I'm stumped.  I've got a deal in place, after the trade deadline, for a 10/5 guy.   Since we've came to terms, I've had a better, worse and same record as my trade partner.   Sorry bastard has rejected every time.    Anyone know the guidelines?

My guess would be you've always held the lower waiver wire position.

Is it possible this isn't related to team positioning, like free agency, but it's random instead, like whether an "Undecided" draftee will sign or not?

I believe its tied into your place in the waiver wire standings, and it may only matter at the point the deal is made (ie if you're ahead in the WW standings when the deal is offered, it may not matter if your behind when the deal is accepted, don't know for sure).  I'm also not sure if it matters if you are ahead just 1 place in the WW standing or if you need to be 2 or more places ahead.  There was a thread in the forums at some point that got into this a bit, don't remember the exact details its probably been a year or 2 in real life, so pretty far back and may be hard to do a search on.

Found something from 4 RL years ago. 

I got the same answer given in the other thread.

8/11/2014 11:40 AM	MikeT23
I'm attempting to trade for a 10/5 guy after the trade deadline(I got the claim). I've had the same, better and worse record since we conceived the trade. The 10/5 player has rejected under all circumstances. Is there a scenario under which he'll accept the deal? The player is http://www.whatifsports.com/HBD/Pages/Popups/PlayerProfile.aspx?pid=3871105 if that makes any difference. Thanks Mike
8/12/2014 6:35 PM	Customer Support
Hi Mike, The player will use his no trade clause and veto a trade if the franchise is not a better franchise. Prior to 28 games it is based on the waiver rank - the receiving franchise must have a rank of at least 4 spots higher. After 28 games the receiving franchise must have a winning percentage of .02 or better.