Roster Reconnaissance: One move every team should make January 29, 2021 Wake Island should consider moving on from RB Saquon Barkley to start its much-needed roster rebuild. The 2021 MFFL offseason is underway. Teams will be strategically moving their chess pieces around the board and preparing their strategies for the coming league year. Roster composition is never a finished product and remains a perpetual work in progress. The following is one roster move that every MFFL team should make to better their team — or, at least, to bring them one step closer to cornering the king. Bangkok Blitz Add an additional WR1 or WR2: The rebuilding project undertaken by the Blitz is headed for its culmination. It took two years and a lot of growing pains but Bangkok has set itself up for a championship run in 2020. The Blitz have two strong quarterbacks in Aaron Rodgers and Dak Prescott, with the latter returning from injury. They currently sit four-deep at running back, with J.K. Dobbins waiting in the Rookie Corral for the call-up to active duty. They’ve got a TE1 in Noah Fant and a strong TE2 in Jonnu Smith. The one area they need to hit hard this offseason is wide receiver. JuJu Smith-Schuster finished as WR16, but he could use some help. Perhaps Michael Gallup improves in Year 4 from his WR38 finish last season. But what they really could use is another star receiver, and they have the resources to do it. In addition to having the running back depth to dangle in a trade, they also have the fourth overall pick in the draft and the second-highest cash average available in the league. Christmas Island Crabs Solidify the tight end position: After whiffing three times in last year’s auction and trading away two young risers prior to the season, the Crabs made just the right move at the right time at the tight end position. They signed Logan Thomas to a free agent contract, and he went on to have a great season, finishing as TE3. Now out of a contract, the Crabs need to decide if he’s worth placing a tag on, or if they will once again try to solve the tight end position via the auction or draft. The Crabs are solid at running back with cornerstone pieces in Miles Sanders and D’Andre Swift. They have strong young receivers in Tyler Lockett, D.J. Moore, DeVante Parker and Deebo Samuel. They’ll have to decide if they wish to tag Russell Wilson again to solidify the quarterback spot. But getting that tight end position locked down and secured for the future would be a big step in the right direction. Ecuador Ewoks Start building for the long term: Now is as good a time as any for the Ewoks to start building toward the future. Ecuador has just six players under contract for the upcoming season and they could use an influx of young talent on rookie contracts and cheap deals. The Ewoks have the sixth pick in the draft (along with two third-round choices) and they need to hold on to those picks. They tried this last year and it didn’t last long, but they should consider trading the UFA rights to Ezekiel Elliott. Still one of the league’s top backs, he had a rocky 2020 season and he is getting up there in age. It doesn’t make sense to keep tagging him on a year-to-year basis and the Ewoks could get a nice haul in return to help them build toward the future. They could probably land two first-round picks, or a first-round pick and a young “riser” on a cheap rookie contract. Whatever moves the Ewoks make this year should have lasting effects beyond the 2021 season. Egypt Pharaohs Tag Joe Mixon: With one of the league’s top quarterbacks in Patrick Mahomes locked down and four receivers in the WR2-3 range all under contract, the reigning South Division champion Pharaohs will have some holes to fill to keep up with division rival Bangkok this offseason. Egypt could use a stud wide receiver to top off that depth chart. They could tag UFA Evan Engram to solidify the tight end position. But they could really use some strength and depth at running back. Currently, the Pharaohs have three backs under contract in Ronald Jones, Sony Michel, and Justin Jackson. Jackson is just a warm body at this point. Jones is coming off a great third season in the league when he finished as RB16. Michel is entering the fourth season of his rookie contract and he could be on the chopping block to save Egypt $5 million of cash and cap space. The team needs another top running back and placing the franchise tag on Joe Mixon seems the most logical choice. Mixon only played in six games last year before getting hurt, but he averaged 20.4 points per game in that time, ranking him 9th in that category. Jamaica Jerks Tag Dalvin Cook: Jerks running back Dalvin Cook played last season under the Exclusive Franchise Tag and he could be headed for that designation again. Cook finished third among all running backs in scoring and averaged 28.4 points per game. He did this while missing two games. He has yet to finish a full season healthy, but has strung together back-to-back Pro Bowl seasons. The Jerky have two strong receivers locked up in Keenan Allen and Kenny Golladay. They could use some improvement at quarterback and tight end, but have two players under contract at each of those positions. Locking down Cook, and then adding a second running back, are of the utmost importance this offseason. Nagasaki Kamikazes Unload UFA rights on a few players: Until the league decides otherwise, trading unrestricted free agent rights is still permissible and the Kamikazes will clearly want to explore that avenue this offseason as they have five players under that designation that warrant consideration. The Kamikazes have 7 roster spots to fill and have the third-highest cash average to do it with. Among the UFAs they will consider retaining are receivers Michael Thomas, Davante Adams, and DeAndre Hopkins — perhaps three of the five best receivers in the league. Additionally, they have decisions to make on running backs James Robinson and Aaron Jones, both of whom finished in the Top 7 at the position last year. The Kamikazes will be able to use three tags, but should expect the price to increase on those players. Getting rid of a couple of those players for something is better than losing them for nothing. When acquiring the rights to unrestricted free agents, teams have to be careful not to overspend, given that tag prices will be high on these players. The Kamikazes need to address the running back position, so it’ll be curious to see in what direction they go. Russia Renegades Target an additional running back: The Renegades have 17 roster spots filled, the most in the MFFL. They appear set at quarterback and tight end, where they have two Top 10 players at both positions. They’re seven-deep at wide receiver, including three Top 7 receivers a season ago. Where they could probably use some extra help is at running back. Josh Jacobs and Kareem Hunt both return for another season and both were Top 10 players in 2020. But Hunt benefited from extra playing time due to a Nick Chubb injury. Besides, competition and extra depth at the position can only benefit the Renegades. San Juan Scorpions Retain Alvin Kamara: The Scorpions will be looking to defend their title in 2021 and their first order of business has to be retaining MVP Alvin Kamara. Kamara was the league’s top running back, scoring 415.2 points and averaging 27.7 points per game. The only starter at running back the Scorpions have under contract is Nick Chubb, and he’ll need his running mate right beside him. The Scorpions are set at quarterback, where Josh Allen will look to build on his excellent 2020 campaign. Receivers Stefon Diggs, DK Metcalf, and Terry McLaurin are a strong trio. Jalen Reagor will look to break out in his second season in the league. Zach Ertz, Dallas Goedert and Irv Smith form a formidable tight end tandem. The Scorpions have the second-lowest amount of cap space and cash average, but after retaining Kamara, they won’t have many holes to fill. Switzerland Squirrels Secure that elusive quarterback: By “elusive,” I’m not even talking about a quarterback that does damage with his legs. I simply mean that landing a top quarterback has been an issue for Switzerland two years running. The Squirrels have a few capable running backs returning next year in James Conner and Zack Moss, with Darrell Henderson serving as a role player, but they could certainly use a No. 1. Receivers Cooper Kupp and Cole Beasley finished as WR26 and WR27, respectively. D.J. Chark missed three games and had a down year, but his fortunes look to massively improve with a better quarterback coming to town in 2021. Again, the Squirrels could use a No. 1 at receiver. The Squirrels have four unrestricted free agents they could consider tagging. Leonard Fournette’s days as a top running back might be done. Raheem Mostert has flashed success but has not been consistent enough. Receiver Adam Thielen and tight end Mark Andrews both are likely candidates to be tagged. Turkey Jerky Tag Derrick Henry: What a change of pace one year will bring. The Jerky entered last offseason with one of the tightest budgets in the MFFL. This year, they begin the offseason with the third-highest cap space and fourth-highest cash average. The Jerky are “fair” at quarterback and tight end. Jared Goff finished at QB17 and Hayden Hurst was TE9. They could use competition at quarterback. The Jerky cut Mike Evans at the end of the season and he will have a new team moving forward, unless Turkey bids on him again in the auction. They are also potentially losing receiver Amari Cooper who is out of contract, but they could use a tag on him. Running backs Derrick Henry and Kenyan Drake are both unrestricted free agents and are in tag consideration. Despite a number of decisions to be made, the most important one is retaining Henry for another season. Henry followed up his RB4 finish in 2019 with an RB2 finish last year. Ukraine Grainers Tag Christian McCaffrey: The Grainers enter the 2020 offseason with a number of options on the table. They have three tag-worthy players in Christian McCaffrey, Tyreek Hill and George Kittle. McCaffrey and Kittle both missed the majority of the season but are still among the top at their respective positions. Deshaun Watson has the quarterback position locked down and Darren Waller had a great season at tight end, finishing second at his position. Receiver Chris Godwin had a down year in 2020, finishing at WR32. He’s due for a bounce-back season in 2021, but he sure could use some extra help if Hill returns. Brandon Aiyuk is primed for a bigger second season. Will Fuller has immense talent but never seems to finish a season, either due to injury or suspension. Marquise Brown has been a big disappointment. At running back, David Montgomery had a huge second season, finishing fourth at the position. Chase Edmonds was a decent role player, coming in at RB29. And Damien Harris’ career arc is a little wishy washy at the moment. Despite the fact that McCaffrey played in just three games in 2020, retaining him should be the top priority for Ukraine. In the three games he played, McCaffrey led the league with 34 points per game. He’ll be right back near the top next year. Wake Island Wookiees Trade Saquon Barkley: The Wookiees have a major rebuilding project ahead of them. Their shot at a title run was last year, when they had Matt Ryan, Saquon Barkley, Kenyan Drake, Julio Jones, DeAndre Hopkins and T.J. Hockenson all under contract. Unfortunately, Barkley got hurt in Week 2 and Drake and Hopkins were shipped away. The rest, as they say, is history. Now the Wookiees enter this offseason with just six players under contract. Todd Gurley appears to be overpriced, finishing as RB23 and due to make $11.25 million in 2021. The Wookiees could try to unload him, but the market might be low on him. A better option for the Wookiees would be to try to unload Barkley. He is entering the final year of his rookie deal and is a bargain at $10 million. There would be plenty of takers for him and there could be a bidding war. The Wookiees could easily get two first-round picks and possibly even a prospect or two. They would set themselves up with several nice young pieces for the future. Considering they don’t even have a first-round pick this year, getting a few extra picks to pair with Pick 13 would really help them out.