FAAB stands for free agent acquisition budget: the fake money your league gives every team to bid on waiver pickups. This tool turns the question of how much to bid into a number, a chance of winning it and a line to walk away at, and it prices the player against your roster rather than against a rumor. It doubles as a chopped league FAAB calculator, where the whole league is the opponent and the money works differently. The reasoning behind every number is written out step by step in our FAAB strategy guide.
How it works
Step 1
What leagues actually pay
Winning FAAB bids from 1,336 Sleeper leagues synced to FF Beacon, seasons 2023 to 2026, as a share of each league's budget. Updated Oct 22, 2026. No league or manager is identifiable.
By how many teams bid
The single biggest thing that decides what a claim costs is how many other managers file one.
Median winning bid by number of bidders
Median winning bid rises with the number of bidders: 1 team 0%, 2 teams 3%, 3 teams 6.4%, 4 or more teams 16.5%.
View the medians drawn above
Median winning bid by number of bidders, as a share of the league's budget.
Teams bidding
Median
1 team
0%
2 teams
3%
How dynasty FAAB is different
Dynasty and keeper managers are not bidding on the rest of a season. They are bidding on a player they intend to own next year as well, out of a budget that does not come back. That changes what a claim is worth, and our own auctions show exactly where it changes and where it does not.
Dynasty against redraft, by how many teams bid
The headline is not that dynasty bids run higher. It is that they run higher only when somebody else wants the player. An unopposed claim clears at 0% of budget in dynasty against 0.3% in redraft, which is the same nothing. With 4 or more teams in, the dynasty median is 24% against redraft's 18%, 1.3 times the price. The gap widens with every manager who joins, because in dynasty the losing bidders are not buying a rental either.
Median winning bid, dynasty against redraft
As a share of each league's own FAAB budget.
Dynasty and redraft price an unopposed claim the same, and diverge as bidders join. With 1 team bidding, redraft 0.3% and dynasty 0%. With 2 teams bidding, redraft 4.7% and dynasty 5%. With 3 teams bidding, redraft 9% and dynasty 11%. With 4 or more teams bidding, redraft 18% and dynasty 24%.
Waivers are stressful
Bidding blind? Ask before you spend your FAAB.
A recommended range only goes so far. Drop your matchup into our Discord and real fantasy players will help you land on a number you feel good about, free. Want the story behind FF Beacon? Read about the project.
Type the free agent you are chasing. With a Sleeper league connected, the tool already knows your roster, your remaining budget and who else in the league can outbid you. Without one, tell it your league type, size, starters and budget by hand.
Step 2
Measure what he actually adds
The question is never how good he is in the abstract. It is how many weeks he would start for you over the rest of the season, how many points he adds after the player you would cut, and what that does to your playoff odds. In a chopped league it is what he does to your chance of surviving the week.
Step 3
Read the room
What a claim costs is set by how many other teams file one and how much they hold, so the tool names the teams who would start him and what each can spend. Then it simulates the auction against our own record of what leagues pay.
Step 4
Pick your goal, get a number and a chance
Good value is the cheapest bid that usually wins him. Make sure I win pays up to end the argument. Either way you get the chance that bid actually wins, and the price above which winning the claim becomes the mistake. How the bid ladder is built.
Good to know
It tells you who to cut
Up to four players your lineup would miss least, cheapest first. A pickup you cannot fit on the roster is not a pickup.
Works for chopped and guillotine leagues
The lowest score goes out every week and the whole roster hits waivers, so worth is measured in survival and prices fall as the field shrinks. Connect one, or pick Chopped or guillotine in the setup. chopped league strategy.
It follows your format and values
The chips at the top follow the site header, so a superflex league and a standard one get different answers for the same player.
Free, no account needed
Manual mode needs nothing. Connecting a league needs only a Sleeper username, and saving it is optional.
FAQ
FAAB questions, answered
01
What is FAAB in fantasy football?
Free agent acquisition budget. Instead of a waiver order, every team gets the same imaginary budget for the season, usually $100 or $1,000, and bids on free agents in a blind auction. The highest bid wins and the money is gone for the year. The tension is that one big bid in September can leave you unable to afford the player you really need in November.
02
How much of my FAAB budget should I bid on one player?
Winning bids by number of bidders, as a share of the league's budget.
Teams bidding
Median
1 in 4 paid more than
1 in 10 paid more than
Auctions
1 team
0%
2%
7.5%
61,070
2 teams
3%
10%
20%
13,332
3 teams
6.4%
15.6%
29.8%
5,757
4 or more teams
16.5%
32%
50.5%
10,245
By week of the season
Median and upper-end winning bids by stretch of the season, as a share of the league's budget.
Time of season
Median
1 in 4 paid more than
1 in 10 paid more than
Auctions
Week 1
1.7%
7%
15%
2,961
Weeks 2 to 6
1.3%
7.7%
20%
26,810
Weeks 7 to 10
0.3%
5.3%
15%
6,420
Weeks 11 to 13
0.5%
6.9%
21%
3,970
Week 14 and later
0%
7%
23%
3,742
By position, when 3 or more teams bid
Median and upper-end winning bids by position in contested auctions, as a share of the league's budget. Quarterbacks are split by whether the league starts one or two.
Position
Median
1 in 4 paid more than
1 in 10 paid more than
Auctions
QB, one-quarterback league
5%
12.5%
23%
424
QB, superflex
16.7%
29.5%
51%
653
RB
7.3%
17%
32%
1,727
WR
5.9%
13.7%
24%
1,916
TE
5.5%
12.5%
25%
731
Chopped and guillotine leagues, by teams left
Median and upper-end winning bids in chopped and guillotine leagues by how much of the field is still alive, as a share of the league's budget.
Field still alive
Median
1 in 4 paid more than
1 in 10 paid more than
Auctions
Half the field or more still alive
1.2%
8.5%
25.1%
21,925
30 to 50% still alive
0.1%
0.8%
7.5%
107
Under 30% still alive
0.1%
0.2%
2.6%
86
Winners paid a median of 1.7 times the second-highest bid. That gap is why the calculator prices the competition rather than the player alone.
View the medians drawn above
Median winning bid by number of bidders in redraft against dynasty and keeper leagues, as a share of the league's budget.
Teams bidding
Redraft
Dynasty
1 team
0.3%
0%
2 teams
4.7%
5%
3 teams
9%
11%
4 or more teams
18%
24%
Winning bids in dynasty and keeper leagues by number of bidders, as a share of the league's budget.
Teams bidding, dynasty
Median
1 in 4 paid more than
1 in 10 paid more than
Auctions
1 team
0%
2%
8.1%
39,103
2 teams
5%
12%
25%
6,541
3 teams
11%
23%
42%
2,348
4 or more teams
24%
42%
71%
1,909
Dynasty by position, when 3 or more teams bid
QB is the costliest contested claim in our dynasty leagues at 20% of budget, against 8% for WR. 91% of these claims came from superflex leagues, where a second starting quarterback is the one hole on a roster nobody can stream their way out of.
Winning bids in dynasty and keeper leagues by position in contested auctions, as a share of the league's budget.
Position
Median
1 in 4 paid more than
1 in 10 paid more than
Auctions
QB
20%
34.3%
55%
531
RB
11%
21%
36%
737
WR
8%
17%
31%
730
TE
10%
21%
45%
310
Three things that move a dynasty bid
The budget does not come back
On Sleeper a FAAB budget never resets or rolls over on its own: a commissioner has to do it by hand. In a league where nobody remembers to, every dollar you spend in October is gone for good, and in a league where waivers run through the offseason it also has to cover the rookies who go undrafted.
You are buying the player, not the week
A redraft claim buys the weeks between now and the final. A dynasty claim buys those weeks and then the player. That is why a 22-year-old who will not start until December is worth real money here and nothing at all in redraft, and why the two formats only agree on the claims nobody else wants.
Who is asking changes the answer
The same receiver is a different buy for a team chasing a title and a team stockpiling picks. Connect your league and the calculator reads your position in it, then weights his market value against what he adds to your lineup: more asset for a rebuild, more lineup for a contender.
Figures above come from 49,901 priced dynasty and keeper auctions and 18,385 redraft auctions across the Sleeper leagues synced to FF Beacon, seasons 2023 to 2026. Building a roster rather than pricing one claim? Our dynasty strategy guide covers the rest.
It depends on what he adds to your lineup, not on the hype. A starter you would play every week is worth a large share of what you have left; a bench stash is not. The calculator reads your roster and prices the claim in weeks started and points gained, then tells you where to stop.
03
Why does the tool sometimes tell me to walk away?
Because the most expensive FAAB mistake is winning an auction you should have lost. Every dollar over what a player adds to your team is a dollar you will not have for the next one. The walk-away line is where the claim stops being worth it for your roster specifically, not for a roster in general.
04
Does it work without connecting a Sleeper league?
Yes. Manual mode takes your league size, starter count, remaining budget and how badly you need the position, and prices the player against the best option you could already start. Connecting a league gets you the sharper version, with drop candidates, rival budgets and the teams who would actually start him.
05
Is the FAAB calculator free?
Yes, and it stays that way. No account is needed. Signing in only saves your Sleeper username so the league loads by itself next time.
06
Can you bid $0 in FAAB?
Yes on Sleeper, Yahoo, ESPN and Fleaflicker, and a $0 bid wins when nobody else bids. High-stakes leagues like the NFFC and FFPC set a $1 minimum. The calculator reads your league's minimum when it is connected.
07
What happens when two FAAB bids tie?
Sleeper and Yahoo give it to the team higher in the rolling waiver order, and that team drops to the back. ESPN follows waiver order, Fleaflicker gives it to the worse team, and the FFPC gives it to the team with fewer points. The calculator counts your waiver position when it prices a tie.
08
Is a $100 budget different from a $1,000 one?
Only in the numbers. Think in percentages: 12% is $12 of $100 and $120 of $1,000. Every figure here is a share of the league's full budget and converted to your dollars at the end.
09
Should I spend my FAAB early?
In our synced leagues the most expensive stretch of the regular season is weeks 2 to 6, and prices jump again from week 14 when leftover budget is worth nothing. A starter who appears in September is often worth more than whoever appears in November, because you get him for more weeks.
10
How much do people really bid?
Less than most people expect, until somebody else wants the same player. Across 90,404 winning bids from 1,336 synced Sleeper leagues, the median claim by number of bidders runs 1 team, 0%; 2 teams, 3%; 3 teams, 6.4%; 4 or more teams, 16.5%, as a share of the league's budget. Winners paid a median of 1.7 times the second-highest bid, so the number that wins is set by the competition rather than by the player. The tables above break it down by week, position and league type.
11
How does FAAB work in dynasty?
It costs more, but only when somebody else wants the player. With 4 or more teams bidding, the median winning claim in our synced dynasty and keeper leagues is 24% of budget against 18% in redraft, about 1.3 times the price. Unopposed claims go for nothing in both. Budgets do not roll over or reset on Sleeper unless the commissioner does it by hand, waivers often run through the offseason, and a young player's long-term value counts as well as his next start. With a dynasty league connected the calculator blends his market value into the bid, more for a rebuilding team than for a contender.
12
How is superflex different?
A second starting quarterback is scarce, and our data has quarterbacks going for the whole budget after an injury. Pick Superflex in the setup so the calculator prices quarterbacks against a superflex replacement level.
13
How does FAAB work in chopped and guillotine leagues?
The lowest scorer is eliminated each week and the whole roster goes to waivers, so budgets are big and the goal is surviving the week. Prices fall as teams are eliminated because fewer rivals chase a pool full of starters. Connect a Sleeper chopped league or pick Chopped or guillotine in the setup, and read our chopped league strategy guide, linked under Where to go next.
Waiver wireRefreshed every waiver week
Week 8 waiver wire: the five claims most worth pricing
Priced for Redraft 1QB PPR leagues with FF Beacon values, as a share of the season budget. The order is the board's own.
QB27, ranked 27 at quarterback in this formatArizona Cardinals
Suggested bid
Priority add
18- to 47% of your season budget. The lower figure wins about 6 times in 10, the higher about 9 in 10, priced from the measured market for players like him.
of your season budget. 4 or more teams bidding.
This week
19.5 projected pointsvs DAL
Rostered
62%of 1307 leagues
Over starter
+plus 2.4 pointsvs the last startable quarterback
7 touches in week 7, +4.2 on his 2.8 average before it; on 100.0 percent of his team's snaps in week 7; projects for 19.5 points against DAL, 2.4 more than the last startable quarterback in a standard league.
1- to 6% of your season budget. The lower figure wins about 6 times in 10, the higher about 9 in 10, priced mostly from what he has cost in real claims.
of your season budget. Likely just you.
Claimed in 78 leagues, median 0% of budget.
This week
6.3 projected pointsvs DAL
Rostered
23%of 1307 leagues
Over starter
-1.6 pointsvs the last startable running back
12 touches in week 7, +8 on his 4.0 average before it; projects for 6.3 points against DAL; rostered in 23 percent of the leagues we track.
1- to 5% of your season budget. The lower figure wins about 6 times in 10, the higher about 9 in 10, priced from the measured market for players like him.
of your season budget. About 2 teams bidding.
This week
10.5 projected pointsvs TEN
Rostered
11%of 1307 leagues
Over starter
+plus 4.4 pointsvs the last startable defense
Scored 10.0 in week 7; projects for 10.5 points against TEN, 4.4 more than the last startable defense in a standard league; rostered in 11 percent of the leagues we track.
2- to 8% of your season budget. The lower figure wins about 6 times in 10, the higher about 9 in 10, priced mostly from what he has cost in real claims.
of your season budget. Likely just you.
Claimed in 5 leagues, median 2% of budget.
This week
9.5 projected pointsvs DAL
Rostered
51%of 1307 leagues
Over starter
+plus 1.6 pointsvs the last startable wide receiver
6 touches in week 7, in line with his 4.4 average; on 55.6 percent of his team's snaps in week 7; projects for 9.5 points against DAL, 1.6 more than the last startable wide receiver in a standard league.
22- to 47% of your season budget. The lower figure wins about 6 times in 10, the higher about 9 in 10, priced mostly from what he has cost in real claims.
of your season budget. 4 or more teams bidding.
Claimed in 4 leagues, median 24% of budget.
This week
10.3 projected pointsvs LV
Rostered
59%of 1307 leagues
Over starter
+plus 2.4 pointsvs the last startable wide receiver
5 touches in week 7, down from 7.0; on 64.4 percent of his team's snaps in week 7; projects for 10.3 points against LV, 2.4 more than the last startable wide receiver in a standard league.
Arizona Cardinals
