Rules
Rev. 3 (August 14th, 2009)
I. Scoring and Team Roster – See league website (key callouts: 9 starters (QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, TE, DEF, K, non-QB flex player), 8 bench slots (somewhat large, to allow for possible keepers).
II. Draft and Retaining Players
a. 2009 – Auction
i. Every team receives the default $200 that goes with an ESPN auction (which will also double as the salary cap – more on that later) to build a team (see ESPN for more details)
b. 2010 and beyond – Standard snake-style draft
i. 2010 and beyond will be a standard, snake-style draft with the order being the inverse order of the standings from the previous year
ii. $200 salary cap will still be in effect, with $120 allocated to signing drafted players, and $80 allocated to signing returning players (see table below). Due to each team retaining (4) players, the future drafts will be only 13 rounds in length
iii. Drafted players will be assigned salaries based on their draft positions. These salaries will be based on the following table (which is based roughly on ESPN consensus auction values)
Round/Pick # | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
1 | $53 | $51 | $49 | $47 | $45 | $43 | $41 | $39 | $37 | $35 |
2 | $15 | $17 | $19 | $21 | $23 | $25 | $27 | $29 | $31 | $33 |
3 | $14 | $14 | $14 | $14 | $14 | $13 | $13 | $13 | $13 | $13 |
4 | $11 | $11 | $11 | $11 | $11 | $12 | $12 | $12 | $12 | $12 |
5 | $9 | $9 | $9 | $9 | $9 | $9 | $9 | $9 | $9 | $9 |
6 | $7 | $7 | $7 | $7 | $7 | $7 | $7 | $7 | $7 | $7 |
7 | $4 | $4 | $4 | $4 | $4 | $4 | $4 | $4 | $4 | $4 |
8 | $2 | $2 | $2 | $2 | $2 | $2 | $2 | $2 | $2 | $2 |
9-13 | $1 | $1 | $1 | $1 | $1 | $1 | $1 | $1 | $1 | $1 |
Sum | $120 | $120 | $120 | $120 | $120 | $120 | $120 | $120 | $120 | $120 |
c. Retaining Players/Picks
i. Following the completion of every season, each team will keep up to (4) players on their roster for the next year with a total salary of $80 – this figure can be higher or lower depending on draft pick trading
1. If a team chooses to keep less than (4) players, the team must:
a. Announce their intent via email to the league
b. Drop the number of players under (4) they intend on keeping from their team
c. Pick up players from waivers who scored no fantasy points and would not be drafted by a competent person to use to bring their keeper balance to (4)
d. Players picked up in this manner will count as having a next year salary of $1 (this is an exception to rule II.b.ii) and must be dropped before the first game of next season
e. All this needs to be done as ESPN will require each of us to keep (4) players, so if a team does not wish to keep (4) players, they must not lock up players that could be drafted
ii. The salary paid to the kept player in the next year is determined using the player’s prior year salary and the number of consecutive years that player has been kept by any team – with no limit to the number of years a player may be kept on the same team.
1. Salary equal to prior years salary + $5 + (2 * number of consecutive years kept by any team)
a. Example – player X is paid a salary of $1. The first year that he is kept, he is paid $1 + $5 + (2 * 0 consecutive years kept) = $6. The next year he is kept, he is paid $6 + $5 + (2*1 consecutive years kept) = $13. This pattern continues until player X returns to the draft.
iii. Any future year draft picks acquired through trades must be counted against the $80 salary keeper limit, but do not count against the maximum (4) players to be carried over
III. Trades and pickups
a. Players picked up on waivers will be signed to a salary of $1 for that season.
b. During the regular season and playoffs, a $10 buffer will be allowed for each team to go over the salary cap with no penalty (therefore, any team can trade for players that would otherwise make them go over the cap, so long as the team does not exceed $210). The purpose of this rule is to allow teams more freedom when pursuing trades.
i. This $10 buffer goes away during the offseason, meaning the $80 for resigning players and $120 for draft picks still applies.
c. All trades must be pre-approved by the front office to ensure they adhere to the salary cap
d. All trades must not violate the league salary cap with the $10 buffer ($210)
i. Example – both owners A and B are at the $200 salary cap limit and want to trade player X (salary $40, owner A’s player) for player Y (salary $20, owner B’s player). Owner B must do one of the following;
1. include additional players whose salaries equal $10
2. drop players with salaries of >$1, and sign $1 waiver players such that the sum of all player salaries is reduced by $10
3. have owner A pay at least $10 towards player X’s salary – so that owner A still pays $10 of player X’s salary and owner B pays the remaining $30 of the salary
a. cash considerations can continue to the next year but no further
i. siting the above example, owner A may still pay $10 towards player X’s salary (if that was part of the deal) in the next year, but no further than the one following year
e. Trades may include draft picks for the following season. Subsequent draft picks included in each trade will be kept track of in the league spreadsheet (see spreadsheet section below). Such transactions must not exceed the salary cap for either team in the current season, or exceed the $80 keeper allotment for the team getting the future pick (thus, somewhat like the NBA, players may be thrown in by virtue of their salary so that neither owner will exceed the salary cap)
i. If a player is traded for a draft pick, the owner receiving the draft pick must give up a draft pick as well. This is because everyone must have an equal amount of draft picks every year.
ii. Values of traded draft picks count towards the $80 keeper salary limit for the next season
1. If a team receives a higher draft pick, then they will have less than $80 for kept players
2. If a team trades away a higher draft pick, then they will have more than $80 for kept players
IV. Spreadsheet/League Office
a. The excel spreadsheet will be updated by the league manager as necessary to reflect the latest league information, including trades
b. Team tabs show which players play for each team, their salaries, and what draft picks the owner has for the next draft
c. The League Office will have the power to propose rules changes as needed to address any developments in the league. Rule changes must be approved by a 2/3 majority of members in the league voting on the given measure
V. Other rules
a. Any other rules not listed here will be governed by ESPN’s default rule-set
i. Specific ESPN settings to note are: the non-resetting waiver wire, trade deadlines, trade approval rules etc.
b. Players on IR do not count against the salary cap
VI. Fees/Prizes (assuming 10 teams in the league)
a. The fee for each year will be $50 with all money exchanged at the end of the year, for simplicity sake
b. The top scoring team each week in the regular season will receive $5 ($5 * 12 = $60)
c. Nick Vidnovic Bad Beat Pot
i. The Nick Vidnovic Bad Beat Pot (NVBBP) will run throughout the (12) weeks of the regular season with $5 being paid to the “winner.” If no one wins in a given week, the money will be added to the following weeks pot, with the pot resetting after there is a “winner” ($5 * 12 weeks = $60)
1. Example – no one wins the pot for the first three weeks, making the pot worth $20 dollars in week four. Someone wins the pot in week four. The week five pot is now worth only $5.
ii. All money not paid out in the NVBBP will be divided up between the league champion and runner up with 60% going to the champion and 40% going to the runner up
iii. Scenario - Team A loses to team B. If team B was the highest scoring team in the week AND team A was the second highest scoring team of the week, then team A wins the bad beat pot
iv. Exception – no players can be benched by team A for the Sunday night and Monday games – except for injuries/to put in a “better” player – in an attempt to throw the game to ensure winning the pot
d. Each team that makes the playoffs will receive $10 (4 teams * $10 = $40)
e. In the postseason (both playoff and consolation bracket), each time a team wins a matchup, they receive $10 (for each 2 week matchup won)
i. Total money paid out for the playoffs – (3 playoff matchups + 7 consolation matchups) * $10 = $100
f. The remaining money will be divided between the league champion and league runner up
i. League champion receives $160 + 60% remaining from NVBBP
ii. League runner up receives $80 + 40% remaining from NVBBP
