What Are Roster Options? NFL Charges Fantasy Football Owners To Start Benched Players

Every fantasy football player has made the horrifying and regretful mistake of benching a player who ends up exploding for major points and who would’ve helped them win their fantasy matchup that week.

But the NFL’s fantasy football leagues are helping players correct those mistakes. For a price.

A new feature called “Roster Options” allows fantasy football players to switch a player who was previously on their bench to their starting lineup for $0.99 or to make unlimited changes in any week for $3.99, Deadspin reported Friday.

The switches, however, can’t occur in just any league. Custom league managers must switch the setting on in their respective leagues in order for owners to exercise the “roster options.” Turning the option on is free, but then owners must pay in order to make the switches.

According to NFL.com: “When enabled, users will be able to purchase the option to substitute a benched player into their starting lineup after games have concluded. Users can also purchase the right to roster options for their entire roster through the 'Optimize Lineup' option.”

There is also an extra wrinkle. Owners are technically buying insurance for any given player, meaning they must buy the roster option for said player before their game that week.

Still, its possible fantasy football purists may have a problem with the feature. Every week fantasy football owners tinker with their lineups and fret over who to start and who to sit, which is the very essence of the game and makes the stakes of each decision that much higher.

Case in point, many NFL fantasy game users could have purchased an option on Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The former MVP has struggled mightily this season, and some doubted if he could return to form against the rival Chicago Bears Thursday night. Rodgers wound up throwing for 326 yards and three touchdowns, and many owners may have left him and Packers receiver Davante Adams (13 receptions for 132 yards and two touchdowns) on their benches.

While some fantasy players might be open to the idea, it’s likely to cause virtual scuffles on league message boards.