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UFL Rule Book
Table of Contents
Section 1 - Basic League Rules
Section 2 - Gameplay Rules
Section 3 - Offseason Rules
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Section 1 - Basic League Rules
First off I would like to say, WELCOME!!!....to the Ultimate Football League version 2.0. For those of you who do not know, this is the 2nd iteration of the UFL, as our first venture lasted 11 great months with Madden 10, before deciding to take a 1 month break before Madden 11.
I said when we went to the next version of UFL that I would completely re-write the rule book, and that is what I am doing now. Please feel free at any time to chime in with thoughts on rules that are in place, not in place, or anything you think should be added as pertaining to league rules.
I am going to start off with some basic league rules. Be sure to read through all the rules because your cooperation is required for you to maintain a spot in the league. Failure to abide by the rules, knowingly or unknowingly, can and will result in league expulsion.
Rule 1. Be an active member of the league community
Anyone can play their game, but this league is so much more than simply playing games. This league is about immersion. Be sure to talk with your league mates, add to conversations, create conversations, and participate where asked.
Rule 2. This is a gentleman's league
We may not always have every situation covered in the rulebook, and that is mainly due to the fact that we have owners capable of "doing the right thing" without being forced to. Chances are if it's going to leave a sour taste in someone's mouth, it probably isn't the best thing to do. A couple examples of this are:
- Running the clock out when the game is decided
- Punting in normal 4th and go for it situations during close games
- Mixing up play selection
- Punting in possible FG situations when the game is decided
There are probably more situations but those where the ones I thought of off the top of my head.
Rule 3. COMMUNICATION
With so many veteran owners in UFL 2.0 I know this won't be an issue but I will document it anyway. Be sure to keep an open line of communication with your opponent. Start setting your game up as the prior week dwindles down. If the league is advancing Tuesday, try to get your game in Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. Leave the last day or so in case plans fall through, don't schedule to play on Day 3 and then the servers are down.
If you are having trouble getting a hold of an owner, IM or PM a commish so they can document it and hopefully get in touch with the derelict owner.
2. Gameplay Rules
1. Gameplay Exploits
-No manually moving around multiple defenders on Defense, you may control 1 and 1 only.
-Direct snaps to the RB are not allowed.
-Multiple motions per play. Not allowed.
-Abusing Hot Routes. Not allowed.
-Rolling out with the QB excessively, running backwards with QB, etc. Not allowed.
-Repeated use of a play (ex. 4 sweeps in a row left or right)
- No moving additional players back to defend in punt coverage pre-snap.
- NO FAKE FG's/PUNTS
- ONLY 2 WILDCAT PLAYS are Allowed per game
- ONLY 2 SCREEN PLAYS are allowed per game (whether or not the play is thrown to the player that the screen is called to)
- When manually motioning a player he must enter his stance before the ball is hiked.
2. 4th Down Rules:
Our 4th down rules are simple.
- 1st 3 qtr's you cannot attempt a 4th down *UNLESS AGREED BY OPPONENT*
- 4th quarter you can attempt a 4th down when down by 2 or more scores (9+ points)
- Less than 5 minutes in the 4th QTR when trailing
- OT you can attempt a 4th down when in opponents territory (50 yardline or better)
3. Disconnects:
*DISCONNECT RULES*
Disconnects are a part of online gaming. Unfortunately it will happen to all of us.
Since there are so many different situations, I can't possibly set rules in stone.
Basically if both parties get disconnected, you replay. If one party gets DC'ed, the one still on pauses the game, waits for the other party to come back on, and then try to reach an agreement.
As an example, in my game against the Jets, a crucial game which could cost me a playoff spot, I got bumped in the fourth quarter with about 3 min left down by 6. Could I have told him to restart? Sure, we were within one score and I was receiving the ball when it froze. Did I? No, because with games taking an hour apiece, I figured I would let the Jets take this one. That was an agreement.
If the two owners cannot come to an agreement, they must contact either myself or GoCardsGo vis PSN, Aimoo, or text. We will make a decision which will be carried out. If our decision is NOT carried out the owner who failed to comply will be booted from the league no questions asked.
My cell # is 716-697-9111...Gocards is 716-563-7167...if we are not on Aimoo or PSN, send us a text with the situation and we will tell you what to do. There are also UFL vets such as FrankDTank, nrenard, or zikry who can resolve such matters.
Leave the game paused until you get a resolve. If it takes an hour so be it, but most will tell you Gambit and I are pretty easy to get a hold of.
2. Salary Cap
- The current Salary Cap in the UFL is 320 points. The rough breakdown is here:
Rated 90-100 - 10 cap points
Rated 80-89 - 8 cap points
Rated 70-79 - 6 cap points
Rated 60-69 - 4 cap points
Rated 50-59 - 2 cap points
Rated 0-49 - 1 cap point
Also to note: Kickers and Punters are worth half value, meaning an 89 player is worth 8 but for a kicker/punter would be worth 4.
For almost all transactions, you must include the players cap value. Whether trading or releasing or bidding on, he must have his cap value next to his overall rating. This will clear any confusion when someone is signed and their cap number is unknown.
Also, if you have a Free Agent who signed for more than their cap rating (denoted by an asterisk).
You have a regular player rated 90 (10) with a 10 pt cap value, or a FA player who you are trading, releasing, or is back on FA which would look like this 93 (*18).
Teams will be required to keep a log of all transactions throughout their franchise through our league message board. Simply create a thread titled Transactions Log "XX-XX" and all transactions will be logged there for that year.
Each time you make a transaction you will log it in a seperate reply. If you release multiple players or make a trade you may count that as 1 transaction and log it in the same group. Be sure to also include your starting cap and number of players BEFORE and AFTER the transaction. Example:
Week 1 Starting Cap - 280
Number of Players - 52
signed HB E.James 82 (8)
So HB E.James was signed for face value so he doesn't recieve a * even though he was signed through FA. Had he signed for more cap, let's say 10, it would have said 82 (*10). Then you add his cap number to your team's current cap. Let's look at a whole week's worth:
Starting Cap - 280
No. Players - 52
(Signed) HB E.James 82 (8)
Ending Cap - 288
No. Players - 53
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Now I signed LT Levi Jones in FA to a deal worth 10. I would log that in a new reply.
Starting Cap - 288
No. Players - 53
(Signed) LT L.Jones 81 (*10)
Ending Cap - 298
No Players - 54
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now I want to clear a little cap room, so I decide to release WR James Hardy. I would log that just like the others with a start and an end count.
Starting Cap - 298
No. Players - 54
(Released) WR J.Hardy 75 (6)
Ending Cap - 292
No. Players 53
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Starting Cap - 292
Starting Players - 53
BUFFALO SENDS
CB T.Mcgee 82 (8)
1ST RD PK to OAK
OAKLAND SENDS
CB N.Asomugha 99 (10)
Ending Cap - 294
Ending Players - 54
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Starting Cap - 294
Starting Players - 54
(Injured Reserve) CB J.Byrd 73 (6)
Ending Cap - 288
Ending Players - 53
Okay, a few things. First, if you think it's daunting, it really isn't. You're only allowed 3 trades during the season and they will all be before week 6. After that you are pretty much signing a FA here or there, so there will be whole weeks where nothing happens to your cap #, so don't be discouraged.
When filling out the transaction log, make sure you keep it identical to the example. What I have shown here is the following:
- Type of transaction
- Player name with position
- Rating with cap number
- how acquired, team traded to (via FA, to OAK, to IR)
- total cap # after transaction
Keeping an accurate log goes a long way in making sure the league flows effectively and accurately. Owners who do not keep a log or fail to keep up with it will be removed from the franchise.
OFFSEASON CAP ROOM:
Teams must be under the cap at all times during the regular season. During the offseason, and especially after the draft, there will be times where the influx of players causes teams to go over the cap.
There will be a limit, so teams cannot simply stack up talent, but it will be greater then the allowed cap. An example of a draft class could be:
1st RD - LG 84 (8)
2nd RD - WR 71 (6)
3rd RD - LB 70 (6)
4th RD - HB 73 (6)
5th RD - CB 66 (4)
6th RD - RG 59 (2)
7th RD - FS 51 (2)
In this example, to sign all players, the team would need 34 additional cap points. This will vary from team to team but each team will need roughly 30-40 additional cap points to sign all their draft picks and not be in cap violation.
Near the beginning of the regular season it will be communicated when you must get under the league cap number. At that point you must release or trade players to be under the cap before your 1st regular season game.
It will be communicated to all teams what the salary cap is as well as what the offseason salary cap ceiling is as soon as it can be determined.
CAP REGARDING TRADES:
Please see the trades thread for more info on trades, but regarding the cap I will make the following mention;
- When making trades you must always be under the cap. You are not allowed to complete a trade for a player or multiple players and be over the cap and then after the trade release other players to get back under. You must release a player first and then complete the trade.
PLAYER PROGRESSION:
- When a player progresses in the offseason, his rating changes. How this will reflect in our franchise is simple enough. If the player went up, account for it!!
example: 78 OVR (6) goes to a 91 OVR (10) - You're cap would go up 4 points.
- FREE AGENTS
Free Agents have an agreed upon contract. If the progress, you do not change the cap number they agreed to.
example: 83 OVR (*9) goes to a 90 OVR. They are still worth (*9).
PLAYER REGRESSION:
- When a player regresses in the offseason, his rating changes. This one's as simple as the one above. Player regresses, you account for it.
example: 91 OVR (10) goes to a 78 OVR (6) - You're cap would go down 4 points.
- FREE AGENTS
Free Agent's who regress, on the other hand, will not regress in contract. You will still need to pay them what they had agreed upon in FA.
example: 90 OVR (*9) goes to a 79 OVR. They would still be worth (*9).
3. Free Agency
Free Agency will include a cap system as well as a method to have solid talent available each offseason FA.
90+ rating - 10 point cap hit
80-89 rating - 8 point cap hit
70-79 rating - 6 point cap hit
60-69 rating - 4 point cap hit
50-59 rating - 2 point cap hit
0-49 rating - 1 point cap hit
The only exception to this rule is with K's and P's. These positions will be counted as 1/2 of what a regular position player would be.
- Free Agents sign and trade: Sign and trades will be frowned upon in the UFL. Once you sign a FA you must keep them until at least the following offseason before trading them. If you sign a FA in the offseason you must wait until the next offseason to trade them.
Player Contracts:
While we won't have structured contracts per se, we will impose the following penalties to act as sort of a "guaranteed money" with regards to the cap.
Should you release a player in the same season as signing him, you would take a full cap hit (100%)
- example; releasing a 78 ovr player (6 cap value) you would take a 6 pt cap hit
- You may want to do this if you need a roster spot but not for much else
Should you release a player in the next (2nd) season after signing him you would take a 1/2 cap hit (50%)
- example; releasing a 78 player (6 cap value) you would take a 3 pt cap hit
- you may want to do this if the player is struggling or you need a roster spot
Anything after 2 seasons you would incur NO cap hit.
MANDATORY CUTS:
Each season teams will also have to release 1 "Premier Player" to Free Agency. Determining your "Premier Player" is simple...
-Total the ratings of your top 10 players not including K/P/FB's
- Subtract 50
- Divide that number by 10.
- You will have an average most likely between 80-95. If you average is 88.3, you'll have to release a player rated 88 or higher as your "Premier Player".
This will guarantee each year that at least 32 highly rated players will be available in FA.
Once all teams have released their "Premier Player" they will also release at least 2 players to help fill the FA market. Each team will be required to release:
- 1 player rated 60+
- 1 player rated 75+
Again, this will add 96 players to FA, for a total of 128 players added to FA each year.
Teams will update their Transaction logs at this time to show their Mandatory 3 FA's they released, including the cap number as well.
When filling out their sheet they would fill in as an example:
Bills Current Cap: 318
Bills Current Players: 52
Mandatory Releases:
CB Terrence Mcgee - 90 (10)
WR R.Parrish - 82 (8)
TE D. Schouman - 72 (6)
DT John McCargo - 68 (4)
Bills Current Cap: 290
Bills Current Players: 48
At this point you have released all the players you are required to release.
*you CANNOT release your kicker, punter or fullback as a mandatory release.
Added 8-31: A player signed as a waiver wire player cannot be used towards mandatory cuts. They may still be released at no penalty but not as a mandatory cut. This will keep the Free Agency pool refreshed with different talent instead of players being recycled.
Once the commissioner gives the ok teams can begin to bid on FA's using our FA bidding system.
OFFSEASON - FREE AGENCY
GENERAL OVERVIEW-
Free Agency for UFL 2.0 will work a bit differently than in UFL 1. We are going to go with a blind bidding process for the upper tier players, which we believe will add some positive suspense to the bidding process while eliminating "sniping" to obtain a player.
The commish team will communicate well ahead when the free agency process will begin. This will give owners time to make sure their cap book is in good standing order and also some time to decide their offers.
Remember, as in UFL 1, if your cap book is not up to date you are not allowed to bid on a player. The commish team will communicate which teams are compliant and which teams need to update or fix their cap book.
Also, remember any violations such as bidding over your cap or being under roster requirements could face you a cap penalty from the commish staff. Stay ahead of the game and you won't have any issues.
There will be two main phases to FA:
> 2 Tiers of blind bidding before the draft
> Claims post draft
Let's discuss blind bidding.
Blind Bidding:
- Once all mandatories have been submitted, the commish team will post the top 30 players by rating. This will be the first tier of players. At this point these 30 players are the only players you may bid on.
- Once your cap book is approved and you know your available cap you may submit your top bids to the commissioner Swaygodeus' attention.
Here is an example of the blind bidding:
Chicago Bears Current Players: 50
Chicago Bears Available Cap: 56 (264/320)
Based on the top 30 FA's the Bears would like to go after these 3 players, rating in parenthesis;
1. WR Lee Evans (84)
2. LB Ernie Sims (88)
3. CB Kelvin Hayden (83)
The Bears would send a Private Message to the commish team with their TOP bids for these 3 players, keeping in mind that their total bids CANNOT exceed their available cap, in this case, 56 points. Your offers also CANNOT exceed the 55 player limit, so if you have 52 players you can offer no more than 3 players.
Private Message:
To: Swaygodeus
Subject: Chicago Bears Tier 1 Bids
Body:
Chicago Bears Current Players: 50
Chicago Bears Available Cap: 56 (264/320)
1. WR Lee Evans - 16
2. LB Ernie Sims - 20
3. CB Kelvin Hayden - 16
As you can see by this example the Bears are offering these 3 players a total of 52 points, which DOES NOT exceed the 56 they have available.
All teams will have until the designated deadline to submit their offers. If they do not submit their offers on time they will not be able to bid for that tier.
WINNING THE BID:
After the deadline, the commish team will tally the offers and announce the winners of each player. The winning bid will be the highest bid, simple enough.
IN THE EVENT OF A TIE:
In the event that there are multiple identical bids, the winning bid will be that of the team with the BETTER record.
Should the records be identical then the team with the better PF-PA will win the player.
If those are the same then good lord I better go play the lottery cuz holy shit.
Once the first Tier winners are announced the commish team will post the ask for submissions for the 2nd tier of Free Agency. At this point any available FA will be up for bidding. Once all bids are in the commish team will announce the winners. It's now time to prepare for the draft, thus FA will close up for a few days.
Claim Bidding
Once FA is re-opened post draft the process will switch to claim bidding. At this point you may claim any player left in FA so long as you have the cap/roster room.
CLAIMING A PLAYER: Claimed FA's will be signed for face value and can be released for 0 penalty at any time. To claim a Free Agent:
- The player must be a Free Agent for at least 72 hours
- The claiming team must have the roster spot available
- The claiming team must have the cap room to sign the player
You will follow the same posting as the live bidding with;
EX THREAD SUBJECT: WR Jacoby Jones (68)
But the body will be a little different;
EX THREAD BODY: The Chicago Bears claim the rights to WR Jacoby Jones for 4 cap points.
Live/Claim bidding will carry on throughout the season until the beginning of offseason.
This is to prevent teams from waiting in the shadows as team's bid against each other, and then coming in to the final hour or so and out bidding everyone else.
1 year contracts - The 3 of us came up for a system for signing players to 1 year deals. What it works out to is you will pay a player 1.5x the top bid to sign them for 1 year, and you must stipulate that when bidding.
ex. DT Marcus Stroud 88 (8) --> Bills bid 12 for a 1 year deal
What the one year deal does is let's you release that player whenever you want for 0 cap penalty. Please keep in mind you will never see big talent going for 1 year deals, this is most likely going to be veterans and injury fillers.
ex. FS Antrel Rolle 88 (8) -->Top Bid is 50, you'd have to bid 75pts to sign him for a 1 year deal. Makes no sense.
4. Trades
Trades will be allowed during the season as well as the offseason. Some quick rules regarding trades:
- There will be a trade deadline just as there is in the NFL, so beginning Week 6 no trades will be allowed until the offseason.
- There will be a limit of 4 trades total for the season. You will be allowed up to 3 trades once the season has ended and offseason begins, as well as 1 trade once week 1 begins until the week 6 trade deadline.
- All trades must be approved by the commissioner.
- Sign and trades will be frowned upon in the UFL. If you sign a player via FA you are required to keep that player until the offseason or release them. You will almost never see a player in the NFL signed in the offseason and then traded the same season, which is why this will be frowned upon.
- Draft pick trades will only be allowed at the discretion of the commissioner. If you are new to the league you most likely won't be allowed to trade draft picks during the season. During the offseason and up to the draft you will be allowed to trade draft picks.
- Before you even submit the trade you must make sure your team has enough cap room to complete the trade.
- Once both teams have agreed on a trade both owners will be required to post in the completed trade thread. It should look something like this:
The Buffalo Bills and the Oakland Raiders have agreed on a trade.
BUFFALO SENDS:
CB T.Mcgee (82) (8)
1ST RD PICK 2010 DRAFT
OAKLAND SENDS:
CB N.Asomugha (99) (10)
Again, both owners must post the trade before it is even considered. I will try to review trades on a daily basis but expect 1-2 days for review.
Addendum:
When a deal has been reached, one team posts the trade. The second team will then be able to either accept or reject the deal. If the 2nd owner accepts the deal, the players and picks involved are frozen and cannot be considered for other deals unless rejected by a commissioner.
There is absolutely no editing of any posts in the trade forum. Editing a post can lead to discipline from the league.
If the commish approves the trade it is a done deal and players/picks swap hands. If the commish denies the trade the players/picks are available for other offers.
5. Player Requirements
Roster Requirements:
We will now allow teams to carry at least 48 players and no more than 55 players. In the past we made it where you had to carry 50-55 players. This is done so teams may have more "wiggle" room with rosters. It will also be 2 more rosters spots you wouldn't neccesarily need if you wanted to carry 48 players but be warned if you have 48 players and 320 cap you will only be allowed to sign a FA who is the lowest value at his position.
i.e you need another CB, you would be allowed to sign the 38 rated CB and then release a player to bring you back under the cap.
Don't put your team in cap hell.
Table of Contents
Section 1 - Basic League Rules
Section 2 - Gameplay Rules
Section 3 - Offseason Rules
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Section 1 - Basic League Rules
First off I would like to say, WELCOME!!!....to the Ultimate Football League version 2.0. For those of you who do not know, this is the 2nd iteration of the UFL, as our first venture lasted 11 great months with Madden 10, before deciding to take a 1 month break before Madden 11.
I said when we went to the next version of UFL that I would completely re-write the rule book, and that is what I am doing now. Please feel free at any time to chime in with thoughts on rules that are in place, not in place, or anything you think should be added as pertaining to league rules.
I am going to start off with some basic league rules. Be sure to read through all the rules because your cooperation is required for you to maintain a spot in the league. Failure to abide by the rules, knowingly or unknowingly, can and will result in league expulsion.
Rule 1. Be an active member of the league community
Anyone can play their game, but this league is so much more than simply playing games. This league is about immersion. Be sure to talk with your league mates, add to conversations, create conversations, and participate where asked.
Rule 2. This is a gentleman's league
We may not always have every situation covered in the rulebook, and that is mainly due to the fact that we have owners capable of "doing the right thing" without being forced to. Chances are if it's going to leave a sour taste in someone's mouth, it probably isn't the best thing to do. A couple examples of this are:
- Running the clock out when the game is decided
- Punting in normal 4th and go for it situations during close games
- Mixing up play selection
- Punting in possible FG situations when the game is decided
There are probably more situations but those where the ones I thought of off the top of my head.
Rule 3. COMMUNICATION
With so many veteran owners in UFL 2.0 I know this won't be an issue but I will document it anyway. Be sure to keep an open line of communication with your opponent. Start setting your game up as the prior week dwindles down. If the league is advancing Tuesday, try to get your game in Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. Leave the last day or so in case plans fall through, don't schedule to play on Day 3 and then the servers are down.
If you are having trouble getting a hold of an owner, IM or PM a commish so they can document it and hopefully get in touch with the derelict owner.
2. Gameplay Rules
1. Gameplay Exploits
-No manually moving around multiple defenders on Defense, you may control 1 and 1 only.
-Direct snaps to the RB are not allowed.
-Multiple motions per play. Not allowed.
-Abusing Hot Routes. Not allowed.
-Rolling out with the QB excessively, running backwards with QB, etc. Not allowed.
-Repeated use of a play (ex. 4 sweeps in a row left or right)
- No moving additional players back to defend in punt coverage pre-snap.
- NO FAKE FG's/PUNTS
- ONLY 2 WILDCAT PLAYS are Allowed per game
- ONLY 2 SCREEN PLAYS are allowed per game (whether or not the play is thrown to the player that the screen is called to)
- When manually motioning a player he must enter his stance before the ball is hiked.
2. 4th Down Rules:
Our 4th down rules are simple.
- 1st 3 qtr's you cannot attempt a 4th down *UNLESS AGREED BY OPPONENT*
- 4th quarter you can attempt a 4th down when down by 2 or more scores (9+ points)
- Less than 5 minutes in the 4th QTR when trailing
- OT you can attempt a 4th down when in opponents territory (50 yardline or better)
3. Disconnects:
*DISCONNECT RULES*
Disconnects are a part of online gaming. Unfortunately it will happen to all of us.
Since there are so many different situations, I can't possibly set rules in stone.
Basically if both parties get disconnected, you replay. If one party gets DC'ed, the one still on pauses the game, waits for the other party to come back on, and then try to reach an agreement.
As an example, in my game against the Jets, a crucial game which could cost me a playoff spot, I got bumped in the fourth quarter with about 3 min left down by 6. Could I have told him to restart? Sure, we were within one score and I was receiving the ball when it froze. Did I? No, because with games taking an hour apiece, I figured I would let the Jets take this one. That was an agreement.
If the two owners cannot come to an agreement, they must contact either myself or GoCardsGo vis PSN, Aimoo, or text. We will make a decision which will be carried out. If our decision is NOT carried out the owner who failed to comply will be booted from the league no questions asked.
My cell # is 716-697-9111...Gocards is 716-563-7167...if we are not on Aimoo or PSN, send us a text with the situation and we will tell you what to do. There are also UFL vets such as FrankDTank, nrenard, or zikry who can resolve such matters.
Leave the game paused until you get a resolve. If it takes an hour so be it, but most will tell you Gambit and I are pretty easy to get a hold of.
2. Salary Cap
- The current Salary Cap in the UFL is 320 points. The rough breakdown is here:
Rated 90-100 - 10 cap points
Rated 80-89 - 8 cap points
Rated 70-79 - 6 cap points
Rated 60-69 - 4 cap points
Rated 50-59 - 2 cap points
Rated 0-49 - 1 cap point
Also to note: Kickers and Punters are worth half value, meaning an 89 player is worth 8 but for a kicker/punter would be worth 4.
For almost all transactions, you must include the players cap value. Whether trading or releasing or bidding on, he must have his cap value next to his overall rating. This will clear any confusion when someone is signed and their cap number is unknown.
Also, if you have a Free Agent who signed for more than their cap rating (denoted by an asterisk).
You have a regular player rated 90 (10) with a 10 pt cap value, or a FA player who you are trading, releasing, or is back on FA which would look like this 93 (*18).
Teams will be required to keep a log of all transactions throughout their franchise through our league message board. Simply create a thread titled Transactions Log "XX-XX" and all transactions will be logged there for that year.
Each time you make a transaction you will log it in a seperate reply. If you release multiple players or make a trade you may count that as 1 transaction and log it in the same group. Be sure to also include your starting cap and number of players BEFORE and AFTER the transaction. Example:
Week 1 Starting Cap - 280
Number of Players - 52
signed HB E.James 82 (8)
So HB E.James was signed for face value so he doesn't recieve a * even though he was signed through FA. Had he signed for more cap, let's say 10, it would have said 82 (*10). Then you add his cap number to your team's current cap. Let's look at a whole week's worth:
Starting Cap - 280
No. Players - 52
(Signed) HB E.James 82 (8)
Ending Cap - 288
No. Players - 53
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now I signed LT Levi Jones in FA to a deal worth 10. I would log that in a new reply.
Starting Cap - 288
No. Players - 53
(Signed) LT L.Jones 81 (*10)
Ending Cap - 298
No Players - 54
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now I want to clear a little cap room, so I decide to release WR James Hardy. I would log that just like the others with a start and an end count.
Starting Cap - 298
No. Players - 54
(Released) WR J.Hardy 75 (6)
Ending Cap - 292
No. Players 53
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Starting Cap - 292
Starting Players - 53
BUFFALO SENDS
CB T.Mcgee 82 (8)
1ST RD PK to OAK
OAKLAND SENDS
CB N.Asomugha 99 (10)
Ending Cap - 294
Ending Players - 54
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Starting Cap - 294
Starting Players - 54
(Injured Reserve) CB J.Byrd 73 (6)
Ending Cap - 288
Ending Players - 53
Okay, a few things. First, if you think it's daunting, it really isn't. You're only allowed 3 trades during the season and they will all be before week 6. After that you are pretty much signing a FA here or there, so there will be whole weeks where nothing happens to your cap #, so don't be discouraged.
When filling out the transaction log, make sure you keep it identical to the example. What I have shown here is the following:
- Type of transaction
- Player name with position
- Rating with cap number
- how acquired, team traded to (via FA, to OAK, to IR)
- total cap # after transaction
Keeping an accurate log goes a long way in making sure the league flows effectively and accurately. Owners who do not keep a log or fail to keep up with it will be removed from the franchise.
OFFSEASON CAP ROOM:
Teams must be under the cap at all times during the regular season. During the offseason, and especially after the draft, there will be times where the influx of players causes teams to go over the cap.
There will be a limit, so teams cannot simply stack up talent, but it will be greater then the allowed cap. An example of a draft class could be:
1st RD - LG 84 (8)
2nd RD - WR 71 (6)
3rd RD - LB 70 (6)
4th RD - HB 73 (6)
5th RD - CB 66 (4)
6th RD - RG 59 (2)
7th RD - FS 51 (2)
In this example, to sign all players, the team would need 34 additional cap points. This will vary from team to team but each team will need roughly 30-40 additional cap points to sign all their draft picks and not be in cap violation.
Near the beginning of the regular season it will be communicated when you must get under the league cap number. At that point you must release or trade players to be under the cap before your 1st regular season game.
It will be communicated to all teams what the salary cap is as well as what the offseason salary cap ceiling is as soon as it can be determined.
CAP REGARDING TRADES:
Please see the trades thread for more info on trades, but regarding the cap I will make the following mention;
- When making trades you must always be under the cap. You are not allowed to complete a trade for a player or multiple players and be over the cap and then after the trade release other players to get back under. You must release a player first and then complete the trade.
PLAYER PROGRESSION:
- When a player progresses in the offseason, his rating changes. How this will reflect in our franchise is simple enough. If the player went up, account for it!!
example: 78 OVR (6) goes to a 91 OVR (10) - You're cap would go up 4 points.
- FREE AGENTS
Free Agents have an agreed upon contract. If the progress, you do not change the cap number they agreed to.
example: 83 OVR (*9) goes to a 90 OVR. They are still worth (*9).
PLAYER REGRESSION:
- When a player regresses in the offseason, his rating changes. This one's as simple as the one above. Player regresses, you account for it.
example: 91 OVR (10) goes to a 78 OVR (6) - You're cap would go down 4 points.
- FREE AGENTS
Free Agent's who regress, on the other hand, will not regress in contract. You will still need to pay them what they had agreed upon in FA.
example: 90 OVR (*9) goes to a 79 OVR. They would still be worth (*9).
3. Free Agency
Free Agency will include a cap system as well as a method to have solid talent available each offseason FA.
90+ rating - 10 point cap hit
80-89 rating - 8 point cap hit
70-79 rating - 6 point cap hit
60-69 rating - 4 point cap hit
50-59 rating - 2 point cap hit
0-49 rating - 1 point cap hit
The only exception to this rule is with K's and P's. These positions will be counted as 1/2 of what a regular position player would be.
- Free Agents sign and trade: Sign and trades will be frowned upon in the UFL. Once you sign a FA you must keep them until at least the following offseason before trading them. If you sign a FA in the offseason you must wait until the next offseason to trade them.
Player Contracts:
While we won't have structured contracts per se, we will impose the following penalties to act as sort of a "guaranteed money" with regards to the cap.
Should you release a player in the same season as signing him, you would take a full cap hit (100%)
- example; releasing a 78 ovr player (6 cap value) you would take a 6 pt cap hit
- You may want to do this if you need a roster spot but not for much else
Should you release a player in the next (2nd) season after signing him you would take a 1/2 cap hit (50%)
- example; releasing a 78 player (6 cap value) you would take a 3 pt cap hit
- you may want to do this if the player is struggling or you need a roster spot
Anything after 2 seasons you would incur NO cap hit.
MANDATORY CUTS:
Each season teams will also have to release 1 "Premier Player" to Free Agency. Determining your "Premier Player" is simple...
-Total the ratings of your top 10 players not including K/P/FB's
- Subtract 50
- Divide that number by 10.
- You will have an average most likely between 80-95. If you average is 88.3, you'll have to release a player rated 88 or higher as your "Premier Player".
This will guarantee each year that at least 32 highly rated players will be available in FA.
Once all teams have released their "Premier Player" they will also release at least 2 players to help fill the FA market. Each team will be required to release:
- 1 player rated 60+
- 1 player rated 75+
Again, this will add 96 players to FA, for a total of 128 players added to FA each year.
Teams will update their Transaction logs at this time to show their Mandatory 3 FA's they released, including the cap number as well.
When filling out their sheet they would fill in as an example:
Bills Current Cap: 318
Bills Current Players: 52
Mandatory Releases:
CB Terrence Mcgee - 90 (10)
WR R.Parrish - 82 (8)
TE D. Schouman - 72 (6)
DT John McCargo - 68 (4)
Bills Current Cap: 290
Bills Current Players: 48
At this point you have released all the players you are required to release.
*you CANNOT release your kicker, punter or fullback as a mandatory release.
Added 8-31: A player signed as a waiver wire player cannot be used towards mandatory cuts. They may still be released at no penalty but not as a mandatory cut. This will keep the Free Agency pool refreshed with different talent instead of players being recycled.
Once the commissioner gives the ok teams can begin to bid on FA's using our FA bidding system.
OFFSEASON - FREE AGENCY
GENERAL OVERVIEW-
Free Agency for UFL 2.0 will work a bit differently than in UFL 1. We are going to go with a blind bidding process for the upper tier players, which we believe will add some positive suspense to the bidding process while eliminating "sniping" to obtain a player.
The commish team will communicate well ahead when the free agency process will begin. This will give owners time to make sure their cap book is in good standing order and also some time to decide their offers.
Remember, as in UFL 1, if your cap book is not up to date you are not allowed to bid on a player. The commish team will communicate which teams are compliant and which teams need to update or fix their cap book.
Also, remember any violations such as bidding over your cap or being under roster requirements could face you a cap penalty from the commish staff. Stay ahead of the game and you won't have any issues.
There will be two main phases to FA:
> 2 Tiers of blind bidding before the draft
> Claims post draft
Let's discuss blind bidding.
Blind Bidding:
- Once all mandatories have been submitted, the commish team will post the top 30 players by rating. This will be the first tier of players. At this point these 30 players are the only players you may bid on.
- Once your cap book is approved and you know your available cap you may submit your top bids to the commissioner Swaygodeus' attention.
Here is an example of the blind bidding:
Chicago Bears Current Players: 50
Chicago Bears Available Cap: 56 (264/320)
Based on the top 30 FA's the Bears would like to go after these 3 players, rating in parenthesis;
1. WR Lee Evans (84)
2. LB Ernie Sims (88)
3. CB Kelvin Hayden (83)
The Bears would send a Private Message to the commish team with their TOP bids for these 3 players, keeping in mind that their total bids CANNOT exceed their available cap, in this case, 56 points. Your offers also CANNOT exceed the 55 player limit, so if you have 52 players you can offer no more than 3 players.
Private Message:
To: Swaygodeus
Subject: Chicago Bears Tier 1 Bids
Body:
Chicago Bears Current Players: 50
Chicago Bears Available Cap: 56 (264/320)
1. WR Lee Evans - 16
2. LB Ernie Sims - 20
3. CB Kelvin Hayden - 16
As you can see by this example the Bears are offering these 3 players a total of 52 points, which DOES NOT exceed the 56 they have available.
All teams will have until the designated deadline to submit their offers. If they do not submit their offers on time they will not be able to bid for that tier.
WINNING THE BID:
After the deadline, the commish team will tally the offers and announce the winners of each player. The winning bid will be the highest bid, simple enough.
IN THE EVENT OF A TIE:
In the event that there are multiple identical bids, the winning bid will be that of the team with the BETTER record.
Should the records be identical then the team with the better PF-PA will win the player.
If those are the same then good lord I better go play the lottery cuz holy shit.
Once the first Tier winners are announced the commish team will post the ask for submissions for the 2nd tier of Free Agency. At this point any available FA will be up for bidding. Once all bids are in the commish team will announce the winners. It's now time to prepare for the draft, thus FA will close up for a few days.
Claim Bidding
Once FA is re-opened post draft the process will switch to claim bidding. At this point you may claim any player left in FA so long as you have the cap/roster room.
CLAIMING A PLAYER: Claimed FA's will be signed for face value and can be released for 0 penalty at any time. To claim a Free Agent:
- The player must be a Free Agent for at least 72 hours
- The claiming team must have the roster spot available
- The claiming team must have the cap room to sign the player
You will follow the same posting as the live bidding with;
EX THREAD SUBJECT: WR Jacoby Jones (68)
But the body will be a little different;
EX THREAD BODY: The Chicago Bears claim the rights to WR Jacoby Jones for 4 cap points.
Live/Claim bidding will carry on throughout the season until the beginning of offseason.
This is to prevent teams from waiting in the shadows as team's bid against each other, and then coming in to the final hour or so and out bidding everyone else.
1 year contracts - The 3 of us came up for a system for signing players to 1 year deals. What it works out to is you will pay a player 1.5x the top bid to sign them for 1 year, and you must stipulate that when bidding.
ex. DT Marcus Stroud 88 (8) --> Bills bid 12 for a 1 year deal
What the one year deal does is let's you release that player whenever you want for 0 cap penalty. Please keep in mind you will never see big talent going for 1 year deals, this is most likely going to be veterans and injury fillers.
ex. FS Antrel Rolle 88 (8) -->Top Bid is 50, you'd have to bid 75pts to sign him for a 1 year deal. Makes no sense.
4. Trades
Trades will be allowed during the season as well as the offseason. Some quick rules regarding trades:
- There will be a trade deadline just as there is in the NFL, so beginning Week 6 no trades will be allowed until the offseason.
- There will be a limit of 4 trades total for the season. You will be allowed up to 3 trades once the season has ended and offseason begins, as well as 1 trade once week 1 begins until the week 6 trade deadline.
- All trades must be approved by the commissioner.
- Sign and trades will be frowned upon in the UFL. If you sign a player via FA you are required to keep that player until the offseason or release them. You will almost never see a player in the NFL signed in the offseason and then traded the same season, which is why this will be frowned upon.
- Draft pick trades will only be allowed at the discretion of the commissioner. If you are new to the league you most likely won't be allowed to trade draft picks during the season. During the offseason and up to the draft you will be allowed to trade draft picks.
- Before you even submit the trade you must make sure your team has enough cap room to complete the trade.
- Once both teams have agreed on a trade both owners will be required to post in the completed trade thread. It should look something like this:
The Buffalo Bills and the Oakland Raiders have agreed on a trade.
BUFFALO SENDS:
CB T.Mcgee (82) (8)
1ST RD PICK 2010 DRAFT
OAKLAND SENDS:
CB N.Asomugha (99) (10)
Again, both owners must post the trade before it is even considered. I will try to review trades on a daily basis but expect 1-2 days for review.
Addendum:
When a deal has been reached, one team posts the trade. The second team will then be able to either accept or reject the deal. If the 2nd owner accepts the deal, the players and picks involved are frozen and cannot be considered for other deals unless rejected by a commissioner.
There is absolutely no editing of any posts in the trade forum. Editing a post can lead to discipline from the league.
If the commish approves the trade it is a done deal and players/picks swap hands. If the commish denies the trade the players/picks are available for other offers.
5. Player Requirements
Roster Requirements:
We will now allow teams to carry at least 48 players and no more than 55 players. In the past we made it where you had to carry 50-55 players. This is done so teams may have more "wiggle" room with rosters. It will also be 2 more rosters spots you wouldn't neccesarily need if you wanted to carry 48 players but be warned if you have 48 players and 320 cap you will only be allowed to sign a FA who is the lowest value at his position.
i.e you need another CB, you would be allowed to sign the 38 rated CB and then release a player to bring you back under the cap.
Don't put your team in cap hell.
Last edited by Sway on Tue Apr 19, 2011 2:51 pm; edited 1 time in total
