Fantasy Football League (FFL) Rules


1. Players, Teams, and Coaches

A. The league consists of 12 teams.

B. Each team consists of at least 18 and no more than 19 players, not counting players on the Practice Squad or Injured Reserve. Each team must have at least three quarterbacks, four running backs, five wide receivers, two tight ends, two kickers, and two defenses. There is one extra roster spot, the flex position (FP), which is optional to fill. The flex position can be a player of any position (QB, RB, WR, TE, K, or DEF).

C. All coaches must have an email address and a telephone number that can be given to the league so that they can be contacted for trades and other matters. The email address will be listed on the FFL website; however, the phone number will not be on the website for privacy reasons. The phone number will instead be emailed internally to league members only.

D. Each team may register with the league any additional email addresses that they may use to make transactions or turn in lineups with in case of emergency non access to their primary email. They have the option with the additional email addresses to either include or exclude them from the league email chains.

E. Each team will represent an NFL city, either current or from the past, that has appeared in either two Super Bowls or won at least one Super Bowl. In the case of New York and Los Angeles two different teams may represent the cities.

F. Each team will have a team name, selected by the coach and approved by Jerry. Any team names with sexual, racial, or offensive innuendo will not be accepted. If a coach is taking over a vacated team they must stick with that team name for one full season in order to promote consistency in the league unless a name change is negotiated in their deal to bring them into the league.

G. If a coach would like to change team names or cities they must petition Jerry and he'll let them know what they must do to change their team name and that is if he even allows it.


2. Team Depth Charts

A. Prior to the season each team must turn in a depth chart. The depth chart is a ranking of their players based on position. Once the first depth chart is set it stays the same throughout the season unless an owner changes it or makes a player transaction.

B. The depth chart does not count as a team's starting lineup. If a team turns in a starting lineup that is different from their depth chart the depth chart does not change.

C. A team may not edit their depth chart after the kickoff of the first game of that football week. In most cases this will be the Thursday night game.

D. In order for a team's depth chart changes to be valid they must email the entire league. If a coach appears to be accidentally missed in this email I will use my discretion in whether or not to hold to against the coach and in most cases won't. If I am not included in the email then the email will be invalid. (So if you're going to forget somebody it's best that it not be Jerry.)

E. The purpose of the depth chart is for instances where a coach has an inactive (based on the inactive or injury list released by the NFL) or bye week player in their lineup. I have found this to be intolerable and will not stand for it, thus the team depth charts. If a team has a player in their lineup who is inactive or on a bye then the top player on their depth chart for that position will automatically be inserted into their lineup unless that player (the player on the depth chart) was part of a game played prior to Sunday at 1 PM EST or is on a bye or inactive themselves. In this case the next player on the depth chart will be inserted and this process continues until either an active player has been inserted or all options have been exhausted.

F. If a team does not turn in a depth chart prior to the first game of the season I will set one for them by using the Yahoo player rankings for Week 1 of the season. If by chance the Yahoo rankings are not posted at that time Jerry will use another fantasy football website of his choosing.

G. If a player is released or traded and a coach does not reset their depth chart or is unable to do so due to the fact that a game has been played prior to 1 PM EST on Sunday then all players on the depth chart below the removed player will automatically move up a spot.

H. If a player is acquired by a team they automatically go to the bottom of the depth chart until the coach moves them. If a player is acquired after the first game of the week has been played then the coach still must wait till the following week to make their depth chart changes. Players acquired after the deadline can be inserted into a team’s lineup, but are ineligible to be inserted as a result of a coach having inactive or bye week players in their lineup, and all other options having been exhausted.

I. If more than one player of the same position is acquired at the same time then they are placed on the depth chart based on who has the highest Yahoo ranking for that week. If more than one player is not ranked on Yahoo then they'll be placed on the depth chart based on their FFL salary for that season; if there's a tie in salary then I'll rank them.

J. If a coach submits a partial/incomplete depth chart, the vacant slots will be filled by Jerry based on rankings from a website of his choosing.


3. The Lineup

A. Each lineup consists of at least and no more than one quarterback, two running backs, two wide receivers, one tight end, one kicker, and one defense.

B. In order for a team to turn in their lineup they must email their lineup to the entire league. Once again if it appears somebody has been accidentally missed I'll use my discretion on whether or not to accept your lineup. If you do not include me in your email then there's no way I'm accepting your lineup. If EVERY league member except myself is sent your lineup there is absolutely, positively, 100 percent no chance that email will be accepted.

C. Lineups must be turned in prior to the first NFL game of the week (usually 1 PM on Sunday). If there is a Thursday game (with the exception of Thanksgiving) then only the players who are playing in the Thursday must be put into the lineup prior to the first Thursday game of the day. If for a given week, the majority of the NFL games are being played on a Saturday, then the deadline for that week would be 1 PM Saturday.

D. A team must have a full roster in order to turn in a lineup or have players in the lineup carry over from the previous week. Failure to submit a lineup could lead to expulsion from the league, in which case until a new owner is found the team will be under commissioner control to get the team eligible to play.

E. In the case of Thanksgiving, no lineup changes for the Thanksgiving games can be made after kickoff of the first game.

F. If you have players in your previous week's lineup who are playing in a game being played prior to 1 PM on Sunday (including Saturday games) then they are automatically inserted into your lineup and you must email the league to remove them from your lineup prior to kickoff of their game or in the case of Thanksgiving prior to the kickoff of the first game of that day.

G. If a lineup is not given prior to a game then the coach's lineup from the previous week is used.

H. If a coach turns in a lineup that has a player inactive or on a bye then the procedures in Section 2 will apply.

I. In cases where a player has already played in the Thursday night game, and a coach submits a lineup that leads to too many players being inserted for a given position, the team’s depth chart will determine the remainder of the coach’s lineup for that position for the week, with the highest ranked player being inserted in the vacant slot. For example, if Player A has already played at running back, and the coach submits a lineup with two running backs other than Player A, then the highest-ranked of those two running backs on the team’s depth chart will be inserted into the lineup.


4. The Salary Cap

A. Each team has a salary cap of 80 million dollars.

B. If a team makes a trade or signing that will put them over the cap then the transaction must include details/additional transactions that will put the team back at or below the cap or else the transaction will not be processed.


5. The Draft Lottery Day: Selecting Draft Order

A. The Draft Lottery will be held each year on either a Saturday or Sunday in the month of March or April. It must occur at least one week prior to the NFL Draft.

B. The eight teams that did not make the FFL Playoffs the previous season will be included in the draft lottery. The Draft Lottery winner will not only receive the first pick of round 1 but also the first pick of round 2 (in other words the draft order is the same for both rounds).

C. The team with the worst record the previous season will have only one chance in the draft lottery and if they do not win the lottery will be placed in the 8th slot of the FFL Draft. The lottery chances are as follows:

D. For each chance a team has their name will be written on an index card and placed in my Sports Illustrated gym bag. I will draw out one card and that team will be the winner of the lottery.

E. The first pick will go to the draft lottery winner. Picks two through seven will go to the remaining non-playoff teams based on worst to best record. The eighth pick will go to the team with the worst record the previous season (unless they win the draft lottery). Picks nine and ten will go to the first round playoff losers with the team with the lower playoff seed of the two picking ninth. The eleventh pick will go to the Fantasy Bowl loser and pick twelve will go to the Fantasy Bowl winner.

F. Draft Lottery chances may not be traded.

G. If no coaches except myself attend the draft lottery I'll attempt to hunt down a coach to be present while I conduct the lottery however am under no obligation to do so and can conduct it by myself if nobody decides to attend.


6. The Draft Lottery Day: Teams Changing Divisions

A. Every odd year on Draft Lottery day we will also move one team from each division via lottery.

B. The previous season's division winners are not eligible to switch divisions. If the previous season's wildcard team is also the Fantasy Bowl winner then they also are not eligible to move divisions.

C. All teams eligible to switch divisions will have their names written on a card and stuck in a bag. The first team drawn out will go to the division of the previous season's Fantasy Bowl Champion, unless both teams were in the same division, then the drawn team will go to the division of the Fantasy Bowl loser. All other teams from the division that the drawn team was from will be removed from the bag. The next team drawn will go to the division of the Fantasy Bowl loser unless that team was in the same division as the Fantasy Bowl winner, in which case the drawn team will go to the division of the first round playoff loser with the better record. If the second team drawn would cause a division to not have any teams change divisions, then the second team will be placed in a division other than the one it would have been placed in normally. The final team drawn out will go to the last remaining division that has not been drawn for and will be a team from a division that has not had a team leave their division yet.

Below is an example divisional switch drawing:

The following table lists the divisional setup from the previous season:

The winners of Divisions A, B, and C (Teams 1,2, and 3 respectively) remain in their divisions; the wild card team (Team 4) won the Fantasy Bowl and remains in Division B, the Fantasy Bowl loser (Team 3) was in Division C, while the winner of Division A (Team 1) had the best record from the previous season;

The first team is drawn from Division C; that team (Team 5) is placed in Division B; all remaining eligible teams from Division C (Teams 6 and 7) are removed from the drawing;

The second team is drawn from Division B; that team (Team 8) will be placed in Division A because if the drawn team is placed in Division C, a team from Division A cannot switch divisions. All remaining eligible teams from Division B (Team 9) are removed from the drawing;

The third and final team from Division A (Team 10) will be drawn and placed in Division C; the remaining eligible teams from Division A (Teams 11 and 12) remain in that division:

7. Re-signing Restricted Free Agents

A. At the conclusion of the season teams may re-sign up to three of their RFA’s (Restricted Free Agents) which are players who have zero years left on their contracts.

B. If a team re-signs an RFA they get them for three years at double their previous salary.

C. RFA’s cannot be traded unless first re-signed as one of a team's three RFA’s. As all trades go to Jerry for his review, he’ll announce the re-signing of an RFA involved in a sign-and-trade when he e-mails the entire league regarding the trade. It is not necessary to e-mail the whole league of an RFA re-signing in this instance; it only needs to be included in the notification of an accepted trade.

D. The last day to re-sign RFA’s is the Sunday of the weekend following the weekend of the NFL Draft. After that all remaining RFA’s will become free agents and be up for bidding on FFL Draft/Free Agency Day.


8. The FFL Draft/Free Agency Day

A. The FFL Draft/Free Agency Day will be held on a Saturday or Sunday (preferably a Sunday) in June or July.

B. I will send out a list of potential draft dates at some point in May. If an owner is unable to make a certain date they must let me know and why by the deadline I set. If I am unable to settle on a draft date that everybody can make and have to choose between owners I will factor in past draft day attendance, salary cap space available, number of empty roster spots, and number of draft picks owned as part of my decision.

C. Once the draft date is set there is pretty much no chance I will change it unless I am not able to attend to run it.

D. If an owner is unable to attend they may give me instructions to draft and sign players (which will be kept private) or attempt to be on speaker phone through the phone of another league member. Only coaches whose permanent residence is outside of a 100-mile radius of league headquarters (a.k.a. Jerry’s condo) are able to attend the draft via Skype or another video chat application. The league office will not provide Skype availability to those owners living within 100 miles of FFL headquarters.

E. If the FFL contracts (reducing the number of teams in the league), players from the contracted teams will be placed in a separate draft pool for selection by the remaining teams. If the contraction occurs prior to Draft/Free Agency Day, then the dispersal draft will take place on the same day; if the contraction occurs after Draft/Free Agency Day, then separate arrangements will be made to disperse the players from contracted teams. The preseason waiver order will apply to the dispersal draft, and teams selecting a player from a contracted team will assume that player’s contract, and may be required to release a player on their current roster if necessary. Only players with at least one year remaining on their contracts would be eligible to be selected in the dispersal draft.


9. The FFL Draft

A. The FFL Draft will be the first event to take place on Draft/Free Agency Day. Upon arrival each owner will be given an index card to write their draft pick on when it comes time to select. When it comes time for an owner to select they must write down the players name on the index card and turn it into to me. Once the card is turned in they cannot change their pick.

B. While there is no set time limit for an owner to make their pick if the group gets restless and there's a consensus that somebody is taking too long a countdown may begin to force the owner to speed up the process.

C. Draft picks may not be traded more the one season ahead. For example 2017 draft picks cannot be traded until the league re-opens sometime in the spring of 2016.

D. A private room will be provided on draft day for coaches to discuss trades. Proceedings will not stop for discussions to take place.

E. If coaches come to an agreement on a trade on draft day then it must be written out on an index card and turned into to me with both coaches agreeing on it.

F. At the conclusion of the FFL Draft there will be a 15 minute intermission to eat food, use the restroom, step outside for a break, etc.

G. Only players selected in the NFL draft that year or who played in college the previous season but are no longer college football eligible can be drafted.

H. Below is a chart of how much players selected in each round will have for their salaries (all drafted players will have three-year contracts):

Round 1

1. 4 million
2. 3.5 million
3. 3.5 million
4. 3.5 million
5. 3.5 million
6. 3 million
7. 3 million
8. 3 million
9. 2.5 million
10. 2.5 million
11. 2.5 million
12. 2.5 million

Round 2

13. 2 million
14. 2 million
15. 2 million
16. 1.5 million
17. 1.5 million
18. 1.5 million
19. 1 million
20. 1 million
21. 1 million
22. 1 million
23. 1 million
24. 1 million


10. FFL Free Agency (FFL Free Agency/Draft Day)

A. Any player released on FFL Free Agency/Draft Day cannot be signed by that owner on FFL Free Agency/Draft Day. If there's a player that an owner wants to cut and attempt to re-sign at a cheaper price then they must be cut the day prior to FFL Free Agency/Draft Day or sooner.

B. Any player signed on FFL Free Agency/Draft Day cannot be released on that same calendar day however they can be traded on that same calendar day.

C. A list of free agents selected by Jerry will be released to the league prior to FFL Free Agency/Draft Day. If a player is cut after the list is announced they will be added to the list. If an owner thinks there is a player missing from the list that they’d like to see added they can email Jerry and he will add the player to the list.

D. The free agents' names will be each written on a separate index card and placed into a bag. Jerry will draw the player’s names out of the bag randomly and bidding will take place. The bidding will start at the league minimum for that player’s position and be for three year deals and rise in 0.5 million dollar increments. A coach may not increase a bid by more than 0.5 million dollars until bidding has exceeded 4 million dollars.

E. The league minimums/starting bids are as follows:

F. A coach cannot bid more money on a player then that have available under the cap at that given moment. The coach may also not bid on a player if they would be unable to make room for the player based on them having signed all possible players that day and thus none of them being eligible to be cut. If an owner makes a bid that is greater than what they have available under the cap (for example, an owner with $4 million of cap space bids $5 million), the owner will be assessed a 0.5 million dollar penalty that would last for the entirety of the current season. If an owner commits this offense a second time on Draft/Free Agency Day, then the penalty will double, and will double again for each subsequent offense committed during that day. If the total penalty exceeds what the owner has available in cap space (for example, an owner with $2 million in bidding penalties only has $0.5 million in cap space), then the balance of the penalty will carry over into the next season.

G. When a player’s name is announced for bidding prior to the bidding beginning a coach can cut players/clear cap space in order to free up money they feel may be necessary to bid on that player. Once the bidding on the player begins they are not able to clear more cap space.

H. If two or more owners tie for a bid on a player, a coin toss or dice roll will be used to determine who will receive the player. If an owner involved in the tied bid attempts to back out of the bid or in any way tries to avoid taking part in the coin toss or dice roll (such as openly stating that the other owner can have the player), the attempts will be disregarded and the owner must still take part in the coin toss or dice roll; relinquishing the right to a coin toss or dice roll is not an option. The player in question can still be traded between teams after the player is awarded via the coin toss or dice roll.

I. If a coach wins the bidding on a player and does not have a roster spot available for them they must make room for that player immediately before bidding on players can do so. If after given a few minutes a coach still has not cleared room for the player then Jerry will cut a player for them to make that room, and it probably won't be somebody they'd like to have cut.

J. If a coach cuts a player during free agency then that players name will be written on an index card and added to the free agency bag.

K. At the conclusion of free agency but prior to the end of FFL Free Agency/Draft Day any players who are still free agents (including non-drafted rookies) can be signed by owners for one year deals for the league minimum for their position via a waiver system. Coaches can write one player’s name on an index card (along with who they’d cut if necessary to make room should they receive that player) and turn it into Jerry. After everybody has had a chance to turn in a card Jerry will announce the signings. If more than one team submits a card for the same player then the team higher on the waiver order list will receive the player (the team that had the worse record the previous season). If a coach would like to sign a second player then a second round of what was just described will occur, and so on as necessary. Any player cut at the end of Free Agency day during the waiver portion will immediately go to waivers and not to free agency; the seven-day waiver period will begin that same day.


11. The Practice Squad

A. Any rookies drafted by a team will be placed on their Practice Squad.

B. Players on the practice squad count against the salary cap but do not count as roster spots and may remain there for their rookie season.

C. When the league re-opens for business the following year any players on the previous season’s practice squad automatically get moved up to the teams main roster and count as a roster spot. Teams can not re-sign their players, draft, or participate in Free Agency Day until they narrow down their roster to its appropriate size. They are able to trade players to do so.

D. A player may be brought up from the practice squad during the season up until the player signing deadline of Week 11. If a player is not activated by that point they will remain on the practice squad for the rest of the season.

E. If a player is moved up to the main roster (which is necessary for them to play in a game) at that point they will count as a roster spot and if necessary a coach must make room for them.

F. Players may be moved freely between the practice squad and the main roster up thru the final Sunday prior to the start of the regular season. After that once a player is moved up from the practice squad they may not return to it.

G. If a player is traded or released then re-acquired by the team that drafted them they are not eligible to go back on the practice squad.

H. Players can be traded off of a team’s practice squad without being activated; however, they are not eligible to be on the practice squad of the team that acquires them. Players are only eligible to be on the practice squad of the team that drafted them.

I. If a team does not have a full roster but turns in their lineup for Week 1 Jerry will activate players from their practice squad to fill out their active roster if they do not fill out the roster themselves. They have until kickoff of the 1 PM EST Sunday game to do this unless they have a player playing in the Thursday night game then they’d have until then. If it is necessary for Jerry to activate the players for the team and he must choose between two players from the same position he will choose the player who was drafted later in the draft as this is probably not what the coach would want thus providing incentive for them to take care of this issue themselves.


12. Free Agent Signings (In-Season)

A. Coaches can sign free agents (a.k.a. players not on a team), any time after the draft till the deadline set by the commissioner for the 11th week of the season.

B. In order to sign a free agent an owner must email the entire league from an email account (or text to the league email list) that is known to the league as their own.

C. Players can be cut or signed 24 hours a day 7 days a week during the season up until the signing deadline during Week 11.

D. If you cut a player during a FFL game you lose all points gained by him prior to or after the releasing for that week and an "X" will be placed in their points field of the box score.

E. If a coach releases a player who makes more than 4 million dollars he is obligated to pay 25 percent of their salary for the duration of the contract plus one additional season; this will count as part of a team’s total salary under the cap.

Here’s a rounded number chart so we can avoid decimal points and whatnot:

After 8 million the pattern continues as it does above.

F. If a coach released a player and takes the penalty on that player and then later re-signs the player the penalty for cutting them previously remains in place. If the coach then cuts the player again then a second penalty can occur.

G. Any players released after the free agency portion but prior to the free agency waiver portion of FFL Draft/Free Agency Day and then re-signed during that season by a coach are re-assigned the contract they are released from and are not granted the one year league minimum deal that a regular free agent would receive unless that is the deal they happened to be released from.

H. Any player signed as a free agent is given a one year deal with the dollar amount based on what position he plays (the amounts are listed in Section 10D).

I. A coach may not cut a player the same calendar day they are signed. They may however trade them the same calendar day they are signed. They may also cut a player they traded for the same day they are traded for.

J. A player cannot be signed to an Injured Reserve slot. A player must first be assigned a spot on the team's main roster prior to the team then placing them on Injured Reserve; they cannot be directly signed to the IR slot.

K. In instances prior to the Monday of the first week of the NFL Season if a coach signs a player and then cuts him the very next day the player will automatically become a free agent again and not be subject to the waiver wire process.

L. In instances after the Sunday prior to the first week of the NFL Season if a coach signs a player any time between Tuesday and kickoff of the 1 PM EST Sunday games and cuts them during that same time the player will not be placed on waivers and instead will immediately become a free agent.

M. A coach may release a player who makes more than 4 million dollars without penalty if the player is not on an NFL roster when the first game of the first week of the NFL season kicks off or if when the 17th week of the NFL season is completed the player is not on an NFL roster. If the player is not on an NFL roster come week one but is signed to one prior to the coach cutting the player then the penalty will take effect. If the player is not on a roster when Week 17 of the NFL season is completed but is signed to one prior to the league re-opening for business the following year the coach may still cut the player without penalty within three days of the league re-opening, after that time a penalty will occur.

N. Effective in 2017, a coach may release a player without penalty if a player retires at any time. If a player does not announce their retirement then they can only be cut without penalty as explained in this section. Jerry may use his discretion with regards to whether or not a player has officially retired, including requiring evidence constituting proof of an announcement that a player has in fact retired.


13. The Waiver Wire

A. If a player is released by their team they are placed on waivers except for instances explained in section 12K and section 12L.

B. The player will remain on waivers for seven calendar days one of which is the calendar day the player was released.

C. When a player is put on waivers they are put on waivers for the amount of years that were remaining on their contract and half the previous salary. If a player is already making the league minimum or less (for example a late 2nd round QB pick who is only making 1 million dollars), then that player will be put on waivers not for the under league minimum amount but instead for the league minimum of that player’s position.

D. The coach who released the player may not put in a claim for that player.

E. While the player is on waivers a coach can place a claim by emailing Jerry. It is not necessary to email the entire league.

F. Once a waiver claim is submitted it cannot be rescinded.

G. In order for a claim to be accepted it must include a name of a player that will be cut if the claim is awarded. Failure to submit a name will make the claim invalid, unless the claimed player would fill an empty slot on the roster (such as the Flex position). The name is submitted in case an owner is awarded the player and then does not cut a player to make room for them within the given period of time which will be described later below. The players whose name that was submitted would then be cut.

H. Upon a claim being submitted Jerry will post the name of the team that submitted the claim on the FFL Waiver Wire Page; however, he will not discuss or tip off owners in any way of waiver claims.

I. Once the waiver period has passed the team that is highest on the waiver wire list at that time (team with worse record) that put in a claim will receive the player and if necessary has until the end of that day or until kickoff of the first game of that day to make room for that player. If a coach fails to make room for that player then the player listed as the cut player in the original waiver email submission will be cut by the commissioner.

J. Any player received from waivers cannot be cut the same day they were received from waivers.

K. While a player on waivers can be traded the same day they are received off of waivers they must first have a spot cleared for them and be put on the team’s roster prior to being traded.

L. If nobody claims a player off of waivers then they can be signed for a league minimum deal (unless of course it’s by the owner who cut them in which case they must honor their previous contract)

M. The waiver order during the offseason is determined by the previous season's standings.

N. During the season the waiver order resets at 12:00 AM on Tuesday with the weekends results factored in. If Monday Night Football has not finished then the waiver order will be reset at the conclusion of that game with those results counting for the entire day of Tuesday.

O. Draft lottery results in no way are factored into the preseason waiver order. If a team wins the lottery and they did not have the worst record in the league then while they do pick first in the draft they do not move to the top of the waiver order list.

P. The first eight teams on the waiver order list are the eight teams that at that time would not qualify for the playoffs and is based on their records. The ninth team on the waiver order list is the team that would be the wild card at that time. The remaining three teams are the teams that are the division leaders and ranked from worst record to best record with the twelfth team being the team with the best record.

Q. During the preseason the waiver order is the eight non-playoff teams (worst record to best) followed by the two divisional playoff game losers (worst record to best) followed by the Fantasy Bowl runner up in the eleventh slot, and the Fantasy Bowl winner being in the twelfth waiver slot.


14. Trading

A. Trades can be made between teams at any time except from the Sunday 1 PM kickoff till the end of the Sunday night game and up until the Week 8 trade deadline for the season.

B. In order for a trade to take place both participants must either both state the trade to Jerry either verbally or thru email/text (a participant may request that Jerry contact the other participant to confirm a trade at which time he is not allowed to discuss the trade with the participant but simply ask if they accept the trade he's been presented) or if communication of a trade has happened thru email with proof of an offer and acceptance on both parts then that may be forwarded to the league for approval.

C. Jerry may use his discretion in not allowing a trade to go through but will do so with extreme caution realizing the chaos that could ensue based on events of the past.

D. If an email of acceptance is forwarded to the league by the team that accepted the trade (not the one who initiated it) and the trade offer was sent more than four calendar days prior to the acceptance then Jerry must confirm with the coach who initiated the trade that they still want to do it due to the time that passed between offer and acceptance. An owner also has the right to send an email to the owner they made the trade offer to rescinding the offer prior to it being accepted.

E. Players and draft picks may be traded; however, only draft picks for the current season and the one after may be traded, not any draft picks later than that.

F. Draft lottery chances may not be traded.

G. Incentive clauses approved by Jerry may be part of trades.

H. If a player is traded from the time after the draft until the trading deadline of that season then they may not be traded back to the team they were traded to until the following year.

I. Players with zero years left on their contract may not be traded because they are not under contract. They can be traded once re-signed as one of a team's 3 RFA re-signings.

J. If a team makes a trade and they are either put over the salary cap or over roster limits they must clear the cap or roster space that day (however not through an additional trade) or prior to the first NFL game of that day. A player acquired in the trade is eligible to be cut as part of the cap or roster clearing effort.

K. If a trade involving a draft pick that an owner does not have is accidentally passed through, the owner’s first available first-round pick will also be given to the affected team as compensation for the acquisition of a non-existent pick. For example, if Team A trades a 2018 second-round pick to Team B, and it is found that Team A does not have that pick, then Team B will receive Team A’s 2019 first-round pick if that pick is still held by Team A, otherwise, Team A’s first available first-round pick will be given to Team B.

L. As part of a trade, a team can acquire a player eligible for Injured Reserve and automatically place them on IR without first clearing a main roster spot for that player.


15. The Scoring System

A. The FFL’s Scoring System:

Touchdowns

Kicking

Effective in 2018, the scoring for field goals will change to the following: 0-39 yards, 3 points; 40-49 yards, 5 points; 50+ yards, 7 points.

Miscellaneous Plays

B. Scoring System for 2-Point Conversions:

16. Winning and Prizes

A. The three division winners automatically make the playoffs along with one wild card team among the non-division winners. The wild card team will be the team with the best record (based on the following formula of a win counting as one win and a tie counting as half a win).

B. In the event that two teams are tied for a playoff spot whether it be for division champion, playoff seeding, or wildcard spot the tiebreakers are as follows:

1. The team with the most actual non tie victories. For example a team with a 10-4 record would make it over a team with a 9-3-2 record;

2. The team with the most points scored for the season;

3. The team with the better head to head record when the two teams played. If the teams played twice and split the two games then the team with the better record within their division would get the tiebreaker (since they'd have to be in the same division to have played two games);

4. If the teams were not in the same division and we're this far in the tiebreakers because they tied in their one head to head matchup then we go with the winner of the previous time they played, if that game was a tie then we'd go to the previous game they played prior to that and so on and so on.

C. Playoff seeding is determined as follows:

The #1 seed is the division winner with the best record and they will play the wildcard team even if the wild card team has a better record than one of the other division winners. The other two division winners will play each other in Week 15 with the winning teams advancing to the Fantasy Bowl.

D. The Fantasy Bowl will take place in Week 16 of the season. If there is a tie in the Fantasy Bowl then the two teams will play again the following week in Week 17 and the Pro Bowl exhibition game scheduled for Week 17 will be canceled. In the event of the Week 17 Fantasy Bowl teams are allowed to switch up their lineup from the one that they submitted for the initial Fantasy Bowl in Week 16.

E. If the two teams tie once again in Week 17 the Fantasy Bowl winner will be determined by which entire roster (factoring in fantasy points scored by all bench players for the two week period) scored the most points.

F. If the teams are still tied the team that won their previous meeting prior to The Fantasy Bowl is declared the champion, if that game is a tie we go to their previous meeting before that, if that was a tie we keep going back until we find the last time they played each other and did not tie and the team that won that game is declared the champion and their charity receives the money.


17. Injured Reserve

A. Each team is given two injured reserve (IR) spots on their roster.

B. A player can be placed on injured reserve if they are:

1. Ruled out for the season and a reputable online source (not a website you created yourself) states as such;

2. If they have missed 3 full consecutive NFL games due to injury;

3. If they have been placed on an NFL team's IR/out for the season list;

4. If they have been placed on an NFL team's IR/designated to return list;

5. If they have been placed on an NFL team's regular season NFI (non-football injury) list;

6. If they have been placed on an NFL team's regular season PUP (physically unable to perform) list.

Note: If a player has returned from one of these lists and is back playing after missing three full consecutive games they are no longer eligible to be placed on FFL Injured Reserve.

C. Once a player is placed on IR the team will be awarded half of the player’s contract amount for the rest of the season. Upon the league reopening the following season the full amount of the contract is reapplied to the salary cap. Effective in 2016 a coach will be awarded either half of the player’s salary or whatever the league minimum amount is for the position that player plays, whichever is more. This will allow coaches to be guaranteed to at least sign a player in place of the one that is injured.

D. Once a player is placed on IR in the FFL they are not eligible to return to the team’s roster for the rest of the season.

E. If an owner cuts a player who is on Injured Reserve, then later re-signs that player to their previous deal, the player must return to Injured Reserve, not the active roster. If this will result in more than two players on a team’s Injured Reserve, one of the players already on IR will have to be cut to make room for the re-signed player.


18. Miscellaneous

A. Any perceived throwing of games will be investigated and is subject to disciplinary action and even expulsion from the league. This is the most serious offense a coach can commit and I cannot stress enough how seriously I take this.

B. If there is a scoring dispute or a coach feels a mistake may have occurred on the FFL scoreboard they have thru the Wednesday after that week’s game to let Jerry know of it and the matter will be looked into. After Wednesday has passed all rulings, correct or not, will be final.

C. The NFL.com box scores of the NFL games are the final say on all scoring plays. For example if NFL.com says a running back ran for a nine-yard touchdown but everyone saw it and swear the ball was spotted on the 10 yard line, it will be ruled as a nine-yard touchdown. If NFL.com rules a player recovered a fumble for a touchdown and gives the player a "rushing touchdown" in their box score then the player will receive points for the rushing touchdown despite the wording of it being a recovered fumble due to the touchdown in the rushing column for the player.

D. Revised copies of this rule book may be issued at any time, could be weekly, could be daily, but circumstances will come up that are not in here and they will need to be dealt with.

E. In any instance of controversy or misunderstanding regarding the rules the use of common sense is encouraged, questions are encouraged, discussion is encouraged, and in the end Jerry will issue a final verdict in the best interests of the league.