The Fantasy Football PSA every manager needs to hear: Don’t be like the Cleveland Browns

The following is an excerpt from the latest edition of Yahoo’s fantasy football newsletter, Get to the Points! If you like what you see, you can subscribe for free here.

The Cleveland Browns give us the biggest and most extreme example of the sunk cost fallacy that has ever occurred in any major North American sport, at least in recent history.

It is now abundantly clear that Deshaun Watson is not a starting quality NFL quarterback. He was a problem the last two seasons and has somehow regressed in 2024. Watson is averaging just 3.46 net yards per pass attempt through five weeks, an outrageously low figure — by far the worst in the league.

And yet the Browns steadfastly refuse to bench the league’s least effective QB, presumably because the organization feels they have 230,000,000 reasons to keep playing him. Without a doubt, this team is doing a disservice to fans, employees, and every non-Watson player on the roster. It’s a wild, terrible and probably hopeless situation.

Cleveland’s self-made predicament, however, can serve as a fantasy lesson for the rest of us. Please understand that you are not – repeat: NOT – obligated to continue committing to your worst and most expensive fantasy decisions.

We’re at the point in the season where this year’s stats tell a more compelling story than last season’s data. As managers we need to start making start/sit choices based on current performance instead of our wishes for the preseason. It’s time to put draft status aside.

If you’re stuck in the habit of starting, say, Jaylen Waddle – or Sam LaPorta, Mark Andrews or whoever – simply because he was your third-round pick and not because you think he’s about to come out of his 4-for If you break a -40 streak, you’re doing it all wrong. ADP is ancient history – in fact, it was no longer relevant once you left the draft room. Don’t compound an early mistake by repeating it every week.

Let’s not be the Browns, folks. That’s all we ask. It feels like a low bar to clear.