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 are giving us the greatest and most extreme example of the sunk cost fallacy that has ever played out in any major North American sport, at least in recent memory.
It’s now brutally obvious that Deshaun Watson is not a starting-quality NFL quarterback. He was a liability in each of the past two seasons and has somehow regressed in 2024. Watson is averaging just 3.46 net yards per pass attempt through five weeks, a scandalously low rate — easily 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 continue playing him. Without question, 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 can serve as a fantasy lesson for the rest of us, however. Please understand that you are not — repeat: NOT — under any obligation to remain committed to your worst and costliest fantasy decisions.
We have arrived at the point in the season when this year’s stats tell a more compelling story than last season’s data. As managers, we need to begin making start/sit choices based on current performance rather than our preseason wishcasting. It’s time to set aside draft status.
If you’re trapped in the habit of starting, say, Jaylen Waddle — or Sam LaPorta, Mark Andrews or whoever else — simply because he was your third-round pick and not because you think he’s about to break out of his 4-for-40 streak, then you are doing it all wrong. ADP is ancient history — in fact, it was irrelevant as soon as you exited the draft room. Don’t compound an early mistake by continually making it each week.
Let’s not be the Browns, folks. That’s all we’re asking. It feels like a low bar to clear.