Shark Attack Contract Dynasty (SAC'D)

2005 Rules

last Updated 5/13/2005

---

INDEX

Contract Years Info

Divisions (also Contact info)

Expired Contracts

Free Agency (In-Season)

Free Agency (Off-Season)

Free Agency (Post-Season)

History

Injured Reserve

Lineup Requirements

Playoff Info

Practice Squad

Releasing Players

Renegotiation

Restricted Free Agents

Rookie Draft

Rosters (Active)

Roster Minimums

Roster Penalties

Rules Committee

Salary Cap Info

Salary Cap Penalties

Salary Increases

Schedule

Scoring

Season Timeline (Key Dates)

Supplemental Draft

Taxi Squad

Team Info

Trading

Waiver Wire

1. The League

1A. League Name

Shark Attack Contract Dynasty (SAC'D for short)

1B. Commissioner, Rules Committee, Capologist, and Secretary

The Commissioner of the league is Mike SantaLucia (Buffalo Pitbulls).  The Commissioner will be responsible for the general operation of the league, including but not limited to the updating of the weekly league statistics, the daily roster moves (if any), updating the league website as necessary, monitoring for rules infractions, etc.  Basically duties a commish would have in the operation of any other league.  In the unlikely event of a split decision, the commissioner will have final say on all matters.

The Rules Committee will be comprised of Steven Spain (Chagrin Falls D. M. K. M. Snow Goons), Jacob Atz (Bloomington Eco Warriors), and Patrick Mullins (Disciples of the 36 Chambers).  The Rules Committee will monitor the league for any rule infractions and review these situations.  Final rulings will be issued by the Rules Chairman (TBD).  The Rules Committee will also be responsible for monitoring the league for necessary, or requested, rules updates, and organizing league votes, etc.

The League Capologist is Frank Alonzo (Bay Area Bloodsuckers).  The League Capologist will monitor teams for salary cap and/or contract year infractions.  Any violations will be reported to the rules committee for a decision.  Salary Cap violations will be dealt with quickly and harshly by the rules committee.  The roster penalties for exceeding the roster and salary cap will be enforced.    During the off-season the league capologist will prepare the list of upcoming free agents, and will notify teams of a deadline for the submission of RFA status on up to 3 free agents per team..  Teams will submit their RFA selections directly to the commissioner and/or the League Capologist.

The League Secretary is Brian Giel (Maplewood Mountain Lions).  The League Secretary will be responsible for the annual (or as needed) update to the league rules document.

1C. Founding

The League was founded in the 2005 off-season, and was the product of a brain storm to add IDPs to the structure of the Feeding Frenzy Fantasy Football League.  When that idea was dismissed, several members of the Feeding Frenzy were joined by a group of members from the CDL, and a couple of new comers to join SAC'D.  SAC'D is based predominantly on the rules of the Feeding Frenzy, with some aspects of the CDL, and the addition of IDPs.

1D. League Time

All times referred to within this document are Eastern Time (ET), even if not marked explicitly as such. Remember this when considering deadlines, etc.

1E. Past Champions

Jump Back to Index

2. The Teams

2A. Current Franchises

The league will consist of twelve (12) teams. 

2B. Replacement Teams

If an owner chooses to leave the league or is not heard from for two consecutive weeks during the season, two days during the draft or other player signing period, or thirty days during the off season, a replacement owner will be sought.  Priority will be given to prospective owners that current owners know.  If a suitable owner cannot be found, an advertisement will be placed on the footballguys forum.  The new owner may choose a name for his squad with a geographically descriptive place and any nickname but the team will remain in the division where it currently resides.  Expansion and Replacement teams will be required to pay the $10 initiation fee as well as the $1 annual fee for the trophy expenses.  

3. The Divisions

3A. Current Divisions

The league will consist of three divisions.  Initially these divisions were based on geography to the best of the league's ability, however divisions WILL NOT be redone in the event of replacement teams.  Anyone taking over a team will remain in the same division regardless of their location.  Heck, if the NFL could do it that way for 25 years so can we (yea, they fixed it for 2002, but so what, we don't want to get into re-making the divisions each year because of replacements or someone moving).  In light of this, the current divisions are as follows:

PAT TILLMAN MEMORIAL DIVISION
Team	Owner	FBG Handle	E-mail	From
Buffalo Pitbulls	Mike SantaLucia	Preds	mike@predsff.com	Hamburg, New York
Glenside Gunslingers	Matthew Marshall	MPhilly03	matthew.marshall@drexel.edu	Glenside, Pennsylvania
Jawbone Hill	Mike Page		mike_page_bisys@yahoo.com	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Subzero	Jack		jackb@sympatico.ca	Ottawa, Ontario

DERRICK THOMAS MEMORIAL DIVISION
Team	Owner	FBG Handle	E-mail	From
Bloomington Eco Warriors	Jacob Atz		atzjake@hotmail.com jda@accessbraille.com	Bloomington, Indiana
Chagrin Falls DMKMS Goons	Steven Spain		spains@compmgt.com	Columbus, Ohio
Disciples of the 36 Chambers	Pat Mullins		pmullins@tisbook.com	Bloomington, Indiana
Good Grief	Noah DeRouche		skippy@four-seven.com	Columbus, Ohio

REGGIE WHITE MEMORIAL DIVISION
Team	Owner	FBG Handle	E-mail	From
Bay Area Bloodsuckers	Frank Alonzo	Flea	xxjabronixx@hotmail.com	Fremont, California
Valencia Vibe	Brett Findley		wineluvr22@aol.com	Valencia, California
Maplewood Mountain Lions	Brian Giel	Bull Dozier	briangiel@hotmail.com	St. Paul, Minnesota
Falcon Floyds	Burt Paulson		burtpaulson2002@yahoo.com	Colorado Springs, Colorado

3B. Past Division Champions (Regular Season Record):

PAT TILLMAN MEMORIAL DIVISION

DERRICK THOMAS MEMORIAL DIVISION

REGGIE WHITE MEMORIAL DIVISION

Jump Back to Index

4. WebSite and Message Board:

The League Website is located at http://sacd.predsff.com/2005/flmindex.html, the league message boards are located at http://predsff.com.

5. Rookie Draft

5A. General Information

Only rookies (players with no prior NFL experience) will be eligible to be drafted in the rookie draft.  Further, to be eligible to be drafted in SAC'D, players must be exposed and eligible to the preceding NFL rookie draft for that same year. The rookie draft will begin on or about one week after the first day of the NFL college draft (see Section 5B).

5B. Rookie Draft Details

The rookie draft will be 6 rounds in a NON-SERPENTINE fashion based on the prior years ranking for each team, with the 6 teams failing to make the playoffs picking from 1-6 and the 6 playoff qualifiers picking 7-12 based on their finish.  The SAC'D Bowl (?) runner up will pick 11th with the winner picking 12th.  Spots 7-10 will the playoff seeding, with the worst seed picking 7th.

Rookies will have a predetermined base salary based on their position and draft slot a players is drafted in.  The base salaries are as follows:

Round	QB	RB	WR	TE	K	DL	LB	DB
1.1	450	600	400	175	175	250	450	400
1.2	445	595	395	175	175	250	445	395
1.3	440	590	390	170	170	245	440	390
1.4	435	585	385	170	170	245	435	385
1.5	430	580	380	165	165	240	430	380
1.6	425	575	375	165	165	240	425	375
1.7	420	570	370	160	160	235	420	370
1.8	415	565	365	160	160	235	415	365
1.9	410	560	360	155	155	230	410	360
1.10	405	555	355	155	155	230	405	355
1.11	400	550	350	150	150	225	400	350
1.12	395	545	345	150	150	225	395	345
2.1	390	540	340	145	145	220	390	340
2.2	385	535	335	145	145	220	385	335
2.3	380	530	330	140	140	215	380	330
2.4	375	525	325	140	140	215	375	325
2.5	370	520	320	135	135	210	370	320
2.6	365	515	315	135	135	210	365	315
2.7	360	510	310	130	130	205	360	310
2.8	355	505	305	130	130	205	355	305
2.9	350	500	300	125	125	200	350	300
2.10	345	495	295	125	125	200	345	295
2.11	340	490	290	120	120	195	340	290
2.12	335	485	285	120	120	195	335	285
3.1	330	480	280	115	115	190	330	280
3.2	325	475	275	115	115	190	325	275
3.3	320	470	270	110	110	185	320	270
3.4	315	465	265	110	110	185	315	265
3.5	310	460	260	105	105	180	310	260
3.6	305	455	255	105	105	180	305	255
3.7	300	450	250	100	100	175	300	250
3.8	295	445	245	100	100	175	295	245
3.9	290	440	240	100	100	170	290	240
3.10	285	435	235	100	100	170	285	235
3.11	280	430	230	100	100	165	280	230
3.12	275	425	225	100	100	165	275	225
4.1	270	420	220	100	100	160	270	220
4.2	265	415	215	100	100	160	265	215
4.3	260	410	210	100	100	155	260	210
4.4	255	405	205	100	100	155	255	205
4.5	250	400	200	100	100	150	250	200
4.6	245	395	195	100	100	150	245	195
4.7	240	390	190	100	100	145	240	190
4.8	235	385	185	100	100	145	235	185
4.9	230	380	180	100	100	140	230	180
4.10	225	375	175	100	100	140	225	175
4.11	220	370	170	100	100	135	220	170
4.12	215	365	165	100	100	135	215	165
5.1	210	360	160	100	100	130	210	160
5.2	205	355	155	100	100	130	205	155
5.3	200	350	150	100	100	125	200	150
5.4	195	345	145	100	100	125	195	145
5.5	190	340	140	100	100	120	190	140
5.6	185	335	135	100	100	120	185	135
5.7	180	330	130	100	100	115	180	130
5.8	175	325	125	100	100	115	175	125
5.9	170	320	120	100	100	110	170	120
5.10	165	315	115	100	100	110	165	115
5.11	160	310	110	100	100	105	160	110
5.12	155	305	105	100	100	105	155	105
6.1	150	300	100	100	100	100	150	100
6.2	145	295	100	100	100	100	145	100
6.3	140	290	100	100	100	100	140	100
6.4	135	285	100	100	100	100	135	100
6.5	130	280	100	100	100	100	130	100
6.6	125	275	100	100	100	100	125	100
6.7	120	270	100	100	100	100	120	100
6.8	115	265	100	100	100	100	115	100
6.9	110	260	100	100	100	100	110	100
6.10	105	255	100	100	100	100	105	100
6.11	100	250	100	100	100	100	100	100
6.12	100	245	100	100	100	100	100	100

In addition to these base salaries, rookies will earn bonuses based on their performance each year of their original rookie contract.  These bonuses will be based on their year end ranking among players of the same position.  Players drafted after round 1 will receive a lower bonus for equal performance.  That is, second round players receive a bonus 75% of that of a 1^st round pick, 3^rd round receive 25%, and 4^th round receive 25%.  Performance bonuses are earned on top of the standard 10% raise, not in place of it. 

The minimum raise is 10% of the previous years salary.  Any incentive bonus earned is above and beyond the standard minimum raise.

Further, each rookie will have a maximum salary that his contract can hit with incentive bonuses.  The maximum salaries will vary on position and round drafted.  When calculating for the maximum salary, the player will first be assessed his 10% annual contract increase, and then any applicable signing bonus will be applied up to the maximum salary payable according to the players position and the draft round and pick the player was drafted in.  Once an incentive clause bumps the contract at or above the maximum salary, incentive bonuses will no longer apply, although the 10% annual contract will still apply on any remaining years of the contract.

The bonuses and Maximum Salaries are as follows:

QBs	1st Rd	2nd Rd	3rd Rd	4th Rd	5th Rd	6th Rd
#1	575	489	403	316	230	144
2-5	400	340	280	220	160	100
6-10	230	196	161	127	92	58
11-20	115	98	81	63	46	29
All others	10.00%
Max Salary	1380	1173	966	759	552	345
RBs	1st Rd	2nd Rd	3rd Rd	4th Rd	5th Rd	6th Rd
#1	690	587	483	380	276	173
2-5	518	440	362	285	207	129
6-10	345	293	242	190	138	86
11-20	230	196	161	127	92	58
All others	10.00%
Max Salary	2300	1955	1610	1265	920	575
WRs	1st Rd	2nd Rd	3rd Rd	4th Rd	5th Rd	6th Rd
#1	518	440	362	285	207	129
2-5	345	293	242	190	138	86
6-10	230	196	161	127	92	58
11-20	115	98	81	63	46	29
All others	10.00%
Max Salary	1265	1075	886	696	506	316
TEs	1st Rd	2nd Rd	3rd Rd	4th Rd	5th Rd	6th Rd
#1	259	220	181	142	104	65
#2	230	196	161	127	92	58
#3	201	171	141	111	81	50
#4	173	147	121	95	69	43
#5	144	122	101	79	58	36
6-10	58	49	40	32	23	14
All others	10.00%
Max Salary	750	638	525	413	300	188
DLs	1st Rd	2nd Rd	3rd Rd	4th Rd	5th Rd	6th Rd
#1	288	244	201	158	115	72
2-5	230	196	161	127	92	58
6-10	173	147	121	95	69	43
11-20	115	98	81	63	46	29
All others	10.00%
Max Salary	920	782	644	506	368	230
LBs	1st Rd	2nd Rd	3rd Rd	4th Rd	5th Rd	6th Rd
#1	575	489	403	316	230	144
2-5	403	342	282	221	161	101
6-10	230	196	161	127	92	58
11-20	115	98	81	63	46	29
All others	10.00%
Max Salary	1380	1173	966	759	552	345
DBs	1st Rd	2nd Rd	3rd Rd	4th Rd	5th Rd	6th Rd
#1	518	440	362	285	207	129
2-5	345	293	242	190	138	86
6-10	230	196	161	127	92	58
11-20	115	98	81	63	46	29
All others	10.00%
Max Salary	1265	1075	886	696	506	316

Teams will be allowed to trade future draft picks up to 1 season in advance, therefore you can trade picks for the 2006 season in 2005, however, you could not trade picks for the 2007 season.

Teams are required to assign contract years and declare Active or Taxi squad roster assignments to rookies at the end of the off-season free-agency period which ends August 30th (the day after (Tuesday) the 3^rd preseason game for most teams) each season.  Rookies will not count against your cap until contract years have been assigned and they have been placed on your Active Roster or if they have been placed on your Taxi Squad, therefore if you were to include the costs of your rookies, you can exceed your cap during the off-season up until the time you assign contract years and declare whether the rookie will be on your Active Roster or Taxi Squad.  If placed on your Active Roster, you must have room under the cap to accommodate the player.  If a rookie is not declared active or DS by the end of the free agency period, he will become a free agent available to open bidding.  Rookies may be cut during the off-season free-agency period with no cap hit, however, once they are declared active the cap penalty rules will apply.

Once the rookie draft begins, teams will have 24 hours to make a selection if the previous selection was made on Monday through Thursday, and 48 hours to make a selection if the previous pick was on a Friday or Saturday.  

When you make your selection, please list your pick number 1st, followed by Position Player Name, and NFL Team in the Subject bar.

For example, Jersey has the #1 pick, his thread subject should read:
1.1 RB Kevin Jones, Detroit

Make any commentary (which is encouraged) in the message area of the thread.
Following the example above, the message commentary could read:
Pretty much everybody's consensus pick here and I NEED RB's!

Each team will be responsible for monitoring the draft THEMSELVES. We will not send out e-mail reminders telling you when you are up. 

If your time limit expires, the next team(s) in line is(are) free to make their selection(s) (with salaries set at their original draft position, not the one they moved up into). Teams that are skipped can step back in at any time, however the player they select will receive the salary for the slot they were originally slated to draft in.

Draft Picks CANNOT be waived. Remember, you can cut a rookie pick with no cap hit until August 30th (the day after (Tuesday) the 3^rd preseason game for most teams), so there is no reason not to make a pick.

C. Supplemental Draft

Any player drafted by the NFL (whether rookie or supplemental) must be required to be exposed to a SAC'D rookie draft before being granted outright UFA. Further, SAC'D will implement a blind Supplemental Draft on an as needed basis (i.e. whenever the NFL holds one and a quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, kicker, or defensive player is drafted).

The draft would consist of all interested teams e-mailing a 3rd party or blind source the player(s) they would like to draft, and what round & team's pick (since teams may hold others picks in the next years draft) they're willing to forego the following year to claim said player(s).

The team willing to give up the highest pick would get the player(s), and in the event of a tie (where 2 or more teams submit the same round for any player) we would go by the current years rookie draft order for the picks listed to be forfeited in exchange for the player(s) with the highest pick being the winner.

Any necessary supplemental draft would be scheduled within 3 weeks of the conclusion of the NFL's Supplemental draft for any given year.

1. If a player is selected through the supplemental draft his salary would be based on the pick that was given up for him. If pick 2.5 was the winning pick and the player is a RB his salary will be 520cbs.

2. You can offer any pick in the following years draft as long as you own said pick and specify which pick is being used, if you hold multiple picks in a round. This is what the Texans did to get Hollings (using the Raiders pick).

3. The player if selected through the supplemental draft would be DS eligible.

4. Players that are exposed to the supplemental draft and not selected become UFA's just like players from our regular annual draft.

Jump Back to Index

6. Rosters

6A. Active Roster Composition

Each team will have a maximum of thirty (30) roster slots for their Active Roster. All slots need not be filled. Of these thirty roster slots, eighteen (18) are dedicated to the following offensive positions: Quarterback (QB), Running Back or Fullback (RB), Wide Receiver (WR), Tight-End (TE), and Place Kicker (K).  The remaining twelve (12) roster slots are dedicated to the following defensive positions: DL (including Defensive Ends and Defensive Tackles), LB (including Middle Linebackers and Outside Linebackers), and DB (Including Cornerbacks and Safeties).  From year to year you will be able to keep any player still under contract.  Further you will be able to tender contracts to 3 players as Restricted Free Agents each year according to the RFA rules.

Any acquisition that places you over the thirty (30) man roster limit without a move to get back to 30 or below will be placed in "pending" status for no longer than 24 hours.  Teams will have a 24 hour grace period from the time of the acquisition that places them over 30 to get back down to 30 or fewer on the roster before penalties start to kick-in.

6B. Roster Minimums

Beginning with the 1st day of In-Season Free Agency, each team must maintain a minimum of 13 Offensive Players (IOP's) and 9 Defensive Players (IDP's) on their Active Roster.  The 13 IOP and 9 IDP's can be any mix of positions within either side of the ball, as long as you have at least 13 on offense and 9 on defense.  During the off-season(which commences after the Super Bowl, teams are allowed to be below these minimums.

Any move that places you under the 13 IOP / 9 IDP roster minimums without a move to get back to the required minimum within 24 hours will result in a permanent 250cb fine PER INFRACTION, as well as an additional 250cb temporary hold on your cap until you reach the required minimums for both sides of the ball.  Again, these penalties are PER INFRACTION!

Jump Back to Index

6C. Taxi Squad

Each team will be allowed a 8 player Taxi Squad for players with 0-3 years of NFL experience (Players entering their 4th NFL season are NOT eligible for the Taxi Squad). There is no Cyber Buck (cb) cap to the Taxi Squad, but there is a 32 year contract cap. Taxi Squad cb and contract year caps will not count against a team's regular cap unless a player is activated to the active roster.

Players on the Taxi Squad can be promoted to the active roster at any time the active roster can accommodate the salary and contract years.

Players can be demoted back to the Taxi Squad as long as they remain eligible for the Taxi Squad as defined in paragraph 1 of this section, and an open roster spot remains on the Taxi Squad. Also, players demoted back to the Taxi Squad receive a bonus to their current year salary based on the number of consecutive weeks on the active roster immediately prior to their demotion at a rate of 25 cb per week active.  For the purposes of this rule, a week will be defined as passed once an NFL game has been played, but in no event, once a player is activated to the active roster may they be demoted without being paid at least one weeks bonus. The bonus is immediate, and the following years performance bonuses and 10% increase are on top of the bonus:

1 week - 25 cb salary increase
2 weeks - 50 cb salary increase
3 weeks - 75 cb salary increase
4 weeks - 100 cb salary increase
5 weeks - 125 cb salary increase
6 weeks - 150 cb salary increase
7 weeks - 175 cb salary increase
8 weeks - 200 cb salary increase

9 weeks 225 cb salary increase, and so on

Multiple bonuses will be paid for multiple promotions/demotions in the same year. If a player is promoted, demoted, and promoted again, the consecutive weeks begins over again, and a second demotion will result in a second bonus being paid.

If a player is promoted to the active roster for any period of time, and subsequently cut, the team receives a full cap hit to their active roster salary cap for that player, regardless if the player was on the active roster or development squad at the time of the cut.

Once a teams roster has been frozen due to failing to reach the post season, or having been eliminated from the post season, bonus weeks will no longer accrue for activated players until the following regular season begins.

6D. Practice Squad

Each team will have a Practice Squad of no more than 6 players. There is no cyber buck, or contract cap to the Practice Squad. Practice Squad cb and contract year caps will not count against a team's regular cap unless a player is activated to the active roster.

Players on the Practice Squad can be promoted to the active roster at any time the active roster can accommodate the salary and contract years.

Players can only be placed on the Practice Squad from the annual rookie draft, and only 5^th and 6^th round selections are eligible for the Practice Squad. Only two players per team can be placed on the Practice Squad each year, so if a team has acquired more than two 5^th and 6^th round picks through compensation or trade, only two such picks would be eligible for the Practice Squad.

Once activated from the Practice Squad to either the Taxi Squad or the Active Roster, a player may never be placed back on the Practice Squad.

A player initially assigned to the Taxi Squad or the Active Roster cannot be placed on the Practice Squad. A player must be signed to the Practice Squad by the contract assignment deadline for the respective year to retain Practice Squad eligibility.

Players may not be traded from one teams Practice Squad to another teams. Players are only eligible for the Practice Squad of the team that drafted them.

Jump Back to Index

6E. Starting Lineups

Each team will start: 1 QB, 2 RBs, 3 WRs, 1TE, 1 K, 2 DL, 2 LBs, and 2 DBs for a total of fourteen (14) starters. A FLEX lineup of 2 WR's and 2TE's will be allowed.  The deadline for naming starters is at the start on the first game of the week (with the exception of Thursday and Saturday games... for those weeks, only players involved in the early game(s) need to be declared starting, you can change the rest of your lineup up until the 1st game on Sunday).

Line-ups must be submitted via the line-up submission link on each team page. Using the line-up submission pages will automatically e-mail the line-up you choose to your opponent and the commissioner.  In the event of a service outage, you can e-mail your line-up directly to the commissioner, however try to include your opponent in the e-mail as well.  E-mail time-stamp will be used as 'proof' of timely submission.  If a team fails to submit a starting lineup by the submission deadline, the starters from the previous week will be used.  The team failing to submit a lineup will receive a warning of their failure to submit a lineup.  If a team who has already received a warning fails again at any time during the same season to timely submit a lineup, they will receive a 20 point penalty for each subsequent game they do not submit a lineup (after the first infraction), as well as a 250cb hit for each subsequent game they do not submit a lineup (after the first infraction).

6F. Player Eligibility

Players must be listed on an NFL roster at one of the positions listed under 6A. Players are eligible to score for any offensive or defensive play regardless of where they are listed in your line-up.

EXAMPLE 1: Tory Holt is listed as a WR, but he can also score points on a rushing play.

EXAMPLE 2: Peyton Manning is listed as a QB, but he can also score points on a receiving play.

EXAMPLE 3: Dante Hall is a WR who also returns punts and kicks, he can score on any offensive play, and can score points on a punt or kick return for a touchdown.

EXAMPLE 4: Troy Brown is a WR who also plays defensive back.  He can score on an offensive play, as well as defensive, even while being started as a wide receiver.

6G. Starting Position

Players can only be inserted into a starting line-up at a position for which they are listed on their NFL teams depth chart.

EXAMPLE: Deion Sanders is listed as CB/WR and can be started at WR or CB in the league. If he is listed as CB but NOT as WR, then he cannot be played at WR.

Jump Back to Index

7. Contracts, Trades, and Cyber Bucks

7A. General Information

Each player on a team must be signed to a contract. Each contract will include two items: 1) The salary the player is to receive for the current season. 2) The length of the contract.

Player salaries are paid with Cyber Bucks, the official currency of the league. Contract length is measured in years, current year included. The minimum salary allowed for an individual contract is 100 CB. The minimum length for an individual contract is 1 year.

Teams must comply with two restrictions on their total contract obligations: 1) A salary cap. 2) A contract years cap. Each of these is further explained in the following sections.

7B. Salary Cap

The Active Roster Cap is 20,000 Cyber Bucks (cb's).

Each team will be limited to a salary cap of 20,000 CB's for the Active Roster.  The sum of all current year salary obligations of a team must not exceed 20,000 CB's. This cap is to remain the same each season. No CB's will be added to this amount.  If any team exceeds the salary cap through a free agency signing, trade, or other move, they will have 24 hours to make a roster move to reduce their salary obligations below the 20,000 cap.  If they do not, roster penalties will apply.

There is no salary cap for the Taxi Squad.

There is no carryover of unused CB's from season to season. Meaning that Team A cannot spend 19,000 CB this season and use the extra 1,000 CB next season. The cap is always 20,000 CB's.

Portions of this cap are not tradable. Meaning that Team A can not include 1,000 CB of their own salary cap in a deal with Team B in order to raise Team B's cap to 21,000. Each team's cap will remain at 20,000 CB's at all times.

Any acquisition that places you over the 30 man roster limit without a move to get back to 30 or below will be placed in "pending" status for no longer than 24 hours.  Teams will have a 24 hour grace period from the time of the acquisition that places them over 30 to get back down to 30 or fewer on the roster before penalties start to kick in.  If a move is not made within 24 hours, roster penalties will apply.

7C. Contract Years Cap

There will be 2 types of Contract Years Caps per team, an Active Roster Cap which is 65 years (5 max/player), and a Taxi Squad Cap which is 32 years (5 max/player).  There is no Contract Year cap on the Practice Squad, however no player can be given a contract for more than 5 years.

A team's contract years obligation is determined by the total number of years, including the current season, that remain on player contracts. Teams must adhere to a maximum of 65 contract years for their team, meaning that the total number of years of all player contracts must not exceed 65.

There is also a limit for the length of any individual contract. No contract can be for more than 5 years.

As with the salary cap, no team may exceed this cap at any time. Extra contract years do not carry over from season to season. Contract years may not be traded to other teams in order to increase their cap.

If a team makes an acquisition (trade or free agent signing) which places them over the contract years cap, they must release appropriate personnel to meet the cap restriction.  If a team fails to get under the contract year cap within 24 hours, roster penalties will apply.

Jump Back to Index

7D. Player Trades

Every player traded carries his entire contract with him. This contract will be counted against the contract years and salary caps of the receiving team. Any exchange of players between teams cannot leave either team in violation of the salary or contract years caps. If this happens, the commissioner will void the trade until such time as the affected teams can make room under the contract cap.

The trading of Draft picks no more than 1 season in advance is allowed.  Further, players may be traded from Active Rosters or Taxi Squads, and may be placed on either/or by the receiving team as long as eligibility requirements are met. 

7E. Trade Restrictions & Deadlines

Trades between teams are unlimited.  Trades will be subject to a 24 hour review period by the rules committee, who by majority vote can overturn a trade if they feel it is if appears to be extremely one-sided or collusionary.  The league can overturn the rules committee's vote with a 2/3's majority vote from the entire league.

Players CANNOT be traded without their contract years 1st being assigned by the original team.

The weekly trade deadline is Friday at 10pm to allow time for the 24 hour review period.  A trade will be considered final after 24 hours if the rules committee fails to enact upon it either in favor or against within the 24 hour review period.

The deadline for all trades is the Wednesday prior to the week 12 games at noon (12pm) ET

Jump Back to Index

7F. Salary Cap Penalties (aka Roster Penalties)

Roster Penalties (as referenced multiple times in this document) are defined as 1st offense, 20% cap release penalty and 30 day bid moratorium on player in question, 2nd offense, 20% cap release penalty, additional 10% of salary in question (no min or max), and 30 day bid moratorium on player in question, 3rd and additional offenses, 20% cap release penalty, additional 25% of salary in question, and 30 day bid moratorium on player in question.  The rules committee will have the authority to apply the rules as appropriate. 

These penalties will apply to the following roster infractions:

- Exceeding the 30 player roster limit

- Exceeding the 20,000cb salary cap

- Exceeding the 65 year salary year cap

Player in question will mean the specific player or players acquired which put the team over the cap.

If the player in question was acquired via free agency, the player will be released back into the free agency pool, and the penalties will be assessed, based on the number of previous infractions.

If a player in question which puts a team over any of the caps, was acquired via trade, the team over the cap should notify the league of the corrective action (release of particular player) during the 24 hour time limit the Rules Committee has to review the trade.  If a team is over any of the caps after 24 hours of a trade confirmation, and corrective action has not been posted, the Rules Committee will veto the trade, send the players back to their original teams, AND impose the corresponding salary cap penalties.  The players will not be released into free agency, but the offending team(s) salary cap will be punished.

Roster Minimum Infraction Penalties

Failing to maintain the required 13 IOP/ 9 IDP roster minimums will result in a permanent 250cb fine PER INFRACTION, as well as an additional 250cb temporary hold on your cap until you reach the required minimums for both sides of the ball.  Again, these penalties are PER INFRACTION!

FYI:     The Rules Committee shall have the power to dole out other penalties if by unanimous vote they deem an uncovered infraction deems such a penalty.

Releasing Players (Waivers): 

Teams my waive players in order to reduce their salary obligations and make available more CB for use in signing other players.  However, a portion of each contract is considered to be a guaranteed signing bonus.  The guaranteed signing bonus is 10% of each year of the contract.  If a player is cut, the team will be obligated to pay the remaining 10% of each year's contract value remaining, as well as an additional 10% of the current year's contract (for a total of 20% for the current year).  Example:

Hines Ward is signed to a 4 year contract in 2005 for 1000.  His four year contract looks like:

2005: 1000

2006: 1100

2007: 1210

2008: 1331

If this player is cut in 2005, his cap hit would be 565 (1000*.2 + 1100*.1 + 1210*.1 + 1331*.1).  If this player is cut year 2006, his cap hit would be 475 (1100*.2 + 1210*.1 + 1331*.1).  And so on.  Thus, it is more costly to release a player with more years remaining on their contract than a player with the same current contract value with fewer years remaining on their contract.

Players under contract at the end of the 2003 season will be grand-fathered under the old system, and a signing bonus cap hit will not apply unless they are released and resigned or have their contracts expire and are resigned.  On their next contract the above listed signing bonus cap penalties will apply.

There will be a SOFT CAP period that runs from November 1 through March 31 each season.  Players released during the SOFT CAP period will have their cap penalty divided equally between the current season and the next season.  

A HARD CAP period will ensue from April 1 each season (the beginning of the next season and new contracts) through October 31 each year.  Teams will be assessed a cap penalty as described above for players released during this timespan.

The cap penalty applies only to the Active Roster, as there is no salary cap for the Taxi Squad.

Rookies may be cut during the off-season free-agency period with no cap hit, however, once they are declared active or TS the cap penalty rules will apply.

Releasing a player relieves a team of all contract year obligations to that player. So, unlike salary obligations, teams regain all contract years which had been occupied by the released player. This means that releasing a player with 2 years left (including the current season) on his contract would give the releasing team 2 more contract years to use in signing other players.

Finally, rosters are frozen at the beginning of the week 14 games for non-playoff teams, and the minute a team is eliminated from the playoffs or wins the SAC'D Bowl(?), whichever comes first.  Any players acquired by playoff teams between weeks 14 and 17 may only be assigned 1 year contracts and CANNOT be declared as RFA's or Franchise Player the following season.

The Waiver Wire

Each player waived will be placed on the waiver wire for a period of 24 hours during In Season Free Agency, and 72 hours during Off Season Free Agency.  During this period, each team will have the opportunity to claim the waived player and assume his current contract without the player reaching Free Agency.  During the appropriate waiver wire period, each interested team must post in the thread indicating the player was waived, their intention to claim said player.  At the end of the waiver wire period, the team with the highest current waiver priority (as defined later) will assume the players current contract.  The claiming team will have the standard 24 hours from the time of the claim to make room on their roster, before Roster Penalties will be enforced.  In that case, the team with the second highest waiver priority will assume the players contract.  If no teams make a claim for a waiver player within the waiver period, the player is considered an Unrestricted Free Agent.

If the waived player is claimed, the waiving team receives a credit in the amount of 10% of the current years salary (the portion of the cap hit that does not pertain to the signing bonus) to their active roster salary cap.  If the claimed player is subsequently released during the length of the same contract, the waiving team will receive a cap hit of only 10% of the current years salary, as the singing bonus is to be considered paid by the original team.  If the player is claimed through the waiver wire, the second waiving team will receive the 10% cap credit, and essentially no penalty for releasing the player.

The waiver priority list will be maintained by the Maplewood Mountain Lions in the Current Waiver Wire Order thread in the SAC'D Free Agency & Waiver Wire forum.  Once the initial order has been set, it will not change until a transaction is made on the waiver wire.  Once a team claims a player through the waiver process, they will be moved to the bottom of the waiver wire priority list.  The order will never be reset.  The order will only change based on transactions made through the waiver wire.  The only way to move up in the waiver wire priority list is to have teams above you in priority claim players on the waiver wire.

Jump Back to Index

7G. Expired Contracts

Contract years expire on March 31st each year at midnight.  Beginning April 1, all players who had only one year remaining on their contracts become either Free Agents or Restricted Free Agents or Franchise Players. Players with expired contracts can be re-signed by their original team under the terms outlined in the Restricted Free Agent rules (see Item 9C below), or by being Franchised. All other players have their contracts reduced by one year. At the same time, all teams recover any salary encumbered by players waived during the year.

EXAMPLE 1: Willis McGahee signed for five (5) years with the Pitbulls in 2005; all five years count against the 65 year contract limit *in 2005* leaving 60 years to use on other players. On April 1, 2006, McGahee's contract becomes a four year contract and now counts only four years against the contract years cap. Now the Pitbulls have 61 years to use on the rest of their roster.

EXAMPLE 2: The same team also signed Tony Gonzalez to a one (1) year contract in 2005. On April 1, 2006, Gonzalez's contract is reduced one year ... leaving zero (0) years on the contract. Sharpe just became either a Free Agent or Restricted Free Agent (see Item 8A below) or designated a Franchise Player.

Jump Back to Index

7H. Salary Increases

With each new season, the salary of all returning players under contract will increase by 10%. This increase is effective April 1 each year. When calculating the increase, salaries will be rounded up to the nearest CB.  

Rookie contract salary increases will be based on the performance scale described in section 5B.

Example: Isaac Bruce has a three year contract and is paid 1850 CB the first year. His salary for each year would be:

Year 1 = 1850
Year 2 = 2035 (1850 * 1.1)
Year 3 = 2239 (2035 * 1.1 = 2238.5 rounded up)

7I. Renegotiation

Players with more than one year remaining on their contract can have their contracts renegotiated by the team holding their rights.  When a contract is renegotiated, the current years salary gets a 10% or 300cb raise, whichever is greater, and the contract can be extended up to the standard maximum of five years.

A player with less than one year remaining on his contract can only have his contract renegotiated if he is traded to another team.  Once traded, the contract can be renegotiated with a raise of 5% or 150cb to the current year salary, whichever is greater.  The contract can be extended up to the standard maximum of five years.

7J. Announcing Contracts

The deadline for the announcement of the length of the contracts of players picked up in free agency or the rookie draft will be August 30th (the day after (Tuesday) the 3^rd preseason game for most teams) each year by midnight (the night before the start of the In-Season Free Agency period which begins on August 31 each NFL season).  No player can be traded unless his contract years are declared BEFORE the trade is announced.

Jump Back to Index

8. Off Season Free Agent Procedure

8A. Restricted Free Agents

Once a players contract ends, they becomes a free agent, however, teams are allowed to designate up to 3 players as Restricted Free Agents (RFA's) by tendering one of four different RFA tender offers.  Once a team tenders a bid, that player is considered part of their active roster and the tendered salary counts against the teams cap.  The RFA Bidding Auctions will begin on April 1 each season and end on April 30th.

Once the RFA Free Agent bidding opens on April 1, a team CANNOT withdraw it's tender without being assessed the 20% cap penalty.

RFA's cannot be traded prior to the start of in-season free agency (August 31^st).  The team winning the rights to the RFA (either the tendering team if they decide to match, or the highest bidding team if the tendering team declines to match) cannot trade that player until the start of in-season free agency has begun.

Teams can tender a 1^st round, 2^nd round, 3^rd round, or 4^th round tender to each of their RFAs.  The opening bid for RFAs, based on their tender level, is as follows: 

TENDER LEVELS TO BE ADDRESSED AFTER THE 2005 SEASON!!!

All RFA bids must start at or above the RFA tender price.  The team tendering the contract will always have right of 1st refusal to match any winning bid, therefore they should stay out of the bidding process entirely. If a player is not bid on before the close of the RFA period then the originating team gets him at the tender price.  Teams CANNOT bid on their own RFA's.

RFA's will be considered SOLD if a bid survives 48 hours without being increased.

Once a RFA bid is won by another franchise, the original team tendering the RFA contract will have three 3 days (72 hours) to match that offer.  If the tendering team declines to match, they will receive a compensatory pick based on the tender round that player received.  i.e., if Player A is tendered a 1^st round offer, and that player is not subsequently matched by the tendering team, the tendering team will receive a 1^st Round compensatory pick in the Rookie Draft.  If the tendering team subsequently matches the highest offer, they receive no compensation.

The pay scale for the compensatory picks will be based on the x.12 player taken in the same round.  So a 1.13 pick would receive the same base salary as the 1.12 (depending of course on the player's position), or a 2.14 or 2.16 would both be paid the same as the 2.12, etc.

In the case of multiple RFAs not being matched who had received the same round tender, the player selling for the higher salary above the RFA tag baseline would receive the higher compensatory pick (starting at x.13).  So say three players were tendered 2^nd round compensatory picks, but were not matched (an RB tagged at 1300 but sold at 1700, a WR tagged at 800 but sold for 1400, and another WR tagged at 800 and sold at 1000).  In this example, the RB sold for 400 above the baseline, the 1^st WR sold for 600 above the baseline, and the 2^nd WR sold for 200 above the baseline.  The 1^st WR would receive the 2.13 pick, the RB would receive the 2.14, and the 2^nd WR would get 2.15.

If no other team submits a contract offer on a RFA before April 30th each year or any other predetermined RFA period deadline, the original team tendering the contract will re-acquire that player at the tender contract price. After a player is signed or re-signed, he must be placed under contract before the regular season begins.

Bidding Process

1. There is no need to enter your team name, since your user ID's automatically will list your user name and avatar next to all posts. Further the server will timestamp all posts.

2. All Initial Bids must follow the same format for the Subject Line . . .  that is:

Position, Player's Full name, NFL Team, Bid Amount

for example:  RB, LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego

The body of the message should contain he amount of the bid, you may also add some commentary if you wish.

Also, please insert the appropriate NFL Team Icon with the post.

3. All subsequent bids must be within the same thread as the Initial bid. Please list your increased bid on the 1st line of the message. You may add commentary if you wish by skipping a line and then entering your message on the 3rd line.

continuing the Tomlinson example:
3250
Cannot let Mike get him TOO cheap!

DO NOT make posts in bidding thread that are not bids, as this makes tracking the time of the most recent bid difficult.  Only posts that are bids on the respective players thread should be made in the thread.  Posts of commentary on the bids, or any other discussions, should be made in the League Chat forum.

4. All player's must have their OWN bidding thread.

DO NOT bid upon multiple players in 1 thread. Doing so will invalidate all bids after the initial player, further, the violating team will be prohibited upon bidding on involved players for 14 days.

5. All bids must start AT or ABOVE the tender amount.

6.Keep in mind the minimum bid increment amounts.

For bids from 100-999 the minimum bid increment is 5

For bids from 1000-1999 the minimum bid increment is 20

For bids from 2000 and up, the minimum bid increment is 50

7. Remember, RFA bidding is much different than UFA bidding. The tendering team will have the opportunity to match the winning bid, therefore do not bid too low or you could be giving a guy away to the tendering team.

8. Players will be considered SOLD if a bid is not increased within 48 hours of the last bid.

9. The tendering team will have 72 hours from the timestamp of the winning bid to match the winning bid and retain the player at the winning bid price. The match must be posted in the same thread where all the bidding occurred.

8B. Franchising

Once a players contract ends, they becomes a free agent, however, teams are allowed to designate up to 1 player as a Franchise Player.  Once a team designates a Franchise Player, that player is considered part of their active roster and the tendered salary counts against the teams cap.  The Franchised player will receive a salary of the average of the top 10 players at the franchised players position from the previous year, or a 20% salary increase, whichever is greater.

Jump Back to Index

8C. Off-Season Free Agent Bidding

1.     Off-Season Free Agent biding will open on May 16th each year and close the day after the 3rd NFL Pre-Season game (for most teams) at 11:59pm.

1a.     The bidding day lasts from 12:00 AM ET until 11:59 PM ET.  Bids will be posted on the SAC'D Message Board under the Free Agency & the Waiver Wire forum.  

A player will still be considered available until he hasn't been bid on for a period of 48 hours (72 hours for bids made on Friday or Saturday).  If for any reason there is a problem with the league message board, we'll default back to a Bid Announcement system which will involve all bids being e-mailed to the entire league and summarized each night.

Please compose all threads with the following header: Position, Player, NFL Team for example RB, Ricky Williams, Miami.  Then list your bid amount and player to be released (if any) in the body of the message.  Subsequent bids can be made by just replying with an increased bid in the body of the message.

2.     Teams are expected to responsibly manage their own salary obligations. Total bids that exceed the 20,000 CB's salary cap will be permitted, as it is not likely that all bids will be winners. However, if a team should have winning bids that exceed the salary cap, punitive action will be taken. 

If a team has winning bids for more players than it has room for, the team will have 24 hours to comply with the roster and salary cap limits.  After 24 hours, if the offending team is not in compliance, roster penalties will be assessed. 

3.     Teams will be allowed to place single and multiple bids that exceed their remaining cap room.  However, if bids are won that result in exceed the salary cap or roster limit, the team will have 24 hours to comply with the caps, or penalties will be assessed.

4.     Teams must also responsibly manage their 30 Active Roster slots and 8 Taxi Squad slots. Teams will not be permitted to exceed 30 players on their Active Rosters at any time. If a team has winning bids for more players than it has room for, the team will have 24 hours to make appropriate cuts to fit the new players on their rosters, or roster penalties will be assessed

5.     Once a bid is made, it must remain the high bid for a period of 48 hours (72 hours for Friday and Saturday bids).  If no other team makes a higher during this period, the bid is considered a "winner" and the team making the bid receives the rights to the player and is responsible for the salary bid. If a higher bid is received during this period, then a new 48 hour period for the higher bid will begin. Teams may not challenge, or raise their own bids. Basically, a bid must stand unchallenged for 48 hours to be a winner. An Example:

Buffalo bids 200 CB's for TE Antonio Gates on Sunday, July 20th at 10pm. The 48 hour period begins at 10 PM Sunday. Other teams will have all day Monday and most of Tuesday to make a higher bid. The bidding period will end at 10 PM Tuesday unless a higher bid is made. If no higher bid has been placed before this time, the Buffalo bid is the winner.

However, if a higher bid had been received, say on Monday, the 21st, then a new 48 hour period would be established, beginning at the time of the new bid.

6.     Bidding increments. Bidding will be subject to minimum increments of increase over previous bids. Meaning that bids must exceed the highest posted bid by a minimum amount. Highest posted bids are the bids which are posted in the draft sheets at the web site. The following increment schedule will be followed:

Highest posted bid      Minimum increment
 
    100-999                     5
 
    1000-1999                  20
 
    2000+                        50

Therefore, if the highest posted bid on Drew Brees is 373, a competing bid must be at least 378 in order to be accepted. If Torry Holt currently carries a 1230 CB bid, the minimum bid allowed would be 1250. And if LaDainian Tomlinson is currently at 3220, the minimum allowable bid would be 3270. Simple enough, right?

High bids will be tracked and reported on the league message board. These will serve as the official record of bidding. The message board will be updated every day and will reflect only the high bids for each player as of the end of the previous bidding day. The Bid Sheets will report the high bid amount, the team making the bid, and the status of the bid (when it will become a winner).

7. Bid amounts may NOT BE WITHDRAWN or changed.

Once a team has won the bidding for a player and it is determined that his salary will not place the team in violation of the salary cap, he is on the payroll. If he is subsequently cut, he will impact the salary cap of the team with the 20% guaranteed portion of his salary.

8.     Players may be traded to other teams, and released during Off Season Free Agency. Once a player is released (even if he was only on the roster for 1 day), however, the releasing teams cap will be penalized 20% of the released players salary for the upcoming season. Players CANNOT be traded however, until they have their contract years assigned.

9.     Off Season Free Agency will end the day after the 3rd Preseason game ends (for most NFL teams).  For 2005 that will be on August 30th at 11:59 PM. At that time, all active bids will be finalized. For any player with an active (not yet final) bid, the highest bid to be electronically postmarked (determined by the mail server time-stamp) prior to this time will be declared the winning bid.  In Season Free Agency will open the day after.

Jump Back to Index

9A. Free Agents

Any player not acquired before the Off-Season UFA deadline (Tuesday, August 30, 2005 at 11:59 PM ET for the 2005 season) becomes a Free Agent (FA). A player also becomes an Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA) when his contract expires (assuming he is not tendered an RFA contract) or when he is waived by a franchise.

9B. In-Season Free Agent Acquisitions

The In-Season Free Agency period begins at 12:00am ET the same evening the Off Season UFA period ends, (for the 2005 season this will be Wednesday, August 31, 2005), and ends at the start of the 1st game in week 16 of the NFL season, however, Rosters are frozen at the beginning of the week 14 games for non-playoff teams, and the minute a team is eliminated from the playoffs or wins the SAC'D Bowl, whichever comes first.  Any players acquired by playoff teams between weeks 14 and 16 may only be assigned 1 year contracts and CANNOT be declared as RFA's or Franchise Players the following season.

Franchises can acquire any player not currently on another team's roster via free agency. Cyber Bucks are used to bid on free agents. The bidding process is as follows:

Bidding for Free Agents will take place each week from 12:00am Tuesday until 11:59pm Saturday.  Exceptions to this schedule will occur during weeks where there are Thursday games. During these weeks, Bidding will begin at 12:00am Tuesday, and end at 11:59pm Saturday however, players involved in the Thursday game(s) cannot be bid upon from gametime Thursday until the following Tuesday at 11:59pm.  

If a player's 24 hour challenge period hasn't expired prior to 11:59pm on Saturday, bidding on that player will suspend until the following Tuesday at 12:00am when the 24 hour clock will resume.  

If a bid is made on any player between 12:00am Sunday and 11:59pm Monday the bid will be treated as if it were made on Tuesday at 12:00am and the 24 hour challenge period will not begin until that time.  Also note, that for players involved in Thursday or Saturday games, the clock will suspend the evening prior to their game(s) at 11:59pm and won't resume until the following Tuesday at 12:00am.

Teams will post their bids via the SAC'D Message Board under the Free Agency & the Waiver Wire forum.  Each bid notice must contain the following information: Team making bid (your login name will suffice), position, player to acquire, amount bid, and player to release if the bid is successful (if needed). An example: Philadelphia Freedom: QB Drew Brees, SD, 100cb's, release QB Drew Bledsoe, DAL 900cb's.

1. Any NFL player is eligible.

2. Just as during Off-Season Free Agency, teams are allowed to make bids which exceed their roster and salary cap.  However, if a team wins a bid that exceeds their roster and/or salary cap, they have 24 hours to comply with the limits, or roster penalties will be assessed.

3. Teams are expected to responsibly manage their own salary obligations. Total bids that exceed the 20,000 CB's salary cap will be permitted, as it is not likely that all bids will be winners. However, if a team should have winning bids that exceed the salary cap, punitive action will be taken.   If a team makes an acquisition (trade or free agent signing) which places them over the salary cap, they must release appropriate personnel to meet the cap restriction within 24 hours or roster penalties will be assessed.

4. When a bid is submitted, it will be subject to a 24 hour "challenge period" during which time other teams may make counter-bids. This period begins at the time of each bid or subsequent bid. The exception to this is Saturday bids. Since bidding is suspended from Saturday until Tuesday, bids made before 12pm Saturday will not be final until 12pm Tuesday.  If no higher bid is received within the challenge period, the bid is a winner and the transaction will take place.

5. Teams must also responsibly manage their 30 roster slots. Teams will not be permitted to exceed 30 players at any time. Any acquisition that places you over the 30 man roster limit without a move to get back to 30 or below will be placed in "pending" status for no longer than 24 hours.  Teams will have a 24 hour grace period from the time of the acquisition that places them over 30 to get back down to 30 or fewer on the roster before penalties start to kick in.  If a move isn't made within the 24 hour grace period the player will be released, and roster penalties will be assessed.  

6. Owners will be responsible for tracking bid status.  Keep in mind, the forum board will list current bids on top and older bids towards the bottom.  Threads will be closed 24 hours after a bid is won. 

7. The same bidding increments used during the auction will apply for Free Agent bids. Remember that the minimum salary is 100 CB.

8. If a topic isn't covered here, the off-season rules will take precedence.

Jump Back to Index

10. Injured Reserve

Each team has a maximum of four (4) injured reserve slots. For a player to be put on IR he must be listed as Questionable, Doubtful or Out on any NFL.com weekly injury reports. Any player placed on IR must remain on IR for a minimum of 4 weeks.   By the start of the next rookie draft, each franchise must clear IR and have no more than thirty players on their roster. Once a player is placed on IR, the club can pick up another player but they must go through the free agent channel as with any other pick up. 

When a player is placed on IR, 50% of their salary will count against your cap (either active or DS, depending where the player was before the IR move), teams will also receive 1 temporary "contract year".  This temporary year may be used at the discretion of the team for signing a replacement, etc. As soon as the injured player is removed from IR, the temporary year is revoked and the team must immediately return its roster to a total of 65 contract years.

The 1st available date to list a player on IR is Tuesday, August 30, 2005 at 12:00am - this will be a flexible date each year that basically commences the day after the 3rd pre-season games end (4th for the few teams that play 5). This will be approximately 7-10 days before the NFL regular season kicks off.

Jump Back to Index

11. League Schedule

11A. Regular Season

The regular season will last fourteen (14) weeks, the first fourteen weeks of the NFL season.

Each team will play the teams in their respective divisions twice (preferably on weeks when the NFL has no teams on BYE) and all other teams once.

The season schedule (by team) is at this link... http://www.SACD.predsff.com/2005/Schedule.html.

11B. Playoff Schedule

The playoffs begin on week fifteen (15) of the NFL season. The playoffs conclude on week sixteen (16) with the Championship Game.

11C. Season Timeline (Key Dates for the 2005 season):

Here are the key dates for everyone to keep in mind:

Thursday March 24th at 11:59pm - 2005 RFA Declarations are Due

Thursday March 31st at 11:59pm - 2004 Soft Cap Period Ends

Friday April 1st at 12:00am - 2005 Hard Cap Period Begins

Friday April 1st at 12:00am - 2005 RFA Bidding Opens

Saturday April 30th at 11:59pm - 2005 RFA Bidding Closes

Monday May 9th at 12:00am (the 2nd Monday in May each year) this allows about 3 weeks for the NFL draft to be evaluated - 2005 Rookie Draft Begins

June 1st at 12:00am - this date will also be somewhat flexible in that as it would not open until 48 hours after the rookie draft has been completed - Opening of the UFA period

Tuesday August 30 at 12:00am - this will be a flexible date each year that basically commences the day after the 3rd pre-season games end (4th for the few teams that play 5). This will be approximately 7-10 days before the NFL regular season kicks off - 2005 Injured Reserve Opens

Tuesday August 30 at 11:59pm - this will be a flexible date each year that basically commences the day after the 3rd pre-season games end (4th for the few teams that play 5). This will be approximately 7-10 days before the NFL regular season kicks off - 2005 Off-Season Free Agency ENDS

Wednesday August 31 (flexible date to be the day after contracts and DS are declared) - opening of 2005 In-Season Free Agency

Monday October 31st at 11:59pm - 2005 Hard Cap Period Ends

Tuesday November 1st at 12:00am - 2005 Soft Cap Period Begins

Beginning of Week 14 Games (Sunday December 11) - 2005 Off-Season Free Agency Ends

Tuesday after Week 14 games (December 13) - 2005 Post Season Free Agency Begins

Beginning of Week 16 Games (Saturday December 24) - 2005 Post-Season Free Agency Ends

Jump Back to Index

12. Playoffs

12A. Qualifying

A total of four (4) teams will qualify for the playoffs. Three will be the division champions and one wildcard - the team with the next best record regardless of division.

12B. Seeding

Teams will be seeded as follows:

1.    Division Champion with the best overall record (1st round bye)
2.    Division Champion with the second best overall record (1st round bye)
3.    Division Champion with the third best overall record
4.    Wild Card team (best record of non Divisional Winners)

12C. Qualifying/Seeding Tie-Breaker

The Leagues tie-breaking system for play-off qualification and seeding is as follows:

1.    Head-to-head record
2.    Division Record (between teams from the same division)
3.    Total Overall Points
4.    Coin Toss

12D. Playoff Ties (Game Day)

Tie games during the play-off rounds will be determined by home-field advantage. The team with the highest seed is given the home field and will be awarded the win in case of a tie.

12E. Playoff Schedule

First Round: The Divisional Winner with the best record will face the Wild Card team.  The Second and Third seeded Divisional Winners will face each other.

Championship: The winners of the first round games will meet each other for the League Championship.

12F. Home Field Advantage

The higher seed in the 1st round of the playoffs will have 7 points added to their score as a home field advantage.  There will be no home field advantage in the championship game since that is considered to take place at a neutral site.

12G. Post Season Free Agency

Post season free agency will work slightly differently that in season free agency.  As there are two weeks of playoffs, there are two separate weeks of post season free agency. 

The first week will be from the Tuesday, 12:00 am after the games for week 14.  The only teams eligible to bid on free agents at that time will be the four playoff teams (as described previously).  All bidding on any players opened after that Tuesday will end the following Saturday at 11:59 PM.  The final bid immediately previous to the deadline will be the winning bid.  The player in question will be placed on the winning teams roster with a 1 year contract only.  The winning team must comply with the usual salary cap, roster cap, and roster year requirements, and the standard penalties will apply for noncompliance.

The second week of post season free agency will begin Tuesday 12:00 am after the first round of playoffs.  The only teams eligible to bid on free agents at that time are the two winners from the previous week.  Again, the bid deadline is 11:59 pm the following Saturday, and the final bid for each player is the winning bid.  The player in question will be assigned a one year contract only. The winning team must comply with the usual salary cap, roster cap, and roster year requirements, and the standard penalties will apply for noncompliance.

Also note, that for either of the above two post season situations; for players involved in Saturday games, the clock will expire the evening prior to their game(s) at 11:59pm on Friday.  

NOTE: All free agents signed in the post season will be assigned a one year contract only.  Also, these players CANNOT be tendered as RFAs the following spring.

Jump Back to Index

13. Results & Scoring

13A. Scoring System

Offense
Passing	Rushing/Receiving	Kicking
.05 pts per yard	.1 pts per yard gained	3 pts per FG 0-30 yds
4 pts per TD	6 pts per TD	.1 pts for each additional  yard over 30
2 pts per 2pt conversion	2 pts per 2 pt conversion	1 pt per PAT
-1 per interception	.25 pts per carry
-1 per fumble	.5 pts per reception
.05 pts per pass attempt	-1 per interception
.1 pts per pass completion	-1 per fumble
	All other offensive TDs (ex. Fumbles.) are 6 pts
NOTE: negative yardage (rushing or receiving) will result in negative points unless offset by positive yardage

Defense
6pts per TD Return (Fumble / Interception / blocked Field Goal / blocked Punt)	4pts per Fumble recovery	2pts per Tackle
4pt per Blocked field goal/punt	2pts per Forced Fumble	1pt per Assisted Tackle
4 points per full Sack	4pts per Interception	1pt per Deflected pass
2 pts for = Sack	.05pts per return yard (Interception / Fumble)	6pts per Safety

13B. Weekly Results

Weekly results will be compiled by the commissioner and posted to the league website on Tuesday afternoon.

13C. Game-Day Ties

Ties are allowed... in the event of a playoff tie the higher seeded team will be given the win.

13D. Disputes

Owners should notify the commissioner of any scoring errors immediately upon the error being discovered. The commissioner will resolve any disputes in scoring. Any discrepancies which are not drawn to the commissioner's attention by the following weekend will stand as is.

Jump Back to Index

14. Rule Changes & Enforcement

14A. Rules Committee

In order to maintain a reasonable sense of order we need to adhere to the constructs set up by the league rules. This Rules Committee has been formed to assist the Commissioner in the general operation of the league. They have been given the authority to penalize owners and/or teams that do not adhere to the accepted rules of the league. These penalties may come in the form of fines (cyber bucks), draft picks, and/or other sanctions as deemed necessary.

14B. Committee Composition

The Rules Committee will consist of three (3) league owners selected prior to the inaugural season. Each member of the committee will be asked to serve a minimum of two (2) years. In the event an issue involves a member of the committee, that member will be temporarily replaced by an alternate chosen by the Commissioner until such time as the issue is resolved.

1C. Rules Interpretation/Oversight

The Rules Committee will also interpret rules and make necessary adjustments to the existing rules as needed.

14D. Major Rules Changes

After installment of the final version of the league rules, major changes to the rules can only be made through a league-wide vote. Any member club can propose a change to the rules by calling for a vote from the entire league during the off-season ONLY. Simply write up something that can be answered with a yes or no, and if a majority of clubs vote yes, the rules will be changed accordingly. Any rules changes after the start of the draft through the conclusion of the season must be agreed upon by the entire league unanimously.  In the event of a tie in any rule vote, the rules committee will hold a separate vote, with majority rule breaking the tie.

14E. Expulsion

In the event it becomes necessary, the Rules Committee may expel a franchise owner from the league. Any decision to expel an owner requires an unanimous vote of all three (3) Committee members. Such action must be justified, usually due to prolonged absence, malfeasance, and/or repeated rules infractions. While the Commissioner cannot expel an owner alone, he may suggest that the committee make such a move. The Commissioner may also veto the Rules Committee's decision to expel any owner.

Questions about these rules should be addressed to the Rules Committee.

Jump Back to Index