streaming Kicker or Defense, bidding $0 is often a good strategy (especially if you have a high waiver priority that might break ties with other $0 bidders).

FAAB vs. Waiver Priority: what's the difference?

There are basically only 3 kinds of waiver systems across Fantasy Football leagues: FAAB, Reverse Standings, and Rolling Priority.

1. FAAB - Free Agent Acquisition Budget. Use your budget throughout the season to bid and buy players off the waiver wire
2. Reverse Standings Waiver Priority - When a new week starts, waiver priority in league resets in reverse order of standings, in theory giving the worst teams first priority of the waivers. No bids, no auction, just make a claim. Can promote parity.
3. Rolling Waiver Priority - Randomly set at the beginning of the season, or set initially based on standings after week one. Once you make a successful waiver claim, you drop to the bottom with last priority. Tactic: only make waiver claims if you really need the player, otherwise bide your time to move up in the priority order. Does not reset during the season.

FAAB Strategy: How much to spend on a player

There are a few ways you can be judicious about your FAAB budget and make strategic bids.

1. Know what your team needs. Just because a certain player is "hot" this week, doesn't mean you have to pick them up. Only spend money on players that will move the needle for your team. This might mean a handcuff for an injured player or a breakout star. Spending too much on an RB who will own start one or two weeks is probably a waste.
2. Know how your league bids. Your league is not the market. Some opponents in your league might be cheap, never wanting to bid high. Some leagues may be highly aggressive.
3. Understand the market. Use our FAAB Price Tool each week to see what % of your FAAB budget you might want to spend on a player. We gather real waiver results from hundreds of leagues, and do the math to predict how much it takes to win. Pair this with the knowledge of your league and the needs of your team to set bids accordingly.