So it's okay for all the other owners to take advantage of an inexperienced owner, but not you? If you'd accept a trade from another owner, you shouldn't treat your own team differently.
On the other hand, it's fair to say that a newbie shouldn't be picked clean by a league. That's not fun. So if that's what you're doing then it's wrong. But it would be wrong for ANY owner to do it.
I've never understood this "guilty until proven innocent" commissioner philosophy, and their willingness to purposely hurt their own team so they can maintain a Mother Teresa image nobody cares about except him. Your responsibility is to treat your team like any other. No better and no worse. When wearing your commissioner hat, you don't care who wins. Your only concern is what's best for the league. If everyone was watching your every move, would it be above board? That's your standard.
If you'd allow someone else to do it, you're allowed to do it. You're allowed to do well. You're allowed to win. You don't have to play with one hand tied behind your back so as to avoid even looking like a shrewd owner. You don't get a cookie for hurting your own team.
But you know if you're taking advantage of a new owner. If that's allowed in your league, go for it. But if it's bad form in your league, don't be a jerk.
He's not a newbie; he's played FF for many years, he just happens to be new to this league, and happens to be my cousin.
For those of you saying "just name the player, we won't send you to the AC;" I'll ask, have you read this forum? Anytime someone even remotely broaches a question that could be construed as a rate this trade/team/add/drop/etc, the board police flip out and spend the next 20 posts discussing how that type of question can't pollute this board (meanwhile, they spend 20 posts polluting the board, complaining about those questions). That's why I didn't name my players. But, I'll do so now, in the hopes it will get some additional productive replies (and thanks for the earlier responses, as well).
I have both Shepard and M. Thomas. Both were drafted relatively late, and are much more likely to be kept than Bryant (because of when they were drafted). The trade would be for 1 of them for Dez. His reasons would be: either player is playing now, while Dez's status is unclear, possibly helping him now. If the trade doesn't help him this year, he still has a WR that is a better keeper option (assuming they continue at, or improve upon, their current levels of production). My reasons would be that I hope Dez can return to health, and Romo can return/stay healthy, allowing a Dez like the player from 2014 to get in my lineup.
I get the responses saying Dez for Pryor, Shepard, Fuller, M Thomas, etc are unfair; I thought the same thing, at first. But there is no guarantee that Dez will get/stay healthy, that Romo will stay healthy when he returns, or that the Dez of 2 years ago will return. Over the last 1.25 seasons, Dez hasn't done much. He has 2 games over 100 yards, only scored 4 times, and only 1 game with both 100 yards AND a TD. He also hasn't been able to stay on the field, nor has his quarterback. Obviously, I'm not considering this guy for a trade, I'm hoping to get the guy from 2014.
I wasn't trying to take advantage of my cousin, and if he was making this trade with another owner, I'd question it at first, then would probably understand it based on the reasoning I laid out above. I likely won't do the trade, as most responses seem to indicate that I need to be "above reproach" as a commish.