WHEELS OFF FANTASY FOOTBALL LEAGUE
RULES AND REGULATIONS
1.
WOFFL
DRAFT
In years following the inaugural draft, the WOFFL
will hold a college draft. Only rookies
will be eligible to be drafted in the college draft. The college draft will last as long as there are owners
interested in drafting and as long as roster slots are available. The rookie draft will be held August
26, 2001.
1B. Draft
Order
The WOFFL college draft will proceed in reverse order of the previous regular season finish, with the following exceptions: 1) teams not making the playoffs will be seeded ahead of teams making the playoffs regardless of record; 2) the WOFFL Champion will draft last, regardless of record; 3) the WOFFL runner-up will draft second to last, regardless of record. Ties in record will be broken by the regular season tiebreaker system listed below.
1C. Draft
Pick Trades
Trading of draft picks is permitted prior to and
during any draft. This can include the
trading of draft picks and previously selected players. Owners may trade draft picks from the
current draft and the next immediate future draft only.
2.
ROSTERS
2A.
Composition
Each team will have sixteen (16) roster
slots. These slots may be filled by
players in any of the following positions:
Quarterback (QB), Running Back (RB), Wide Receiver (WR), Tight End (TE),
Place Kicker (K), and Defensive/Special Team (DEF). The extra roster slot is reserved for Injured Reserve, and one
contract year must be left unallocated to cover this roster slot.
2B.
Starting Line-Up
Each team will start: 1 QB, 2 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 1 K, and 1 DEF for a
total of eight (8) starters. The
deadline for turning in your starting lineups is 12:00 P.M. Central Time on
Saturday. If there are games on Thursday lineups are due by 5:00 P.M. Central Time
on Thursday, except for Thanksgiving week when lineups are due by 8:00 P.M.
Central Time on Wednesday.
Lineups must be sent to the following email address: woffl@hotmail.com. Email time stamp will be
used as “proof” of meeting deadline. If
no starters are named, the previous week’s starters will be used!!
2C. Player
Eligibility and Starting Position
Players must be listed on a NFL roster at one of
the positions listed under 2A to be on a team’s roster. Players can only be used in a starting
line-up at a position for which they are listed on their NFL teams depth
chart. The official source for player
positions will be the NFL website at the following address: http://www.nfl.com/players.
3.
CONTRACTS
& TRADES
3A.
General Information
Players acquired either through the draft or free
agency must be signed to a contract.
This contract will be the number of years that the player can remain on
your roster.
3B. Total
Years Available
Each owner has a contract cap of thirty-six (36)
years. The total contract years
remaining on the contracts of all players on a team’s roster (plus the current
year’s contract on any released player) CANNOT
exceed 36.
3C. Player
Trades
Every player traded carries his contract with him,
including the current year. This
contract will be counted against the total years available to his NEW
team. Any exchange of players between
teams cannot leave either team with more than 36 total years for all
players. If this happens, the
commissioner will void the trade until such time as the affected teams can make
room under the contract cap.
3D. Trade
Restrictions & Deadlines
Trades can take place for the first ten (10) weeks
of the season. Trades between teams are
unlimited. However, a committee
consisting of the commissioner and two (2) other owners to be decided on draft
day will review all trades. The ruling
of this committee as to the validity and fairness of each trade will be final.
3E1.
Waived Players
Players that are waived during the season still
count one (1) year against a team’s contract cap until such time as the player
is re-acquired by any other WOFFL owner.
Players who were waived and not signed by any other team during the year
will each count as one (1) year against the waiving team’s contract cap until
February 1.
3E2.
Waived Players Exceptions
There are three exceptions to the above rule: 1) players that retire early or unexpectedly may be waived without counting against a teams contract cap; 2) players that die may be waived without counting against a teams contract cap; and 3) players cut from a team before the season officially begins may either: 1) Cut the player with no consequences to their contract cap and pick up another player for the minimum bid of 1 fb; or 2) Keep the player and see if another team picks them up. If the player is kept after the start of the season then the normal free agent rules would apply.
3F.
Expired Contracts
Contract years conclude on February 1. All players who had only one year remaining
on their contracts become free agents.
Players with expired contracts can be re-signed by their original team
under the terms outlined in the Restricted Free Agent rules (See Section 5
below). All other players have their
contracts reduced by one year. At the
same time, all teams recover any years encumbered by players waived during the
year.
EXAMPLE 1:
Drew Bledsoe signed for five (5) years with Team X in 1999. All five years count against the 36-year
contract limit in 1999, leaving 31 years to use on other players. On February 1, 1999, Bledsoe’s contract becomes
a four (4) year contract and now counts only four years against the cap. Now Team X has 32 years to use on the rest
of their roster.
EXAMPLE 2:
Team X also signed Ben Coates to a one (1) year contract in 1999. On February 1, 1999, Coates’ contract is
reduced one year, leaving zero (0) years on the contract. Coates just became a Restricted Free Agent
(See Section 5 below).
3G.
Announcing Contracts
The deadline for the announcement of the
length of the contracts of players with zero contract years and players taken
in the draft will be Saturday, September 8, at 12:00 P.M. Central Time. (Teams
CANNOT make any trades or waiver moves until their
contracts have been turned in to the commissioner.) If a team does not meet this deadline, that team or teams
will be docked one (1) contract year for this season and ten (10) fantasy bucks
(See Section 4 below). This deadline
will change next year, as the college draft will be held sometime in August
2002.
4.
FANTASY
BUCKS
The fantasy bucks (fb) is the official currency of
the WOFFL. Fantasy bucks are used to
bid on free agents and may also be used in certain trade situations. Each team is initially awarded 150 fb. Any amount not used during the season is
carried over to the next season. Each
team is awarded an additional 25 fb prior to the WOFFL college draft each
season (after the restricted free agent signing period).
5.
FREE
AGENCY & WAIVERS
5A. Free
Agents
Any player not acquired during the draft becomes a
free agent (FA). A player also becomes
a free agent when his contract expires or when he is waived by a WOFFL
franchise.
5B1.
Free Agent Acquisitions
WOFFL franchises can acquire any player
not currently on another team’s roster via free agency. Fantasy bucks are used to bid on free
agents. You may only bid up to the
amount of fantasy bucks you have available.
You can only acquire a player from the same position as the one you are
dropping (i.e. a QB for a QB or a WR for a WR). If more than one team requests the same player, the team
submitting the highest bid will acquire that player. The process will be conducted in a “blind auction” manner,
meaning no team will know how much another team is bidding. Any bid for a free agent must be sent to the
following email address: woffl@hotmail.com. You need to put “Free
Agent Bid” in subject line as this information will remain sealed until
Thursday at 6:00 P.M. Central Time. Not
even the commissioner will see the bid information until this time. Any such bid must contain all of the
following: the name of the free agent you want to acquire, the amount bid for
that player, and a conditional release notice indicating the player you will
waive to make room for the new player.
In the event that two or more teams submit the same high bid for a player,
the commissioner will contact the owners involved and ask for new bids. The new bids must be either greater than the
original bid or a removal from the bidding process (i.e. a team can not repeat
their first bid). This process will
continue until one team has submitted a lone high bid. Bids can also be changed or dropped, as long
as notification is sent to the above address by Thursday at 6:00 P.M. Central
Time.
5B2.
Rookie Draft and Free Agents
Per Rule 5B: if an owner enters the rookie draft with a full roster of 15 players, they must drop a player from the same position as the player they draft (i.e. QB for QB or RB for RB) The dropped player will count against the contract cap and go on their waiver wire. Tight ends, kickers, and defenses do not count as open roster slots due to the fact that these are required positions in the weekly lineups.
5C.
Restricted Free Agents
Once his contract ends, a player becomes a
restricted free agent (RFA) who can be offered a contract by any team with the
current team given the right of first refusal.
Once a contract is tenured by another franchise, you will have one (1)
business day to match that offer. If no
other team submits a contract offer before the end of the RFA signing period,
you may re-acquire that player at no cost.
After a player is signed or re-signed, he must be placed under contract
before the regular season begins.
5D.
Waivers
Players released by any WOFFL team are said to be
waived. If a team waives a player
during the season, the franchise gets credit for the player’s remaining
contract years MINUS the current year.
This contract year will remain in effect against a team’s contract cap
until: 1) on February 1, the expiration date for current contracts, or 2) the
player is subsequently signed by any WOFFL franchise during the season in which
he is waived.
6.
INJURED RESERVE
Each team will have one roster
slot available to place a player on Injured Reserve, IR. Any player placed on IR is out for a period
of four (4) weeks. Once a player is
placed on IR, the franchise can pick up another player, but they must go
through the free agent channels as with any other pick up (i.e. a QB for a QB
or a WR for a WR). This essentially
allows the signing of another player with that one contract year and active
slot. At the end of the four weeks the
player must be returned to the active roster.
All future contract years for players on IR will continue to count
against a franchise’s contract cap.
An example may help illustrate this
rule. Let’s say a team has 15 players
under 35 contract years (plus one contract year and roster slot for IR)
including Yatil Green for three (3) contract years. Green goes down with an injury in Week One of the season and is
placed on the fantasy team’s IR. Then
the team bids 5 fb for Daryl Hobs and signs him to the one contract year left
available for IR. After Week Five Green
is no longer on IR, thus either Hobbs or another player must be dropped, with
no contract cap consequences, since Green is automatically reactivated.
By the start of the next WOFFL draft,
each franchise must clear IR and have no more that 15 players on their roster.
7.
DIVISIONS
The WOFFL will be divided into two (2) conferences: North and South.
8.
LEAGUE
SCHEDULE
8A. Regular Season
The WOFFL regular season will last thirteen (13) weeks, the first twelve weeks of the NFL season. Each team will play the teams in their respective divisions twice and all of the teams in the other division once.
8B.
Playoff Schedule
The WOFFL playoffs begin on Week Fourteen (14) of
the NFL season. The playoffs conclude
on Week Sixteen (16) with the WOFFL Super Bowl.
9.
PLAYOFFS
9A.
Qualifying
A total of six (6) teams will qualify for the
WOFFL playoffs. Two will be the
conference champions, and the remaining four teams will be the wildcard entries. These teams will be the second and third
place finishers in each conference. The
conference champions will receive a bye in the first round of the playoffs,
which occur during Week Thirteen of the NFL season. They will meet the winners of the first round playoff games in
Week Fourteen to determine the two teams that will compete in the WOFFL Super
Bowl. This game will take place in Week
Fifteen of the NFL season.
9B.
Qualifying And Seeding Tie-Breaker
The WOFFL tie-breaking system for playoff qualification
and seeding is as follows:
9C.
Playoff And Regular Season Game Ties
Tie games during the playoffs and regular season
will be determined by totaling the scores of the seven (7) bench players of the
teams involved in the tie.
10.
RESULTS
& SCORING
10A. WOFFL
Scoring System
QB – Passing
TD (1-29 yards): 4 points Passing TD (30+ yards): 7 points
Rush/Rec
TD (1-29 yards): 6 points Rush/Rec TD (30+ yards): 9 points
All
2 point conversions: 2 points Interception:
Minus 1 point (-1)
300
Total Yards: 5 points 400+ Total Yards: 10 points
RB - Rush/Rec/Pass
TD (1-29 yards): 6 points Rush/Rec/Pass TD (30+ yards): 9
points
75
Total Yards: 5 points 150+ Total Yards: 10 points
All
2-point conversions: 2 points
WR - Rec/Rush/Pass/
TD (1-29 yards): 6 points Rec/Rush/Pass TD (30+ yards): 9
points
75
Total Yards: 5 points 150+ Total Yards: 10 points
All
2-point conversions: 2 points
TE - Rec/Rush/Pass/
TD (1-29 yards): 6 points Rec/Rush/Pass TD (30+ yards): 9
points
50
Total Yards: 5 points 100+ Total Yards: 10 points
All
2-point conversions: 2 points
K - Field
Goal (1-49 yards): 3 points Field Goal (50+ yards): 6 points
Extra
Point: 1 point All 2-point conversions: 2 points
DEF - Punt/Kickoff/Interception/Fumble
Return for TD: 6 points
Interception/Fumble
Recovery/Safety: 2 points Shutout:
3 points
Holding
opponent under 200 yards total offense: 3 points
Total yards for QB, RB, WR and
TE is all passing, rushing and receiving yards compiled during a game. (No punt return or kick off return yardage
is added to this total.) Although,
players in a starting lineup do get credit for any punt or kick off returns for
touchdown.
Bye weeks will be handled in the
following manner: teams can carry over
a player’s points from the previous week and count them during a bye week. You must declare the week prior to a bye
week whether or not you will carry over a player’s points. If you do not make this declaration, the
points WILL NOT carryover. In other words, there is no automatic
carryover. For example, Brett Favre has a bye in Week Four (4). The team who owns him must declare in Week
Three (3), when they turn in their lineups, whether or not they will carry over
his points. Owners cannot change their
minds if their player does not score any points. Bye weeks are being handled this way so each team does not have
to keep two TE, two K and two DEF on their rosters.
10B.
Weekly Results
Weekly results will be compiled by commissioner
and posted to the league as soon as possible.
Ties will be broken by totaling the scores of the seven (7) bench
players of the teams involved in the tie.
10C.
Scoring 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.
11.
RULE
CHANGES, ETC.
11A. Major
Rule Changes
Major changes to the rules can only be made
through a league wide vote. Any member
franchise can propose a change to the rules by calling for a vote from the
entire league during the off-season ONLY.
Simply send the commissioner the proposed change, and he will distribute
it to all other owners in the league.
If seven (7) owners vote for the proposed change, the rules will be
changed accordingly. Any rule changes
after the start of the WOFFL draft through the conclusion of the season must be
agreed upon by the entire league unanimously.
12.
ADVANCED
RULES – SIGNING RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS (RFA)
12A.
General
Any players on a WOFFL roster will have their
existing contracts reduced by one year on February 1. If a player’s contract expires (drops to zero years), the player
is considered a RFA. All existing
waiver penalties against any team will also be nullified on February 1. No regular free agent acquisitions will be
allowed until after the RFA signing period concludes on or around May 31.
12B. RFA
Signing Periods
RFA bidding begins May 1 and closes on May
31. No new bids will be accepted after
May 31. Bidding in process may continue
beyond May 31 until a final offer is reached for a player.
12C. Bid
Format
All bids are made to the entire league, and each
bid must include: the player’s name, current WOFFL team, and the amount
bid. A matching bid by the current
owner of a player is sufficient to beat an incoming bid for any player on that
owner’s roster.
EXAMPLE 1: Team X bids 30 fb for Terrell Davis, of
Team Y.
EXAMPLE 2: Team Y matches Team X’s bid of 30 fb
for Davis.
12D.
Bidding Process
Once a bid is posted for any
player, an answer bid must be made within 24 hours. This answer bid can come from any another team, except the
current owner of the player. Any owner,
except the current owner of the player, may join the bidding process within 24
hours of the latest bid. During the RFA
period if a bid is made within the final 90 minutes of a bid expiring, the bid
must be increased by a minimum of 3 FB.
Once a bid expires and no counter offer is made, the player is then
considered signed by the team posting the latest and highest bid. Owners may drop out of the bidding process
for any individual player at any time and still re-enter the process as long as
the bidding remains active for the player in question.
All bids should be posted on the website. The cutoff time for daily bids is 8:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. Central Time. A counter offer must be posted to the website by 10:00 P.M. Central Time the day a bid expires. The only exception is that bids received on Fridays will have until Monday to receive a counter offer.
12E.
Signing RFAs
The original team or new team must sign all
players receiving any bid. The amount
of the last bid tendered will be deducted from the signing team’s fb
total. Contracts do not have to be
announced at this time. After the RFA
signing period, any remaining RFAs on a team’s roster who did not receive any
bids can be signed for no cost. All
teams must announce their intentions regarding such players by June 15.
12F.
Rosters
Rosters will be limited to 15 total players
throughout this process and until contracts have to be announced. However, RFAs currently on a team’s roster
do not count against that total. New
contracts need not be posted until after the WOFFL draft. Any RFAs remaining on any team’s roster
after March 15 will be released to enter the general free agent pool.
12G. Restrictions
The bidding owner must have enough fb available to
cover all outstanding bids. If any
owner outbids his budget at any time, that owner will be given a warning and
all of that owner’s bids will be cancelled.
Any overbid after the warning will result in that owner being penalized
20 fb.